Bridal Shower Games and Ideas

By Linda S Richardson

So, you either volunteered to have the wedding shower, or you were elected by your friends. So what kinds of things can you plan for the bridal shower to keep everyone busy for a while?

Food always works. Even if your budget is small, you can plan to have some food. Typically, the minimum food to serve at a wedding shower would be a cake, nuts, maybe some mints, and a nice punch, coffee, and maybe tea. If you cannot afford to supply food for several guests, one way to have a nice buffet, is to ask all the guests to bring a dish. It is nice, if when sending out the bridal shower invitations, you include this information. You can send a separately typed note that you insert into the invitation, asking that all guests bring a dish. You can even request a particular item from a guest. You could type up something like the following:

Dear Guest,

Please bring one of your favorite dishes to the bridal shower. We would like to have a tasty buffet,
so we are asking that everyone bring a dish. You are asked to bring some kind of salad. It can be
a Jello salad, green salad, mixed bean salad, potato salad, or whatever kind of salad you feel
would compliment our buffet.

Along with the dish, please bring several copies of the recipe. We will be leaving copies out for
anyone who might want one. The bride-to-be will be given a copy of each recipe brought to the
shower!

Drinks, plates, utensils, condiments, etc., will be provided.

Please R.S.V.P., to Jane, at phone number: 111-111-1111, by Saturday, June 12.

Thank you, and be sure to come hungry!

Sincerely,

Susan

Or, you could have catered food, if your budget is not something to worry about. Food allows everyone to enjoy some time to sit and get to know each other. If nothing else, they can usually enjoy talking about the food.

The other thing besides food, to occupy everyone for a while, should be some shower games. There are many kinds of games available. You can purchase game pads, with ideas, at places like gift shops. You can print games and game information from the internet. Most games are easy to set up by yourself. Following is a list of some games that are fun, will get everyone talking to each other, and won’t cost very much.

First, you will need a list of some items you will need at the bridal shower if you plan to play games. Don’t forget the following:

Note paper
Pencils and/or pens
Small prizes or gifts

One note about the prizes; many people like to purchase more gifts for the bride-to-be, instead of giving the prizes to the guests. Others would rather that the guests receive the prizes that they win. This is personal preference. But say you would like to purchase more gifts for the bride-to-be, and, you are having a kitchen themed bridal shower. You might want to purchase gifts like kitchen towels, potholders, kitchen decorations, etc. On the other hand, if you are purchasing gifts for the guests, you might want to purchase items that are more generic, like candles, chocolate, etc. If you plan to give the prizes to the bride-to-be, you may want to be sure all the guests have been informed of this before you begin playing games.

Here are some games you may want to explore for your bridal shower.

The Gift Basket Game: For this game, place about 20 items into a basket. Let’s stay with the kitchen themed wedding shower here, so you would want to put all kitchen items into the basket. Things like utensils, potholder, kitchen towel, packets of sweetener, etc. You let everyone view the items in the basket for thirty seconds. Then, have each guest make a list of all the items they can remember from the basket. The person with the largest, correct list, wins the prize.

Bridal Word-Scramble Game: Give all the guests some paper and a pencil or pen. Have them write the bride-to-be’s full wedded name across the top of their page. Give them five minutes to see how many words they can make from her name. The guest with the most correct answers wins.

Wedding Advice Game: Have everyone write down two or three pieces of advice for the bride-to-be. Have each person sign their sheet. Then collect all the sheets, and save them for the bride-to-be. These can be added to a scrapbook that is made about her bridal shower too!

Who Am I Game: Pin the name of a famous person on the back of each guest. They have to find out who they are by asking questions to the other guests. Set a rule before you start, for example, the tenth person to figure out who they are wins the prize. This will cause a lot of interaction and fun. You can stay with the theme for this also. If you are having the kitchen themed shower, you could use names like: Emeril Lagasse, Rachael Ray, Paula Deen, etc. Be sure to throw in a couple of names that have nothing to do with food!

