Tips for Planning a Most Lovely Bridal Shower (& Other Events)

I do so love to throw a good party. I’m really pretty sure I’ve mentioned before that when I grow up I would love to be an event planner. Let me clarify though, NOT a wedding planner. That’s far too much pressure. I want to plan baby showers, birthday parties, fundraisers, and, my favorite, bridal showers. There’s really no formal education necessary for becoming an event planner. (Some schools will tell it’s an absolute must, but they’re just trying to get your money.) I realize for some planning a party can be a major headache, so here are 10 tips to help minimize the stress of throwing a bridal shower or other event. (Or email me and I’ll give you a good price for my event planning services :))

1. Theme
A theme is essential. It is the glue that holds the shower together. A theme can be anything from simply using the colors pink and gold to a full blown Hawaiian Luau. Always keep in the bride-to-be in mind when choosing a theme. Pick a theme that you know she would enjoy whether it’s based on a favorite hobby, color, movie, food or season.

Throughout this post I am going to use a Chocolat movie theme. I threw a bridal shower for my sister about a year ago and the theme just so happens to be her favorite movie. With a Chocolat theme I was able to incorporate several aspects into the shower that were inspired by the movie: chocolate, the colors turquoise, red, and gold, French Country, and a kangaroo silhouette.

2. Budget
While the budget certainly isn’t the most exciting part of any event, it certainly is one of the most crucial. The budget will help determine how the rest of the shower-making decisions will go: at hostess’s house or swanky expensive hotel? Champagne fountain or chocolate fountain? Pot-luck or caterer? I firmly believe any theme can be carried out on any budget. It all depends on how creative, frugal and DIY a hostess is willing to be.

3. Guests
Sit down with the bride-to-be (or her mother if it’s a surprise shower) and make a guest list. Depending on your budget you might not be able to invite everyone that the bride wants to invite. Do your best to please the bride, but don’t break your bank account to accommodate the entire 250+ wedding guest list. Consider if children are invited to the shower. Children will change the whole tone of the affair, so if you’re planning a Martini themed event inviting children might not be such a great idea. Also, only invite guests who are also invited to the wedding.

4. Invitations
The invitations are the guests’ sneak-peak into the whole affair. The invites should wow them. They may already have plans on the date of the shower and the invitations need to convince them they should cancel those plans and attend the shower.

Purple Trail has some fabulous bridal shower invites. The best part though, all of their invites are completely customizable. You can add/change the background, add/change the text, and add/change embellishments to the pre-made designs. If the pre-made designs just aren’t what you’re looking for, you can make an invitation from scratch using their custom invitation designer.

Had I known about Purple Trail at the time of my sister's bridal shower I most definitely would have used their site.  I designed and printed the invites myself, so it would have been great to have been able to use their design program and have them do the printing.  If had I used Purple Trail here's what the invitations would have looked like:
 

The invitation on the left is Purple Trail's design.  The invite on the right is how I redesigned it using their personalization program.  I changed the background and font colors and I changed the embellishment.

I made this invitation from scratch using Purple Trail's custom invitation designer.

5. Location and  Decorations

Many hostesses choose to hold the shower at their homes. If you’re on a tight budget this is an excellent spot. Simply use decorations to showcase the theme. This can be done with the colors you chose for the plasticware and tablecloths, the colors and types of flowers, and even background music you play throughout the shower.

If your budget allows for it choose a location, other than your home, that works well with your theme. An Italian restaurant for a Lady and the Tramp theme, a local park for a Camping theme, or a country club for a Ralph Lauren-esque theme. Decorations might not be necessary as the venue itself will probably reflect the atmosphere you hope to create. However, don’t be afraid to add your own little touches like flowers.

For my sister’s bridal shower I chose a winery with a gorgeous house that was described as a “French Country Chateau” on the winery’s website. I certainly was not going to find a better location than that to fit the shower theme. Since the room was already decorated I only added flower arrangements to the tables and balloons scattered around the edges of the room to add some color.

6. Schedule
It’s always best to have a general outline of how you want the big day to go. If the shower is being held at your own home you aren’t constrained by a time limit like you are if the shower is held at a rented venue. However, even if you aren’t locked into a two hour time frame you still want the keep things moving along, so guests don’t get bored. Be sure to include set-up and tear down times in your schedule, so you don’t get charged for any overtime. Most importantly, relax! Use the schedule as a guideline and if things go a bit out of order just go with the flow and your guests will never notice.

