Bridal Shower Etiquette

A Simple Guide to Bridal Shower Etiquette

If you’re going to throw a baby shower, whether for yourself or someone else, then there are a few pieces of bridal shower etiquette that you may need to brush up on. A bridal shower is a great way to help a bride celebrate her newfound love as well as help provide her with the necessities she and her husband will need in to stock up their home with. While the best course when planning a bridal shower is to create a unique and personalized party based on the individual, there are still a few traditional guidelines that can help the party run smoothly and successfully. Let’s take a look at the most significant bridal shower etiquette rules that will help provide the best shower experience.

Creating the Shower Guest List

This is probably the simplest part of hosting a bridal shower, however some people make the mistake of leaving people out or including inappropriate people. This can put a real damper on the party! The first rule when writing a bridal shower guest list is that anyone invited to the shower should also have been invited to the wedding. It is inappropriate (not to mention rude) to invite someone to a bridal shower without inviting them to the wedding itself. And let’s not forget the most important members of the guest list, all of which are female: bride and groom’s mothers and grandmothers, bridesmaids and other female attendants, aunts, cousins, and other close friends and family members of the bride and groom. Even if it is known that some of the guests will not be able to attend the bridal shower, it is still good form to send them an invitation out of courtesy.

Putting Together the Invitations

The information included in a bridal shower invitation is pretty basic. The shorter the invitation, the better, however one must be sure not to leave out any crucial information. Be sure to include the name of the bride, the date and time of the shower (and how long it will last, if possible), the exact address of where the party will be held (including a map or driving directions), the hostess’s contact information, registry information, as well as an RSVP date. The RSVP date is often two or three weeks before the date of the shower, although the invitations should be sent at least a month before the party is to take place. Any other relevant information can then be included, such as whether the party is going to be themed.

Entertaining the Guests

Although the real point of giving a bridal shower is essentially to “shower” the bride with gifts and support to help prepare her for marriage. However, the opening of gifts can easily become tedious for the guests, not to mention that the bride may need a break from the excitement and constant unwrapping! The answer? Party games! Games have become a staple segment of modern bridal showers and can help the guests—who may not know each other very well—loosen up and enjoy themselves. Encouraging the guests to mingle is very important, after all, a marriage means the joining of two families and a bridal shower can be the perfect opportunity for females on the bride’s side to get to know the females on the groom’s side. Bridal bingo is a popular game. Simply print out blank bingo cards and have the guests fill them in with items they think the bride will receive. As she opens presents, they can mark off the items they have on their list. The first to get five in a row wins a prize! Similar games can be found by doing a quick search online.

Thank You Cards

The hostess can be a huge help when it comes to thank you cards. As the gifts are unwrapped, the hostess can make notes of who gave what gift. This list will be a huge help for the bride, who already has a lot going on. If the hostess has the time, she may even be able to include a mailing address for each person so that the bride doesn’t have to spend extra time hunting down addresses in order to mail the thank you cards.

Although there are plenty of other traditional, and somewhat more “stuffy”, bridal shower etiquette rules, the above mentioned are by far the most crucial!