“April showers bring May flowers”… that is how the saying goes! They also bring wedding showers, as late spring, and summer, are the most popular times for weddings. If you are the maid, or matron of honor, for a bride-to-be, you are fully aware of the stress involved in planning these pre-wedding events. Being in charge of making everything as close to perfect as possible, is a daunting task.
Beyond the sheer excitement you are feeling for your sister, cousin, or best friend, planning a wedding shower takes organization, commitment, and a healthy dose of creativity. It is not specifically known why the first bridal showers took place, but it may have been rooted in the idea of a dowry. If a woman did not have enough possessions, or wealth, to offer her soon-to-be husband, in her dowry, her friends offered her gifts, to offset what she did not own.
Recruit Friends to Help Plan
Regardless of the size of the bridal shower, you are going to need help with the planning. There are invitations to be designed, and sent, favors to be made, and games to be created. This is all far too much for one person to plan and create, alone. If you really want to make the shower shine, you will need to recruit and gather the creative input, and energy from the bride’s other close friends.
Consider One Large Collaborative Gift
In addition to all the little gifts the guest of honor will be opening, on the day of the shower, consider going in with her other bridesmaids, on one big ‘super gift.’ Weddings and honeymoons can be devastatingly expensive. Ask each friend to contribute what they can afford, toward the purchase of a personalized Visa gift card, to help ease the financial burden of the bride’s upcoming events. Instead of stuffing wadded up, grimy old cash, into a miniature wishing well, buy a Visa gift card which through specialty sites like GiftcardGranny.com allow you to place a personalized, very special picture, and meaningful text, right onto the card!
Leave a Limited Carbon Footprint with E-invites
While paper invitations may be the traditional route to take, sending electronic invitations will be appreciated on a much deeper level. Your commitment to being environmentally friendly, along with the opportunity for unleashed creativity, in the digital world, is one wedding element the modern bride will find truly meaningful.
Choose a Fun Theme
While choosing a bridal shower theme is not innately necessary, it is a great way to include guests, and give them a feeling of ambiance, and cohesiveness within this special event. It also provides them with something to do beforehand, and something to expect when they arrive. Consider the personality of the bride. Is she a girlie girl? Does she visit the spa, frequently? Or is she more of the down home, in the garden, earthy type? Possible appropriate, and adventurous themes could include outdoors, hiking, a picnic, canoeing, camping, rest and relaxation, a group spa trip, manicures, wine, or a the bubbly visit to a winery, beer tasting, brewery, or BBQ event.
Offer Enticing Food & Drinks
The type of food and drink you serve will be largely dependent on the time of day you schedule the bridal shower. Brunch is a popular time, but you are not limited to that timeframe. Another consideration will be the theme you choose. Whatever decisions you reach with those variables, you will want to put a little extra spin on the elegance aspect. Be sure to offer easy to eat, tasty appetizers. Because it is, indeed, a special occasion, have two or three champagne-based cocktails available for her guests. Remember, you don’t have to do everything yourself. You can choose to have the shower catered, or make it a potluck, and have guests bring their favorite, or theme-inspired, meal or drink.
Plan Engaging Activities
While wrapping the bride up in a toilet paper wedding dress can be great fun, it is wise to have a few other activities planned, too. If the bride-to-be is someone who doesn’t mind having a few personal aspects of her life made known, you can play a game like “Whose Memory?” Everyone places a written note describing one of their favorite memories of themselves with the bride, in a hat. The notes are then chosen, and read aloud, and guests try to guess whose memory it is. “Purse Scavenger Hunt” involves creating a list, beforehand, of the most common, and some uncommon, items women keep in their handbag. Whoever has the most items, wins a prize, such as a gift card.
The most important thing to remember when planning a wedding shower for a bride-to-be, is that it should be fun. Incorporating the help of others, delegating, and creating an atmosphere of casual organization, is also the best way for you to remain as stress-free as possible!
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