45 Bridal Shower Ideas She Will Love
What kind of bridal shower ideas do you love? Traditionally bridal showers consisted of just gifts and blessings; however, modern-day bridal showers add a bit of spice by conducting some fun games and activities for the guests and the bride to enjoy.
These games then end with a bang and some oh-so-good food! Before we start with the best 45 bridal shower ideas, let’s dive into the history of bridal showers.
Did you know?
Bridal showers were first invented in 16th Century Holland.
It happened when a poor man and the daughter of an extremely wealthy merchant fell in love; however, the merchant refused to dowry the poor man. So, the people of that small town decided to take matters into their own hands, and each of them brought a small gift for the couple to start a new life together. That’s how this adorable trend began!
Now the dowry tradition is frowned upon, but bridal showers are held to celebrate the bride-to-be’s future married life.
Table of Contents:
- Keeping it Simple: Bridal Shower Ideas
What is supposed to happen at a bridal shower?
Widely known in many cultures, the bridal shower is a tradition of celebrating the bride’s upcoming marriage during the daytime.
As part of this celebration, the idea is to ‘shower’ the bride with gifts and blessings for a bright future and happy married life. The bride is spoiled by her close ones with everything she enjoys, like spending time with family, before she steps into her shoes as a bride.
Who pays for the bridal shower?
In today’s time, the maid of honor or the bride or groom’s mother and friends are typically the ones that throw the bridal shower. Generally, whoever throws the party is expected to cover the costs it may entail.
Most times, the bridesmaids throw this party while paying for it. The bride’s parents may also cover some expenses, but the bridesmaids, including the maid of honor, tend to cover the costs.
However, there are no definite rules to the covering of expenses. Whoever wishes to put an effort financially or otherwise may help plan or execute the bridal shower. In rare instances, the bride and groom may themselves choose to pay, but traditionally this has been avoided.
A little note to remember:
Suppose a few people plan to throw the bridal shower together. In that case, the maid or matron of honor is responsible for the coordination of all activities and whatever else the party may require. It is also important for them to ensure that no one feels excluded from the planning process.
What are the things needed for a bridal shower?
There is no definite list of what one must buy for a bridal shower. However, here’s a list of a few items that we’ve come up with to help you throw the perfect one:
- Bride To Be Sash
- Bridal Shower Decor Set
- Bride To Be Cake Topper
- Cute Paper Straws
- Hair ties as party favors
- Foil Fringe Curtains
- Well Wishes cards
- Photo Booth Props Kit
- Ring Confetti
- Glitter Paper Hearts
That’s about it. If you need anything else, it may be according to the theme you’re going for. The best way to plan a bridal shower is to plan it well in advance, so you have enough time to plan everything from decor to party favors.
There have been many modifications in bridal showers and the planning required for it through the years. So if you’re someone that is looking to plan a fun and cute bridal shower for a bride-to-be, don’t worry; we’ve got your back.
Keeping it Simple: Bridal Shower Ideas
If the bride likes simplicity, these ideas are the best ones to try!
1. Bohemian Bridal Shower
A chic, elegant touch defines a bohemian-style bridal shower. The decor should be following the theme, meaning most stuff that is handcrafted. Make sure you have a special handcrafted chair for the bride so she can have the spotlight.
2. Tropical Vibes
All things tropical. Pineapples and palm trees. Give the venue a beach-like decor to make it look tropical. If you’re feeling artsy, you may keep around gold sprayed pineapples to add to the detailed theme you’re going for. Oh, and also, add some pina-coladas too, for party sake.
3. Black and Gold
Two colors that can never go wrong together are black and gold. Bring the theme to life with a black and gold balloon arch as the party’s centerpiece. Make sure all things match with the color scheme you’re going for.
4. Succulents
Little plants and succulents are so aesthetic and environment-friendly, and they bring just the right touch of sophistication you need for a bridal shower. Put some succulents on the dining table, and you’re all set to present a fancy meal for your guests!
5. Pink and Gold
The pink and gold decor is artsy and cute, and it’s just hard to go wrong with this combination. If you feel like being a little extra, you may plan all your activities and games with props that go with the theme as well.
6. Flowers
If you know the bride’s favorite flowers, go all out. Plan a color scheme and ensure the flowers are involved in all parts of the shower. Decorate the dining table with the same flowers too.
7. Tea Party
The basic idea here is to host a tea party and make it better by adding a personal element to have the guests buzzing for the rest of the year.
For instance, a homemade dessert that you’re sure everyone will like. For a more personalized touch, one may add small yet fancy teacups as per the shower’s theme.
8. Familial
If only a specific number of people are invited, you may spruce up the occasion by putting pictures of the bride with the guests on display. This will give the shower a familial feeling. This theme is sure to go a long way because memories are always the most heartfelt gift.
