Seeking Advice for Bridal Shower

Most of my ideas are already on here. We had a cocktail party for one bride and tied a funny not well known fact about the bride on the stem of each wine glass that said "Ask Jane about the time....". It gave people from the grooms side something fun to chat with the bride about.

Also, my favorite favor/centerpiece go to papercakesbyrachel.com. She can customize them in any color to match a theme or wedding colors etc.

Think about the bride and what she likes. Make it a special theme or activity for she and her guests to share.

For example, the latest bridal shower I have given was for my sister. She and I grew up drinking tea, and she enjoys trying new flavors of tea as well as finding new tea houses. I did a little research in her area and found a tea room she hadn't been to before. Also, her groom is from England....kind of worked right into the theme! So I planned a 2 hour long shower and while we passed around a book in which each guest wrote a piece of advice, opened gifts, and played one game , we snacked on cucumber sandwiches, scones, fresh fruits, jams and little desserts~ those were each paired with an appropriate tea flavor.
It was an enjoyable afternoon for all the guests.....
I liked it because it was something especially planned for my sister. She even gave her bridesmaids and myself beautiful china tea sets as our "bridal party gift".
Have fun with it!

At a bridal shower that I went to, the planner had prepared a list of questions about the bride or the couple from the husband's point of view, without the bride knowing it. She even taped the husband's answers. Then at the party she asked the bride the same questions and showed a video of the husband's answers (after the bride answered). It was really cute and amazing to see how little we know the bride, and how much the fiance did. And it was cute to see her reactions to his answers. Some of the questions were: 'What chore will BRIDE most likely avoid the most often?' and 'Who said I Love You first?' and 'Where was your first date?' and 'How many children do you plan on having?' That last one is definitely dependent on the couple!! Anyways, it was neat to see.
Good luck with your planning!

Ok. Here is what I can suggest to help. I have thrown a few showers (baby and bridal) and I always find great ideas online. Go to Yahoo.com and type into the search bridal showers. You should get a list of sites for games and all sorts of things. If you're careful you can find some great games that are actually fun for everyone!! There are some really great things you can do. Also, since it's usually all women, you can do a classy "wine and cheese" type thing for the food if you guys are into that sort of thing. Depending of course on your budget. Times are tough for everyone now but I'm sure you can find a great budget friendly solution if that is your problem. Feel free to email me personally if you have anymore questions. If you email me with her likes/interests and such maybe I could make better suggestions. Also I might be able to suggest the right games depending on the personality and sense of humor of the group. Some games are better suited to some types of personalities than others. Don't want to offend anyone. Good luck and have fun.

Are you asking for game ideas, things to do.....like at a salon, etc. or exactly what are you looking for?

For my shower the hostess mailed out little index cards with the invitations and asked that the invitee write down their favorite recipe or a nice quote or advice for marriage and then they were put together in a book for me. You could buy pretty cards and do this or use regular cards and add you own stickers, etc. Some game ideas: A quiz- Bride or Groom- with questions to see how well they know the couple- for example, write a statement- Had a broken arm after falling off a bike- Jane or Jon- and then they circle the name. The more questions the better. Then you score them. You'll need help from the couple to get the info, but it's kind of fun. Try to include couple stuff like "Who said 'I love you' first?" etc. I'm sure there are lots of great ideas on the internet, but try to do things the bride would like. Remember Mad Libs? You could make up a wedding version. It is fun to have a theme. Some good ones are Beach vacation (honeymoon), Tea Party, Great Romances in History, Garden Party, or something based on the location of their first date or their hobbies. Good luck! Have fun with it!

at my shower they asked me some questions about my fiance then showed a video of him answering the same questions (kind of like the newlywed game)

Hi H.,
Whatever you do ~ no games! I have never met anyone who enjoyed them, at wedding showers or baby showers. I'd make sure there is someone there taking pictures, not a professional photographer, but an aunt or friend. There are always things going on that the bride-to-be is too busy to see. Plus they'll help her remember the special party you threw for her.
Good luck!

oh, i love showers!! when is it? and re you in charge of invitations? the showers i've done best and been to that are the best had some kind of theme. my college roommate loved cookies, so it was a "cookie" theme, the center pieces were big canisters of home made cookies, the favors were girl and boy cookie cutters wit the bride and groom's favorite pbcookie recipe...iwent to a shower where you were supposed to bring a gift that had something to do with a certain hour of the day, everyone was assigned a time (am- you could give kitchen gadgets for breakfast or cereal bowls, afternoon maybe a picnic baskt, etc)...my sister we had a luau (spelling??) everyone got "laid" as they walked in and throughout the shower if you heard someone call the bride and groom by first name you could steal their lai's and the winner was the one who got "laid" the most. we also asked te groom questions ahead of time and had my sister try to answer them, for every one she missed she had to take one step closer to the pool...oh dear, i could go on and on! let me know if you need any specific ideas! how fun!! :) K.
2 more things...
1. best thing ever: have everyone who comes to the shower write their name and address on an envelope. then the bride will have al the addresses ready to go with the thankyou cards. you can alos use tho envelopes for a drawing.
2. brides always hate to open gifts and have everyone just sitting there watching, soi love the bingo game-put a number on every gift that is brought into the shower. then before the bride opens them, have the peole fill in numbers on a bingo card. as she open the gifts call out the number and everyone searches theircards for te magic numbers. takes off the akwardness and is fun too!

One thing my friends did for me that was memorable was that each lady on arrival was given an index card and told to write a piece of advice they wished someone would have told them when they got married or something they learned that would be valuable advice for a new bride. Either have them read them or let the bride to be read tham aloud. Another fun thing was, as I opened my gifts, someone sneakily wrote down the things I said for each. Then at the end, they read them as a list with the title "Things she will say on her honeymoon." It was soooo funny. "OOh, how cute! I know I will use this lots and lots!" LOL

One really nice thing at my...ahem...more refined shower was he family matriarch, my great-grandma, read aloud the Proverbs 31. It was sweet.

My sister in law hired a photographer for 2 hours to cover everything, and the album was their group gift. She had enough stress, she said, without taking the pictures/dealing with them afterwards..