It's Time for the Girls to Enjoy Some Fun Together

The days leading up to your wedding will be full of joy, laughs and unforgettable memories. For many people, one of those special memories to hold dear will be the bridal shower.

A memorable bridal shower can set the tone for your engagement and create a sense of excitement about the upcoming wedding. It also gives your loved ones the opportunity to “shower” (pun intended) you with love and wisdom to carry on into married life.

A lot of time and energy go into planning your wedding. Thinking about another party as part of the process of getting married can feel overwhelming. In this article, we'll cover everything you need to know to have an unforgettable bridal shower from choosing a host, finalizing the guest list, and picking a theme to everything in between.

The date you choose for the shower will typically depend on the length of your engagement. Generally, you should aim to have the bridal shower fall anywhere from six months to two weeks before the wedding.

You’re going to have a lot on your plate the closer it gets to the wedding, so having the bridal shower a few months before the wedding is a great way to spread out all of the festivities and keep people excited about the wedding.

As the bride, you’ll also want to be sure to plan for some downtime as the wedding draws near, just in case last minute wedding emergencies arise.

While the shower is meant to honor you, the bride, it’s important to pick a bridal shower date that will accommodate as many people in the wedding party as possible. Consult with important guests like the mother of the bride, bridesmaids, and the groom's mom before settling on a date.

As the big day approaches you will be up to your eyeballs in wedding plans, so remember that the goal of the bridal shower should be to shower you with attention, not give you extra work to do.

Typically, the maid of honor host the bridal shower often with the help of the bridesmaids and/or the bride’s mom. Sometimes the bridal shower is hosted by a bride’s in-laws as a contribution to the wedding festivities. Ultimately, the role of host should fall to who can handle it best.

Regardless of who is organizing your bridal shower, you can let the host know up front how involved you would like to be in the planning process to make sure the day goes just as you envision it.

Often with bridal showers, the host will incur the costs of planning the event. As a bride, it's important to be sensitive to what will be affordable for the host with regard to the shower. There are many ways to have a great event on a small budget and make it an unforgettable time for the bride.

While many bridal showers take place at the host's house or at a specific destination, the host can get creative with the venue. A few ideas for some out-of-the-box bridal showers include having it at a winery, country club, or restaurant. The location mainly depends on the budget and the number of people attending.

You might prefer a more intimate party or even decide to combine the bridal shower with a bachelorette party and hold it at a spa, or have a getaway weekend at a boutique hotel in downtown Boston or along the South Shore. In these cases it might be that the costs of the event are split among the participants with each person paying for their share of the room or spa treatments and covering the cost of the bride.

According to Yelp®, here are a few popular bridal shower venues in Boston:

• The Vintage Tea & Cake Co
• Boston Winery
• The College Club of Boston
• Hampshire House
  

The bridal shower can be small and intimate or it can be a lavish affair depending on the budget. Consult with the host beforehand about your ideal size and guest list, to make sure you’re both on the same page. If you will be staying at a hotel or going to a spa or an event, decide if guests will be asked to help with costs.

There’s one rule to follow when it comes to choosing the bridal shower guest list—invite people who are invited to the wedding. It’s smart to provide the host with a wedding guest list to avoid any awkward situations.

It's not necessary to invite every single woman who is going to the wedding. If you have the budget and capacity to invite them all, then go for it! But just keeping it exclusive to close friends and family is completely acceptable at a bridal shower. Don’t forget to include women on the groom’s side as well like his mother, other female relatives and close female friends of his.

While traditionally the bridal shower is for the bride and her female friends, some wedding parties host co-ed or "Jack and Jill" showers and invite the groom and his crew to join as well. When planning a coed shower, take into consideration what theme, food, and games or activities will appeal to both the men and women attending. The party should be fun for all of the guests, even if it is a celebration of the bride.

Another approach to take is to invite the men to join towards the end of the event. This way the ladies can enjoy time together to play games and chat and then the men can join later on and make a quick appearance to thank everyone for coming. It’s also a fun tradition for the host to ask the groom to show up towards the end of the shower to surprise the bride.

The host should send out invitations at least one month before the bridal shower. If you are expecting people to come from out of town, then it’s a good idea to send them out even further in advance.

You can take a casual approach to invitations and send them via email or text message. Designing a nice graphic as a virtual invitation is both a budget-conscious and environmentally friendly way to invite guests. Paperless Post, Punchbowl and Evite are fabulous sites to use to design and send virtual invitations as well as track RSVPs.

Of course, you can always go the traditional route and send invitations in the mail. Who doesn't love opening a beautiful invitation? Physical invitations add a warm and personal touch that’s not the same with electronic invites.

On the invitations, specify how guests should RSVP, either online or by contacting the host by phone. It’s also helpful to give an “RSVP by” date to make sure the host knows how many people to plan for.

Settling on a specific theme isn't strictly required, but it can help the host come up with creative ideas for decorations, menu items, and games.