9. Cozy
A rustic, cozy vibe goes well with the occasion. Match everything with the old-school theme if you’re sure the bride will like it.
10. Neutrals
Neutrals are all the rage this season. Keep it casual with a neutral color palette with subtle colors.
11. Backyard
No place like home! Throw a bridal shower party in the backyard, keep the decor minimal, and if you want, you can also DIY the decorations, such as the wedding pom poms.
12. Blush Party
Arrange some good glasses of bubbly, make strawberry dessert at home, and keep the theme pink. Ask the guests to dress the part and have yourself a blush bridal shower.
13. Photo Booth
Make a small photo booth at the venue where guests can take pictures for the ‘gram. You can make this by simply putting up some gold/ silver foil fringe decorations and neutral-colored balloons to add to the charm.
14. Rose Gold
You can never go wrong with rose gold. Some balloon arches and rose gold foil decorations do the job. If you want to give it a personal touch for the bride, you may also purchase letter balloons that spell out her name.
15. Eucalyptus, Cream, and white
Follow this color palette for an elegant decor for the bridal shower and let the colors do their magic. There’d be nothing else but uplifting moods and mellow vibes at your bridal shower.
16. Sunflowers
Sunflowers are a symbol of optimism and hope. One may plan a shower with everything related to sunflowers symbolizing an optimistic future for the bride’s married life. This means warm yellow tones all over.
17. Miss to Mistress
Following this theme, one must acknowledge the growth and progress of the bride as an individual or even as a couple with the groom. You can do so using pictures—a sort of throwback to major events in the bride’s life.
18. How well do you know the bride?
It’s her day, so make everything about her. Add some games related to her life and surprise her to the best of your ability. If possible, invite a loved one she thought wouldn’t be able to make it or something she wanted but didn’t get the chance to have.
19. All the way white
Nothing says ‘elegance’ like an all-white party. DIY the decor and keep it light and breezy. Just a few crafted items can go a long way. Remember, with white, less is more.
20. Lights
If the bride likes to keep it lowkey, make use of fairy lights. They’re easy to use, safe, and just give out a homely vibe. You can add them to glass bottles to make them look fancy and use them as decor. White decor goes pretty well with fairy lights too.
Modern Bridal Showers
Some of the modern day bridal shower ideas!
21. Taylor Swift
This bridal shower idea is a must-try if the bride is a hard-core swiftie. Seek inspiration from any of your favorite Taylor Swift song videos and ask your guests to dress like Taylor from their favorite one of her videos.
For the decor, you may decorate different corners of the venue inspired by Taylor’s different albums. Make sure you bring plenty of props for photos.
P.S: A Taylor Swift song playlist, don’t forget!
22. Bollywood
Ask your guests to go all out with their costumes, and dress as their favorite Bollywood movie character. Make the decor as Bollywood-inspired as possible, with different venues decorated per different eras.
You may also choose the decor according to the bride’s favorite Bollywood era. Ensure keeping the menu filled with authentic desi food, and you’re sorted.
23. Bridgerton
A Bridgerton-inspired (a Netflix series) bridal shower idea is like no other. Since we’re all willing to admit a little obsession with the whole 18th Century Europe theme, this idea will have your guests talking about the bridal shower even after the wedding.
A local florist can help you get your hands on some beautiful-lush greens and flowers, so you can bring the theme to life. Pastel cupcakes, sandwiches, and some tea go well for the menu.
24. PPT
You read that right, and we mean PPT as in a PowerPoint Presentation. Ask your guests well in advance to prepare a silly PowerPoint presentation based on their memory of the bride. The theme should be a basic one, and they can be as silly as one can get.
In the end, let the bride pick a winner for the best ppt to make it a little more fun!
25. Parisian
Who doesn’t like Paris? Throw a Parisian-themed bridal shower defined with sophistication, elegance, and chic touches. For the menu, we’re thinking all things French!
26. Music Festival
Recreate your understanding of a music festival (like Coachella), and the guests must dress as if they’re going to a concert. Don’t forget the playlist; it’s the most important element for this theme.
27. Audrey Hepburn
For an upgrade to your regular brunch, bring Breakfast at Tiffany’s to life at the bridal shower.
Use tiffany blue and glitter accents for the decor. The menu may consist of croissants and coffee. You can make it more sophisticated by asking your guests to dress up in all black and add touches of pearl jewelry to their outfits.
28. Cook-Off
If the bride enjoys taking some time off to cook, hire a chef for a day, and host a cooking game where everyone has to make a good dish. Couples can do it as a team, and singles can also pair up.
In the end, the hired chef may pick the winner with the best dish!
29. The charming outdoors
This is the perfect bridal shower idea if the bride enjoys a good adventure. You may arrange a hike or a camping trip that ends with a good brunch or dinner. We all know, a day spent in the majestic outdoors with your loved ones is a day like no other!
