You’ve been chosen to host your best friends bridal shower and don’t know where to begin. The following are eight points of interest planners should look to first in order to throw an amazing bridal shower.
The Top Three
Without these three items, no host will be able to give a fun, engaging, meaningful shower. Also, without these three items, no host will be able to move on to other items on this list.
• Theme: Ask the bride for three themes she likes most then make it a surprise. Without a theme, most planners find it hard to develop the rest of the shower.
• Guest list: Don’t make it yourself. Leave it to the bride to make the guest list. Just check to make sure everyone on the guest list is also invited to the wedding (etiquette).
• Budget: Decide right away who’s paying for what. If it’s a combined effort, make sure everyone knows what they’re paying for and how much it is. If the host is expensing the event, make sure the bride is aware of the costs. The more the host and bride communicate about spending limits, the less stress the both will have.
The Rest
Now that the theme, guest list and budget have been decided on, planners can delve into the details.
• Location: After the theme has been decided on , it’s easier to place the shower. If the bride wants a small, quiet setting, it’s quite appropriate to ask the mother of the bride for the use of her home. Or, if the bride wants a big, extravagant shower, look at the budget and see if renting a venue works better for the event.
• Invitations: Whether you spend hundreds of dollars to have the invitations professionally made, or a group of the bridesmaids decided to make them themselves, make sure the invitations reflect the style and theme of the shower.
• Food: Mexican, Italian, Indian, Krispy Kreme? Catering the food really correlates with what the theme is.
• Favors: How much do you want to spend? It’s nice to leave guests with a memento, but more important to make sure it stays within reason (i.e. candles vs. an engraved watch).
• Games: Bridal shower games are an important part of the event. Make sure you know your audience. If your guest list is comprised of mostly mothers and grandmothers, try and stay away from such games/questions as Truth or Dare or What Lingerie Does He Like?
These eight items will hopefully keep our planners from getting overwhelmed and stressed out. Once you know the theme, budget and guest list, planning becomes that much easier.