The Can’t Do or Say Game: The hostess gives each guest a clothes pin when they come to the shower. Let the guests know, that there are three words than no one can say during the bridal shower. For example, “bride”, “wedding”, and “groom”. Then, if someone hears another guest use one of the words, they can take their pin. The person at the end with the most pins wins. Another variation of this game can be, to let the guests know that no one can cross their legs at the ankles. Then, if a guest catches someone crossing their legs like this, they take their pin. Again, the person with the most pins will win.

Famous Couples Game: Prior to the day of the shower, make some lists of names, which will be half of a famous couple. For example, you list the names: Popeye, George Bush, Angelina Jolie, etc. Make a list of about fifteen to twenty couples. Then, have the guests complete the list by entering the other half of the famous couples name. For this list, they would enter: Olive Oil, Laura Bush, Brad Pit, etc. The person with the most correct answers wins. Be prepared for a tie. You may want to have extra names for a tie breaker!

How Well Do You Know the Bride Game: This is a fun game to see how much each guest knows about the bride-to-be. Make a list of ten to twenty questions about the bride. Ask the guests the questions, one by one, and let them write down their answers. The person who answers the most questions correctly wins a small prize. Make up your own questions, or use the examples listed below:

What is the Bride-to-be’s favorite color?
What is the Bride-to-be’s middle name?
What’s the bride-to-be’s shoe size?
What was the bride-to-be’s first job?
What’s the color of the bride-to-be’s eyes?
What’s the bride-to-be’s favorite band or solo singer?
What’s the bride-to-be’s favorite TV show?
What’s the name of her favorite film?
What’s the name of her favorite book?
What’s the name of the bride-to-be’s favorite shop?
What’s the bride-to-be’s favorite food?
What’s the name of the bride-to-be’s favorite actor?
What’s the name of the bride and grooms favorite restaurant?
What month of the year did she meet the groom?

Herbs and Spices Game: This is a fun game too. Using paper cups, place an herb or spice into each one. Cover with paper or foil, mark each cup with a number, and punch a small hole into the covering. Have each guest sniff the cup, then write the name of the herb or spice, identifying it by its number on the cup. Whoever gets the most answers correct, wins.

Bridal Shower Bingo Game: This is a fun game but takes a little more planning and organization to play. You will need to print out some Bridal Shower Bingo cards. (You can find these on the internet for free.) You will also need a list of the words that are on these cards. Cut up the list of words so that they can be pulled from a hat or a bag. Give each guest a card. The cards will have words which are associated with weddings, romance, gifts, etc. The hostess usually acts as the bingo caller, and pulls the pieces of paper with the words printed on them, from a hat, or a dish, or a bag. Then she calls out the word. When a guest has the word on her card, she marks it off with a pencil or pen. The first guest to mark off a line, horizontally, vertically, or corner-to-corner, calls out “Bingo” and wins that game.

The Bridal Shower Raffle Game: At the end of the game session, have each person write their name on a piece of paper, and place all the names in a basket. Have the bride-to-be pull out a name. You can give away a small gift, or the table centerpiece!

Other than games, there are still activities you can plan for the bridal shower. First on that list of course, is opening gifts. Be sure to allow enough time after games so the bride-to-be can take her time and enjoy each gift.

Another nice activity for the wedding shower that most people don’t think about, is if the hostess, or the maid-of-honor, or the mother of the bride-to-be, puts together a video of the bride-to-be’s life, up to the present. It can be a fun way for guests to remember things about her, and it can be very sentimental for the bride. A person’s life changes so much when they marry, that it is fun to have a “documentary” of life before marriage, with the bride-to-be as the star, with her friends and family all there with her. If someone is good with a PC, a CD can easily be made from home videos or from still photos. If the CD is made from photos, it can be set to music. If you don’t know anyone that can do it for you, ask around. Many people know other people who do this on the side, as a hobby. If you still can’t find anyone, look in the phone book for people or small businesses that make CD’s, call around, and then, check on line. You will most certainly be able to find someone to do this and it is a great way to make it a day to remember for the bride-to-be!

Give a great wedding shower and have fun!

For planning, organizing, and giving the perfect bridal shower, visit: http://www.BridalShowerThings.com

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