Bridal Shower Ideas: Planning Themes, Activities and Food
Gift table set up for a bridal shower.
If you’ve never been in a bridal party, or hosted a shower before, you might have a lot of questions. First of all: who’s supposed to throw the shower?
Usually the maid of honor is in charge and the rest of the bridesmaids will help. If the bride isn’t having a wedding party, her mother, sister or friend can host a shower for her, instead. There’s no hard and fast rules. Basically, if you’re a person who loves the bride, you’re fully qualified to throw the shower. If you’re not sure how to do it, keep reading for a step by step breakdown.
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When Should You Start Planning a Bridal Shower?
The shower should be held between 3 weeks and 3 months before the wedding. Once you choose the date for the shower, count backwards from there. The invitations should go out 4 to 6 weeks ahead of the shower. Then add the time you’ll need time to arrange the venue and food.
How much time you need to plan depends on where you’re going to hold the shower. If you’re hosting at a private home, you can start planning 2 to 3 months before the shower date. If you’re renting a venue or hiring a caterer, you should start planning earlier. To make sure you can get the venue and caterer you want, start planning 3 to 6 months before the shower date.
Is the Bride Involved in Shower Planning?
Technically, no, the bride is not involved in the planning. But you will need some input from her. You’ll need to choose a date that fits her schedule. Plus, you’ll want her to ok the guest list. Other than that, you’re free to decide the details on your own, or with your co-hosts.
Step by Step Guide to Planning a Bridal Shower
Set the budget
Choose the date
Decide on the guest list
Decide on a style and a theme
Choose your venue
Decide on the menu
Plan the activities and games
Send the invitations
Purchase decor, favors, games and prizes
On the day of - welcome your guests and have fun!
How to Set Your Budget for the Bridal Shower
Decide how much you can afford. Then talk to the other bridesmaids to find out how much they can contribute. Sometimes the mother of the bride or groom might want to help out, too. Add it all up and spend that much. If you’re not sure how to allocate the money, there’s two sample budgets at the end of this article.
Choose the Date
Start with the most important person - the bride. Since she’s the guest of honor, choose the date that works best for her. Choose a Saturday or Sunday that’s between 3 weeks and 3 months before the wedding. Make sure to ask the bride who her VIP’s are. If she doesn’t want a shower without her mom and grandma, make sure they’re available on the same date.
Decide on the Guest List
You’ll need to check with the bride again. Typically, the guests are women who have been invited to the wedding. But you don’t have to invite every single female. If you want a smaller guest list, it’s ok to invite only the bridal party, plus family and friends who are close to the bride.
If the bride is having more than one shower, don’t invite the same people over and over. Each person should only be asked to one shower. The bridal party is usually invited to all of them, but only expected to attend one.
Don’t invite people who aren’t invited to the wedding. (The only exception is coworkers. If the bride isn’t close with her coworkers, they don’t expect to be invited to the wedding. They might want to hold a shower anyway. But they’ll throw it on their own and don’t need to be invited to yours. If they do, the bride can thank them profusely, but shouldn’t feel obligated to invite them to the wedding.)
Decide on the Style and Theme for the Bridal Shower
Choosing a style and theme will help you make other decisions about the venue, menu and decorations. You can choose a theme that reflects the bride’s taste. If it’s a personal theme, it can be any interest, like a tea party, wine, travel or baking. Or you can plan a theme that matches the wedding. If the bride is planning a rustic wedding, you can stick with it and plan a shower with a rustic style, too.
Choosing the Venue For the Bridal Shower
If you’re on a small or medium budget for the shower, your best venue choices will be a private home, a restaurant or a community center. When you start looking for a venue, consider the style you want for the shower. If you chose an elegant or classy theme, look at stylish restaurants with private rooms. If you chose a casual or fun theme, look at community centers or picnic spots. Depending on the theme you chose, you could look for a venue that matches. If you chose fiesta as your theme, you could host the shower at a Mexican restaurant.
At Home Venue:
Traditionally, bridal showers are hosted at a private home. This is best if you have either a big house or a small guest list. If your home isn’t big enough to host everyone inside, consider the backyard or patio.
Holding the Shower at a Restaurant:
If you’re not good in the kitchen and don’t want to DIY anything, a restaurant is a great place to host a bridal shower. You can book a private room and order set meals or a buffet at a per person price. Once you have a restaurant taking care of the food, you can concentrate on planning the games and decorations.
Hosting the Bridal Shower at a Community Center:
If you want to order or DIY the food for your shower, you can rent a room at a community center. The room rental usually includes tables, chairs and tablecloths. Plus there’s dishes, serving pieces and a full kitchen for you to use. If you’ve got a big crowd, a community center is a great place to have a fun shower.
Bridal shower table, set with paper plates, straws, cups and favors.
Decide on the Menu for the Bridal Shower
Since the shower is during the day, the menu is usually brunch, lunch or refreshments, depending on what time you start. You’ll need to consider your budget, but if you want a certain type of meal, you can probably figure out a way to make it fit.
