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March 3, 2011 by Kelly Curtis

5 Bridal Shower Themes The Bride Is Sure To Love!

Do you have the honor of being a lovely bridesmaid in your friend’s wedding? Are you ready for the beautiful bridesmaid dress and the responsibilities of what comes along with it? One of the duties that comes with being a bridesmaid is hosting a fabulous bridal shower. However, are you tired of just a traditional theme and want something different? Let Wedding And Party Network help plan your next bridal shower with a fun theme the bride and her guests will truly enjoy.

When you think of bridal showers, do you think of the traditional gathering of friends, food and watching the bride open presents in a big circle? Yes, that’s still the focus on the shower, but putting a fun and unusual twist on it will make it truly unique. Here are a few themes that you may want to do for your next shower to make it fun and unique.

Around The Clock: You can still host the traditional luncheon or tea party with this shower, however, add a twist to it with an around the clock theme. The main idea behind this theme is guests should bring gifts that will relate to different “times” in the bride & groom’s life. Either different occasions that they might have in their life, like dinner parties, picnics or travel. It can also pertain to different times of the day for the bride & groom.

Maybe the guests will bring luggage for the honeymoon, dishes for breakfast time or a picnic basket full of goodies. Guests will be able to get creative with their gifts and so will you. Base your food around the time of days, set up 3 tables and serve items for breakfast, lunch and dinner or focus on a particular meal of the day. It’s a fun bridal shower theme where everyone can get creative!

“Mood” Shower: A bridal shower based on the bride’s mood. Go with the traditional bridal shower, except this time, include a card that says, “The bride is in the mood to clean” or “The bride is in the mood to cook”. So, the guests can get a gift based around their mood card. Cleaning products, cooking gifts or spa gifts are great gifts given at this shower.

Pound Shower: For the bride & groom who have all they need, throw a pound shower. It’s related to a stock the pantry shower, which is bringing kitchen items for their home. Spices, baking tools or a gourmet food basket would be great. However, take it a step further and let guests bring one pound of a household product. Flour, sugar, detergent, eggs, baking soda or whatever the guests can find that comes in a pound. Also, have the guests bring a recipe to go with it and a kitchen gadget that helps create the finishing dish. Maybe a pound of flour, chocolate chip cookie recipe and a baking sheet would be a great idea.

Shower Of Firsts: For the brand new couple, a shower of firsts would be a great start to their happy marriage. Inform guests to bring gifts that will go along with their first year of marriage. A Christmas ornament for their first Christmas, a gift to go along with the first time they burn dinner or their first night apart are just a few of the ideas that guests can get creative with.

Honey-Do Shower:A bridal shower that is catered for both the bride and groom. Couple showers are becoming increasingly popular. This way, the groom gets to have a little fun too. Honey do shower based around the phrase, “Honey, do this” or “Honey, do that”. For example, Honey, take out the garbage or honey, that lawn needs to be mowed. Maybe the groom might want to skip out on this shower, it sounds like he’ll have a lot of work on his hands.

These are just a few shower ideas that you could do for the bride, however, there are so many more! Stock the bar, room of the house, alphabet shower, spa theme, wine and cheese party, travel theme or the game of life shower are more ideas that you can use for a bridal shower theme. Each one is so unique and extremely fun! The bride will be one happy girl with these fun shower themes.

This post is brought to you by Miami Party Planners.
Not in Miami, FL? No worries, use Wedding and Party Network’s handy party planning directory to help you find party planners near you!

January 6, 2011 by Kelly Curtis

4 Tips On Throwing A Holiday Bridal Shower

We all love the holidays, each and every one of them. We all love to decorate and share in the festivities through decorations. However, when people first get married they don’t always have a lot of stuff, like dishes, furniture or decorations, let along holiday decorations. Therefore, throwing a holiday bridal shower is the perfect idea. It’s a fun holiday party where guests can shower the bride with lots of holiday goodies. Here are a few tips, ideas and variations that you can do to throw a unique bridal shower!

A Festive Christmas Shower

If the bride is getting married around the holiday season or will share her engagement around Christmas, this is a great time to throw one of these fun bridal showers. There are lots of ideas out there that will be great for this shower.

Color Combo: First off, ask your bride what colors she wants to use for her Christmas decorations. Is it the traditional red and green or a unique color, such as green and silver. This is the key since all your party decorations can be catered towards the bride’s color combo. Color coordinate the bridal shower invitations with the colors and include what holiday colors the bride will be using in her decor. That way guests can cater to her wants and needs.

Party Decorations: Since this shower will be around Christmas time, more than likely you have someone who has their Christmas decorations out. Therefore, you won’t need a lot of party decorations. You want to focus more on the table.

Do you have Christmas tableware that you are planning to get the bride? Well set it out on the table, she’ll love to see how she can use it. It plays up the party food table too. If someone plans on getting her a small Christmas tree or even a wreath, use it! She’ll be excited when she finds out that she gets to take that home too. Decorating is a cinch around the holidays, so make sure you plan and especially around this time of the year.