30. Pick your Aesthetic
Let the bride pick her aesthetic first and dress accordingly. We recommend the cottage aesthetic for brides, but we’d suggest you let her pick since it’s her day.
After the bride has picked her aesthetic, ask everyone to dress accordingly and align the decor with it. For example, if the aesthetic is cottagecore, a picnic-like vibe for the shower would go well.
31. The Date Jar
Use a couple of mason jars and some ice cream sticks. Leave a marker at the table and ask the guests to write one date idea for the couple to try after the wedding. This is a fun way to engage the crowd, and the date ideas are always so fun.
32. Shoe Game
This is a traditional game wherein the host asks some questions, and the bride and groom have to answer by waving a shoe up.
As per rules, both of them will be holding two shoes—one their own and another one of their partner. When the host asks them a two-choice question, they have to answer by waving the shoe up over their head.
33. This or That
Come up with a “this or that game” to check how well the guests know the bride. For example, ask preference questions like Red or White Wine? Coffee or Tea? This is a good way to see who knows the bride best.
34. Wishes
Keep a small activity corner at the venue containing some cards with ‘Wishes’ written on them. The guests may use these cards to give their best wishes to the couple. This is a cute and fun bridal shower idea.
35. Musical Chairs
A classic party game, play musical chairs. Every one of us knows how to play this game even if we haven’t played once. Plus, it is super fun and a great game idea for a bridal shower.
In the musical chair game, the players walk around a circle of chairs as long as a song is playing. To win, players must sit on a chair when the music stops.
Those who do not find the chance to grab a chair are eliminated. In each round, a chair and a player are reduced in this game. The one to pass the final round wins.
36. Scavenger Hunt
To make things exciting and keep the guests on their feet, you may plan a scavenger hunt. The clues can be related to the couple if you’re planning a co-ed bridal shower or could be related to the bride if you plan on one, only for the bride and her friends.
37. Paper Dress
Divide the guests into groups. One person from each group could be the designated model, and the others use paper (of any kind) to make a wedding dress.
The game has a time limit, and after the time is over, the models walk to show the dress off. The bride then picks the team with the best dress.
38. The Cocktail Mix
Divide the guests into teams and give them some ingredients to make their cocktails. The bride will be the judge, and the team with the best cocktail wins.
39. Charades
We guarantee a fun time with a game of charades. To make things more interesting, you may keep the rule as, ‘Wedding movies only.’
40. Cold Feet
Put a bunch of toy rings into icy cold water for whoever is willing to participate. Ask the participants to pull out these rings using only their feet, the person who removes the most rings wins.
You may want to conduct this activity outdoors since things may get a little messy, but the fun is totally worth it!
What are some other things you can do at a Bridal Shower?
Keep reading to explore more great bridal shower ideas you can try!
41. Funny Advice cards
Give out funny advice cards to the guests to fill in. They can each give a piece of funny advice related to married life or in general that they’d like the couple to know.
42. Never Have I Ever with a twist
Never Have I Ever played Never Have I Ever at a bridal shower! Twist it by adding a rule—every time you have not done something, you tell a joke out loud before getting eliminated. You can also share your favorite memory that you’ve had with the bride-to-be.
43. How well do you know the bride?
Come up with a card that has all things related to the bride. For instance, the bride met the groom for the first-ever time at __________. Let the guests fill out the blanks and see who knows the couple best.
44. Design a hashtag
Take it to social media, come up with a hashtag and ask all the guests to post a picture with the bride on their social media.#bridalshowerideas
45. Customized Recipe Book
Find a blank recipe book and let guests fill out their recipes to have a happy married life. You can then compile all the recipes and give them to the bride and groom as souvenirs from the bridal shower.
Added Bonus: Sometimes the recipes get funny, so buckle up!
Something that can only add to the fun of an event is a playlist. So we recommend you ask the guests and the to-be-married couple for their favorite songs that you can line up into a good playlist for everyone to enjoy.
How to have the perfect bridal shower?
The key to planning an excellent bridal shower is to plan it well in advance and take all factors in mind.
Some of the steps you might want to follow are:
- Create a budget and make sure you adhere to it
- Pick a date
- Come up with a guest list
- Pick a good/ relevant theme
- Choose the venue for the event
- Select and send out invitations
- Set the menu
- Look for the decor
- Plan the games and activities to be conducted
- Create a playlist
You can follow these steps in the given order to plan and execute a bridal shower to the best of your ability.
A bridal shower is one of the most memorable days for a couple or bride. Make sure to throw a party that your guests and the soon-to-be-married couple will never forget.
Wedding season is almost here, so get planning already. There’s no time to lose. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to have fun. Remember, this day is supposed to be a fun memory for all, including you.
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