The bridal shower is an American wedding tradition that for too long has been associated with tea, crustless sandwiches and wrapping paper bouquets. Here are a few ways of making it fresh and memorable.
Gift Related Themes:
Have each guest bring a gift based on a list of “Famous Firsts” for the couple: their first road trip, dinner party, fight, etc. Have each guest write on the gift card why they thought their gift was perfect for the occasion, and glue each card into an album, along with Polaroids from the shower.
Traditional, tried and true are the “Around the Clock” and “Around the House” themes. Assign each guest a time or room for their gift. Another old favorite is the lingerie shower. Give it a new twist by assigning a mood for each piece of lingerie: romantic, naughty, bloated, etc.
Surreptitiously record, in an attractive album, what the bride says as she opens each gift. Superstition tells us that those will be the same phrases she used (or will use) the first time she made love to her husband. When all the gifts are open, read what she has said.
Play the Blackboard Game: a few days before the shower, videotape the groom responding to a prearranged list of questions to determine how well he knows her. For example: what kind of shampoo she uses, favorite books, colors, sexual position, etc. At the shower, ask her the same list and tape her responses. Play back his tape and see how well they do.
Party Themes:
The Honeymooners:
Create a theme for the shower based on where the couple is honeymooning, or
a place where the bride has always dreamed of going. Decorate accordingly,
serve regional food, play local music and have related party favors like Hawaiian
Leis or beach sarongs.
Ladies Who Lunch:
Okay, serve your crustless sandwiches. Hire a manicurist or makeup artist
to pamper the bride and guests. Serve sophisticated cocktails and plan on
going shopping together afterwards.
Into the Mystic:
Hire a fortune teller or palm reader. Drape scarves over the lamps, serve
sangria and play the Gypsy Kings.
Happily Holistic:
Hire a masseuse to give neck and shoulder rubs. Play Enya, burn Aromatherapy
candles and serve fruit smoothies, wheatgrass juice and herbal tea.
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