7. Food
Food can be an unexpected way to continue your theme. Guests may be expecting roast beef sandwiches, a cheese platter and deviled eggs, so throw them for a loop by thinking outside of the box. On the other hand, if your theme is Nursery Rhymes and the roast beef was inspired by This Little Piggy, the cheese platter by The Farmer in the Dell, and the deviled eggs by Humpty Dumpty, print up a menu card to wow your guests with your mad planning skills.  Also, keep in mind that almost any recipe can be found on the Internet.  If you're having a hard time coming up with a menu, but you can't afford a caterer, call a catering company and see if they'll charge you just to help design a menu. 

For the Chocolat themed bridal shower the obvious route would have been to have a variety of chocolate desserts. I went beyond that and the entire menu was chocolate related.  I did hire a caterer, however, I considered making everything myself and had actually found all the recipes online before contacting the caterer.

Vegetable Display with Chocolate Yogurt Dip

Tiki Shrimp with a Ginger Dipping Sauce

White Chocolate Ambrosia Salad

Chocolate Soup with Mascarpone Brioche Sandwiches made with honey and cream cheese

Panini with Chocolate and Brie

Hot open-faced Ham, Swiss, and Granny Apple Sandwiches on Baguette with Dijon Mustard

Chocolate Fondue with Strawberries, Pineapples, Bananas, Pretzels, and Marshmallows

Raspberry Iced Tea

Of course, I couldn’t ignore dessert, so the cake was three layers of different chocolate flavors and we set up a chocolate candy buffet.

8. Games and Prizes
I like to incorporate a variety of games into the shower. It’s fun to have a game or two that reflect the bride and groom and some that are inspired by the theme. I also like to use the games to break up the shower. There is no need to play all the games at once. Use a game as an icebreaker, then eat and socialize, play another game, open gifts, and finish with a game. It keeps the shower from feeling as if it’s dragging.

Prizes for the game winners can be anything that fit into your budget. If the pocketbook is feeling a bit empty use the flower arrangements as prizes. If you go with a variety of prizes be creative with how you hand them out to game winners. Will the winners just pick the prize of their choice or will they pick the prize based on a clue taped to the outside of a wrapped package? Don’t forget to tally up how many potential winners there could be, so you get enough prizes. Also, plan a tie breaker ahead of time (closest birthday to the wedding date) just in case.

For my sister’s shower we played four games. Two were directly related to the theme and included chocolate. The other two were games we knew would be fun for all the guests. The prizes were a mixture of theme related prizes (fondue set, chocolate making kit) and whatever struck our fancy at the time (pink tool kit, tea pot). We bagged the prizes, so the winners had a gift to open as well.

9. Gifts
To open gifts or to not open gifts at the shower? Depending on who you’re talking to the answer could go either way. The more traditional folks would say opening gifts at a shower is a must. After all, isn’t that sort of the point of a shower? To shower the bride with gifts? The less traditional ones, myself included, would say it isn’t necessary. In fact, not only can it be downright boring, but if you’re limited on time, skipping the gift opening makes more time for the other things. Go with your gut on this one. If you choose to have the bride not open gifts make sure you let the guests know when they arrive and to thank them before they leave.

This is the message we printed up for my sister’s bridal shower:

10. Favors

The favors are a way of letting your guests know just how much you appreciate them taking the time to celebrate with the bride-to-be and showering her with gifts. I think favors are best when they are edible. It’s hard to pick one particular item that all the guests could use and you don’t want all the favors to end up in the trash. Edible favors are enjoyed by everyone. Package up candy that is inspired by your theme (candied pineapples for a Hawaiian Luau) in a pretty box and guests will probably tear into them before they even leave the shower.

The favors for the Chocolat bridal shower were a mixture of chocolate and some of the bride’s favorites: Egyptian perfume bottles (which Megan collects), the movie Chocolat, Bride and Groom Chocolate Miniatures, Poppin' Time Brittle Bark, and white chocolate covered fudge Oreo cookies with a picture of Meg and Dru on them. 

And I know I said 10, but here’s one more…

11. Have Fun and Take Pictures
You probably stressed yourself out planning this shower and you’re probably worrying over every little thing during the shower. Well, STOP! Take a deep breath and have a great time. The bride is your best friend, sister, or daughter, so enjoy this time with her. Something will undoubtedly not go as planned during those three hours. It does not matter. What matters is that the bride is smiling, the guests don’t want to leave, and you’re the most gracious hostess you can be. Take tons of pictures, so later in the day you and the bride can look back and remark on how amazing her shower was all thanks to you.

For more ideas (including more budget-friendly ideas) and pictures on the Chocolat theme, please visit here and here.

I received a lovely gift certificate to Purple Trail through Brandfluential for writing this post. However, that did not shape my opinions in this post and the opinions and ideas expressed in this post are 100% mine.