Share your vision (or your bridal shower Pinterest board) with the host. It will give them a physical representation of what you’re looking for and make it much easier to craft a theme. If you’ve been waiting to see your Pinterest board come to life then this is the perfect precursor to the wedding to make it happen.

A few creative theme ideas suggested by Brides.com include a beach bonanza, Parisian romance, tea party, and an all-white. As a Boston bride, your theme can be inspired by local favorites from around the region such as a clam bake or a sports theme.

You can get extremely Pinterest happy and go all out to host the perfect DIY shower. Or, if you have the budget, you might opt to hire an event planner to take care of details like the theme, decorations, games, and food.

Ultimately, the like the entire event, the theme should be something meaningful to the bride, yet achievable for the host.

Food is a crucial part of any party. For a bridal shower, you don’t have to produce a massive buffet spread if it's outside of your budget. Appetizers and finger foods or just desserts are perfectly acceptable.

Don't be afraid to get creative with the menu by inviting a food truck or having a favorite local dish that represents you and the wedding. It's also common to have a cake or cupcakes for dessert.

And don’t forget about drinks! Having a signature drink is a fun way to add to the theme and wow-factor to the event. A ‘build your mimosa station,’ or a Bloody Mary bar will double as entertainment and refreshments, and your guests will love it.

The best bridal showers are spent eating, laughing and spending time together with friends and family. The most important thing is to bring joy to the event and make guests excited about the wedding.

Bridal shower games are a great way to get everyone to engage with each other and are yet another opportunity to shower the bride with attention.

We've highlighted some popular (and super fun) ideas for bridal shower games:

• Toilet paper wedding dress—To play, divide guests into teams and give each team a roll of toilet paper. The team needs to choose a “bride” on their team. Then they have 15 minutes to construct a wedding dress around their “bride” using only the toilet paper. In the end, the real bride chooses a winner, and the winner gets a small gift.
• A quiz about the bride—This game is intended to show how much you know about the bride. The bride should leave the room, and the host asks the guests questions about the bride. The questions can be about her life in general or specific questions about what she was wearing to see who is paying attention. Then the bride comes back out and answers the questions in front of the guests. Whoever answers most of the questions correctly wins a small prize.
• Clothespin game—For this game, the host chooses a buzzword before the guests arrive. It should be something wedding related that people are likely to say often during the shower. Words like “bride” “groom” and “wedding” are good choices. Whenever a guest arrives, the host hands them a clothespin and informs them that if they catch anyone saying a forbidden word, they can steal their clothespin. The person at the end of the shower with the most clothespins is the winner.
  

It's entirely up to you whether or not you want to encourage guests to bring gifts.In many traditions the shower is a way to help the bride set up a home to start her married life. You can create a separate bridal shower registry and let guests know in the invitations where to find those items so you can be sure to get just what you need.

Some brides don’t register for a bridal shower to make the gifts more personal and to be surprised. Another idea is to register for things that you still need for the wedding. Novelty items like a cake topper, custom champagne flutes, or a guest book make practical and creative bridal shower gifts. Another idea is to have a theme for the shower gifts such as a “Stock the Pantry Shower” or a “Tools and Gadgets Shower.”

You should decide if you want to open gifts during the party and thank guests individually in person or wait until guests leave. Whether or not you open presents during the shower depends on personal preference and the number of guests. If you have 100+ guests at the shower, then opening presents could take up a significant amount of time and cause the party to drag on.

There are some simple things that can take your shower to the next level.

Here are a few ideas for some fun bridal shower extras that will make the day even more unforgettable.

• Create a custom a shared album where all of the guests can upload photos . It will leave a unique mark on the day and help it stand out among a sea of wedding activities to follow.
• Rent or create your own photo booth. Guests can take photos and have fun with silly props related to the wedding.
• Create a special throne or seat for the bride. This throne is also where you could sit to open presents and play games. It also doesn't hurt if the seat is beautifully decorated to match the theme of the wedding.
• Feature a unique centerpiece like a massive floral arrangement, build your own sundae bar or a candy station to add a fun and kitschy touch to the party.
• A toast from the host is customary as well as a few words from the bride so you can thank everyone for coming.



As guests leave, many hosts give a small gift to each attendee that they’ve assembled or bought in bulk for this purpose. A few fun ideas are a shower gel and loofah for guests to use in their own “shower” or some festive, bridal-themed cookies or candy.

It’s always a nice gesture to recognize the host of the event with a small gift or token. Thank-you notes should be sent to all of those in attendance who gave a gift.

There are a lot of things that go into planning a bridal shower, but that doesn't mean it should be a burden. You can have just as much fun planning your bridal shower as you will at the event. Whether it's an intimate gathering or a big party, there are so many ways to make the day before your big day unforgettable.

It all comes down to spending time with the people who love you most.

Congratulations and all the best from your friends here at TransAction Corporate Shuttles.

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