For example, you could serve brunch on a small budget by ordering or making croissant sandwiches or yogurt parfaits, plus pastries, fruit and veggies. If you’ve got a bigger budget, you can hire a caterer or host in a restaurant and offer a full brunch buffet.
When you decide on your menu, you can also think about the style and theme you’ve chosen for your shower. Some themes will make the menu an easy decision. If you’ve chosen a casual fiesta theme, a taco bar is a great choice. Or if you’re planning a stylish champagne theme, a brunch menu would be a perfect fit.
Cupcakes decorated for a bridal shower dessert table.
Bridal Shower Food Ideas
Tea sandwiches
Croissant sandwiches
Bagel station
Sandwich bar
Waffle bar
Biscuit bar
Taco bar
Pasta station
Salad bar
Appetizers
Plan Your Bridal Shower Activities and Games
A bridal shower is literally a shower of gifts. That means the main event is opening presents. Usually one bridesmaid will hand the bride gifts and keep them organized after she’s opened them. Another bridesmaid should write down who gave which present, so the bride can write her thank you notes later.
If the bride feels self conscious in front of a crowd, you can play bridal bingo to take some of the focus off of her. Or you can serve deserts at the same time to help keep people busy.
Before the presents, though, your guests will eat, mingle and chat. And play games. Some people love them, some people don’t. But you do need activities to keep people occupied. You don’t want everyone just sitting around.
Depending on your crowd, you can choose fun games, like Mad Libs or Bridal Shower Jeopardy. Or you can plan low key games like the ring game or scratch tickets. Even if people don’t like games, they love prizes! So make sure you have lots of prizes on hand for the winners.
Bridal Bingo
Bridal Bingo is a low key game that will help keep people interested while the bride’s opening presents. At the start of the shower, guests fill in their bingo cards with gifts they think the bride will receive. While the bride opens presents, they mark their cards. You can offer prizes for whoever gets the first line, four corners and a full card.
Bridal Shower Order of Events
Bridal showers are usually held during the day. You can adjust the schedule, depending on what type of food you’ll be serving. If you want to serve a brunch, start a bit earlier so that you’ll be eating at eleven o’clock. If you’re only serving refreshments, start a little later. If you start at one or two o’clock, no one will notice you’re skipping a meal.
11:30 Guests arrive
11:45 - 12:30 Serve lunch
12:30 - 12:40 Thank the guests for coming, toast the bride
12:40 - 1:30 Play 2 shower games
1:30 - 1:45 Cut and serve cake, desserts, coffee and tea
1:45 - 2:45 Opening presents
2:45 Groom arrives, greets guests
3:00 Hand out favors to departing guests
What Are Some Fun Bridal Shower Games?
Put a Ring On It:
At the beginning of the shower, each guest gets a ring. If they say “bride” another guest can take their ring. Whoever has the most rings at the end of the shower wins a prize. This cute set from Amazon comes complete with a sign:
Purse Scavenger Hunt:
This is a classic game because it’s easy and fun. Make or download a list of items women might have in their purse. Include some weird items and you’ll be surprised by who actually has it in their purse. You can have a set of small prizes and give them away as you play. For each item you call out, the person who holds it up first gets a small prize. As the items get stranger, you can give out bigger prizes. Or you can play with scorecards - each item gives a number of points. Whoever has the most points wins the prize.
This pretty set includes the purse game, cards for 4 other games and even a set of cute pencils:
Mad Libs:
Mad Libs is a party game that’s a lot of fun. Each person gets a Mad Lib card and fills in the blanks for things like animal, food, person. Then when you open the card, there’s a pre-filled set of wedding vows. If you read them with the words the person filled in, you’ll end up with hilarious wedding vows. If the groom is coming at the end of the shower, you can have him read the funniest results aloud.
For a ready made set, you can order these cute Mad Lib cards:
What Are Good Bridal Shower Prizes?
Choose prizes based on the size of your guest list and how many games you’re planning. Usually, a host will have lots of smaller prizes for smaller wins. Then 3 bigger prizes for the winner of the 3 main games. The smaller prizes can be wrapped and put in a basket. As people win, one bridesmaid can carry the basket to the winner and let them choose a prize.
Bath sets
Skin care sets
Bottle of wine
Coffee mugs
Nail polish
Egg timers
Tea towels
Notebooks
Picture frames
Candles
Bath bombs
Throwing a Bridal Shower Without Games
If the host or the bride don’t like bridal shower games, you might want to skip them. But you don’t want your guests to get bored. If there’s nothing to do, the party will drag on. Consider some low-key games, like scratch off cards or bridal bingo to keep your guests entertained. If it’s an absolute no for games, think about hosting a different kind of shower. You can plan a shower around a main activity instead of games. Some good activities for a bridal shower include:
Cooking class
Cake decorating
Cookie decorating
Flower arranging
Cocktail making
Pool party
Movie day
Spa day
Wine tasting
Crafting party
What to Write on the Bridal Shower Invitations
Invitations should be sent out 4 to 6 weeks before the date.
