Wedding season is here! If you’re hosting a bridal shower this spring or summer, Party Host Helpers has you covered. Our Bucks County Regional Director, Rachel, has been a part of many bridal showers and is sharing the best tips you need to know! These ideas make for a memorable bridal shower that runs smoothly, whether you’re holding the event at a rented venue or in your living room.
Give guests something to do when they arrive
Make your guests feel at home by giving them something to do when they arrive. While you’re in a hurry saying hello to everyone and making introductions, directing them on where to stash gifts and grab a drink is only going to go so far.
One of our favorites is to ask guests to caption a selection of photos of the bride and groom! Use a few silly childhood photos or some of those awkward teen photos the bride and groom are okay with using for public display. You can keep entries in the open by posting a numbered list of blank spaces on a piece of paper by each photo, or have guests submit their captions on folded pieces of paper for a big reveal later. Get ready for laughs!
Another option we love is to have guests sign in by writing marriage advice on a page of a photo book. Assign a bridesmaid (or a Party Host Helper!) to snap a photo of the bride with each guest at the shower. When you put the photo book together, it will be a keepsake for the bride.
Personalize the decorations
We’re all about décor that falls in line with the bride’s wedding colors. If your budget allows you to snag decorations the bride can use in a different scheme for her wedding day, that’s great too. But to make a statement, turn to personalizing! Use collections of framed wedding photos of the bride and groom’s own parents and grandparents on different tables. Photo prints are cheap, frames are easy to re-purpose, and even better: it’s a great conversation starter.
Make the games selection interesting
There’s nothing wrong with classic bridal shower games like gift opening bingo or finding out what’s in everybody’s purse. In the end though, what people love most is getting to know the bride and groom. Some guests might know the bride better than the groom or vice versa, but everyone is still getting to know the bride and groom together as a couple.
The best games that focus on the bride and groom take some advance preparation, but they’re worth it! For the “He Said, She Said” game, ask the bride and groom to fill out a questionnaire about themselves and their relationship. Compile the best and most surprising answers into one page of unattributed statements. Print enough copies to go around and have your guests decide if he said it, she said it, or if they both said it! Don’t forget—we can’t stress this enough—to have an answer key at the ready!
For the “Newlywed Game,” have the bride answer a list of questions for herself—and then say how she thinks her fiancé answered. What is her fiancé’s biggest pet peeve? What is his most memorable near-death experience? Surprise her when you hit “play” on an audio or video recording to hear how her fiancé actually answered! If the bride guesses his answer correctly, maybe she gets a token reward; if she’s wrong, she has to put a piece of bubble gum in her mouth.
Simple prizes are the most rewarding
Before you start researching recipes for homemade bath scrubs to hand out as prizes, trust us: $5 or $10 gift cards are the answer. It’s less expensive than launching into DIY projects or going over budget on gifts to impress, and they still make it fun.
The gift cards can be to Wawa or Sephora, but we promise you: your guests will have their heads in the game! Depending on your guest list count, grab 5 or 10 gift card options and present them with a ribbon tied around each one.
Keep it moving with a gift-opening assembly line.
Maximize time with your guests and keep their interest when you streamline your gift opening operation. If your bride is the one picking up each gift, opening it, thanking the recipient, discarding the wrapping paper, and setting it aside, it’s going to take hours.
Put those bridesmaids to work: ask one to deliver gifts individually to the bride, who opens them while another assistant writes down what was given and from whom, and at least a third person tapes any cards to the unwrapped gifts and sets them aside, while a fourth can take the wrapping paper and another one can snap photos.
Make sure you have tape, scissors, a discreet garbage bag, a notebook and a pen assembled beforehand. You’ll be shocked to see the difference a gift-opening assembly line makes!
Our best tip: Hire a Party Host Helper!
You know how to host memorable parties for everyone else to enjoy, but now it’s your turn to be present at the party too. With everything else you’re planning, get a free quote hire bridal party staff! Then you can plan on enjoying your guests at the bridal shower!
Looking for more ideas to take your celebration to the next level? Check out CEO, Renee Patrone, on FOX43 sharing her favorite recipes, cocktails and more that are perfect for your bridal shower!
Click here to watch!
