Bridal Shower Trends

A bridal shower is defined as a “gift-giving party held for a bride-to-be in anticipation of her wedding. The custom originated in the 1890s and is today most common in the United States and Canada.”The tradition has withstood the test of time, but many bridal shower themes and activities have been enhanced or updated. Brides are still showered with gifts, praise and well wishes but the party doesn’t stop there. Showers involve extensive planning and thought. Some popular contemporary bridal shower activities are quizzes and games about the bride, photo booths, a wedding day countdown, crafts, date idea jar, recipe book for a happy marriage, mimosa bar, elaborate centerpieces and photo displays of the happy couple, just to name a few.

What’s a bridal shower without a mimosa bar? Typically, the desired amount of champagne is poured into the champagne glass then the guest can add their preferred juice atop the bubbly, and top it off with some fresh fruit! The option to choose your own juice will be sure to please all your guests! Popular juices for mimosas are orange, cranberry, pomegranate, orange mango, and grapefruit juice. Be sure to be creative with your bar. Put the juices in different sized carafes, display the fruit in unique shaped bowls and make cute name tags to hang on the stem of each glass. Dress the table up with the accents in the bride’s favorite color along with some flowers.

Once everyone has made their own perfect mimosa, it’s time to start some games and quizzes! Place a mad lib about the bride on each place setting for guests to fill out once they arrive and allow guests to share.  Set up a craft station where guests can make their own tissue paper flower bouquets! The Bride can then pick her favorite and the winner gets a prize! Next up is a game called, “who said it?” Collect the top 10 quotes from the bride and groom and ask guests to guess who they think said what. Lastly, hang old photos of the bride and groom and allow guest to guess their age in the photos. The guest with the closest guess wins a prize!

Bridal Shower activities don’t just stop at fun drinks and games, many bridal showers have photo booths. Whether its small props or a full booth set up, allowing your guests to capture the fun they’re having, is a must. Provide props like masks, hats or signs to make the booth even more fun. Party goers can then keep copies of the photos they take and save them as a memory from the bridal shower. Activity and favor all wrapped up in one!

Grain House Autumn Bridal Shower

Another tradition that is popular at showers today is for the groom to make an appearance towards the end of the shower! This is a nice opportunity for him to meet anyone he hasn’t met yet and to thank the guests for the gifts that the bride and he were given. Speaking of gifts, make sure to save all the bows from each package to make into a fun bouquet for the bride to use at her rehearsal. By the end of the shower, hopefully the bride is pleased with the drinks, activities, photos and bow bouquet! Next stop, wedding day!