Include the date, time, location and address of the shower.
Add the host’s email or phone number for the guests to RSVP.
Include registry information.
If the theme includes gifts, outline it on the invitation so the guests know what to bring.
Ideas For Bridal Shower Favors
If you’ve chosen a theme, you can find all kinds of favors to match it. You can choose a traditional favor, like soap and order it to match your theme. If you’re having a lemon themed shower, choose lemon scented soap, lip balm or bath bombs. Or you can get creative. If you’re planning a rustic themed wedding shower, you could have favors like jam, honey or wildflower seeds.
Soap
Bath bombs
Candles
Cookies
Cake pops
Donuts
Packets of tea
Mini jars of jam
Mini jars of honey
Wildflower seeds
Potted succulents
Bridal Shower Favor Tags
How to Plan a Bridal Shower on a Budget
If you’re in the wedding party, between the engagement party, the bachelorette party, the dress, the shoes and accessories - you’re already spending a lot of money. If you’re on a tight budget for the shower, there’s lots of ways to save money and still have a great party.
Stay on budget by hosting the shower at someone’s home, in order to avoid paying rental fees.
A small guest list will help keep costs down. Showers usually aren’t very big, so you don’t need to invite everyone who’s invited to the wedding. Inviting only the people who are close to the bride is fine.
Watch for sales and shop around before you buy your food, beverages and decorations.
Do the math before you decide on your menu. Doing DIY for your food isn’t free and it’s not always cheaper. You’ll need to buy all the ingredients, including spices and condiments. Plus you’ll need the time to make everything and the space to store it. Once you add in plating and setting it up, making the meal yourself a big job.
Sometimes you can pick up sandwiches, side dishes and salads from a local deli or grocery store for less than you’d think. Before you make your decision, call a few local restaurants and check the grocery store. Find out how much it would cost for platters or family style meals and see if it fits your budget.
If your budget is super tight, DIY is doable. As long as you keep your menu simple, you can make the food yourself. For some great budget ideas, see this article from Money Crashers: 5 Affordable Bridal Shower Food Menu Ideas
Silver wrapped bridal shower gifts, set out with favors and candies for the guests.
Sample Menu and Budget For an At-Home Bridal Shower
If you’re hosting at home, make sure to keep the guest list small. Most at-home bridal showers have 15 to 25 guests. That way you’ll have plenty of space to mingle and eat. And if you’re on a small budget, it’s not too hard to order or DIY enough food for everyone.
Serving lunch will give you time to finish preparing food and setting up before the shower starts. If the rest of the bridesmaids are on board, a lunch menu is easy to DIY. Do the prep work the day before. Chop up the veggies and make the sandwich filling. On the day of the shower pick up some fresh croissants and assemble the sandwiches. Portion out the food into individual servings and set it all up, ready to be served when the guests arrive.
If you’d rather not make all the food yourself, you can order platters of sandwiches and ready made salads from a local deli or grocery store. Pick it up in the morning and set it out in time for the shower.
Sample DIY Lunch Menu For 20 People:
Croissant sandwiches: turkey BLT, ham and cheese, chicken salad
Mixed green salad
Fruit tray or fruit salad
Cheese board
Bread basket
Desserts: tarts, cookies, cupcakes
Coffee, tea, water, juice and soft drinks
Sample Budget For DIY Lunch Bridal Shower:
Ingredients for sandwiches, salads, cheese and bread: $155
Desserts: $45
Beverages: $50
Champagne - $15 x 4 bottles: $60
Cake: $50
Decorations: $40
Games: $50
Prizes: $75
Invitations: $20
Total: $545
Sample Budget For a Catered or Restaurant Shower For 20 People:
If you want an easier way to serve a meal, find a restaurant that offers private rooms. Most of them won’t have a rental fee if you’re ordering a certain number of meals. Make sure they know you’re hosting a shower and find out how long you can use the room. When you set your budget, remember to include sales tax and gratuities.
For more on hosting a shower at a restaurant, Martha Stewart has these 8 Tips For Throwing a Bridal Shower at a Restaurant
Food and beverages - $25 x 20 people: $500
Champagne - $20 x 4 bottles: $80
Cake: $75
Decorations: $45
Games: $75
Prizes: $100
Invitations: $25
Total: $900
Take Your Time
This seems like a long list and it’s a lot to do, so take your time and do your best. Don’t worry if your budget is small or your menu isn’t perfect. Just remember, the most important part isn’t the games or the food or the decorations. It’s the bride - your friend, your sister or your daughter. The point of the party is to show her your love and support. As long as you’re considerate of your guests, everyone will have fun. And your bride will have a shower to remember!
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Pinterest Pin of cupcakes decorated with pearls and roses.