Party Food: There are lots of variations that you can do when deciding on what type of party foods you will serve. Does the bride have a sweet tooth? Throw an all dessert bridal shower. You can do a white powdered doughnut tree, which can resemble a snowy covered tree. Unique cake pops are always a hit. You could also do chocolate covered strawberries, brownies, wedding cupcakes, gingerbread men, Christmas themed sugar cookies and all the holiday favorites, such as fudge and divinity. So yummy!

However, if the bride isn’t much on sweets, you can do appetizers. Place broccoli on a Styrofoam tree and accent it with cherry tomatoes. It’ll look like a Christmas tree with red ornaments. Super cute! You can do veggie trays, dips, cute ornament shaped sandwiches, pine cone or Christmas wreath shaped cheese ball and an adorable themed cake to go with it.

One example, I had my bridal shower this past weekend. My colors are chocolate-brown and blue, therefore, they created a cake with chocolate icing and accented it with adorable blue ornaments. It was absolutely darling.

However, if you’re not up for stressing over the food; hire a party caterer! There are lots of appetizers that can be catered towards Christmas. Plus, they’re all tasty and extremely delicious!

However, the holiday season is ideal to throw this event, you can do it year round too. Just throw a general holiday shower, where guests can bring her items to decorate for spring, Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, Thanksgiving and Halloween. You can host a holiday bridal shower however you would like to.

Ask the bride, what does she want most. What are her colors? Just remember to style it towards the bride and your shower will be a hit!

This post is brought to you by St Louis Wedding Decoration Providers.
Not in St Louis, MO? No worries, use Wedding and Party Network’s handy party planning directory to help you find wedding decoration suppliers near you!

October 24, 2010 by Celebration Advisor

Wedding Shower Games to Break the Ice

Bridal showers are always fun. They are filled with delicious food, good times and playing a game or two can make them even more fun, especially when the bride-to-be is a little nervous. In some instances, the bride doesn’t know many of the guests and can feel awkward, so playing a fun or meaningful game can help ease the awkwardness. Some commonly used games are crude and embarrassing, so here are some other ideas that will actually be fun for all and will briefly take the focus off the bride-to-be:

1. Don’t Say It! – Each guest is given five small heart-shaped pieces of red paper upon arrival. The rule is that no one can say the word “wedding” during the shower. If someone slips, the first person who hears it gets one of their hearts. At the end of the shower, the person with the most hearts wins a prize.

2. Getting to Know You – In this game, each guest may ask the bride-to-be one question to get to know her better. This is best done as she is opening their present. The question can be about her childhood, who gave her, her first kiss, how she met the groom, the wedding or anything!

3. Pearls of Wisdom – Each guest is given a “pearl” (from a craft store) upon arrival. When the bride-to-be announces who a gift is from, the giver gives one piece of marital wisdom or advice. Someone records each pearl of wisdom in a journal so the bride can keep it and refer back to all the wisdom she was given. The pearls are collected and woven into the bridal bouquet made from the gift bows.

These games will be great fun for your next bridal shower. They’ll provide fun memories and take the bride’s stress away, while planning her wedding.

This post is brought to you by Wilmington Party Supplier providers.
Not in Wilmington, NC? No worries, use Wedding and Party Network’s handy party planning directory to help you find a party supplier near you!

May 28, 2009 by Celebration Advisor

Forgot Anything? Your Essential Wedding & Baby Shower Checklist

Most of the time it’s easy for the person throwing a baby shower or wedding shower to run around like a chicken with their head cut off. After all, there’s tons to do in preparation! Truth be told, that’s probably why you’re reading this blog in the first place. That’s awesome because this checklist will make your life a little easier.

If you’re like me, you could double check or check 50 times and you’d still forget something. It doesn’t matter if it’s a hotel stay or planning a party, I’m going to forget something. That’s why these checklists help me and this one will help you! When planning a baby shower or a wedding shower, don’t forget this essential checklist!

Things To Remember When Planning A Baby or Wedding Shower

The party food is essential!!! Who doesn’t want to at least snack at a shower? Hor d’ouevres are great. Finger foods are fine. Don’t feel like taking on the hassle of food preparation for a large group? Hire a party caterer. They have to be good at it. It’s what they do! Plus it saves you a lot of time. Party caterers are a win-win here.
Don’t forget the photographer or videographer! Whether it’s Suzie Q with a digital camera or you hire an actual party photographer, don’t forget the person that will preserve these memories forever. Besides, “toilet paper bridal gown” just isn’t as funny in stories.
Remember the party decorations! I know. It seems silly that the host would forget something as huge as decorations but you never know. Do you have the streamers? Are the tablecloths ready? How about napkins, drinking and eating utensils, balloons, trash bags a plenty? Trust me, it’s too easy to forget at least one of these things. If you go to a party supply store, let the clerk know exactly what you’re planning. They’ll make sure you get everything you need!
Remember to get rid of the guys! Or the girls. The same rules apply for bachelor parties and bachelorette parties. While there are exceptions to the rule, many of these parties are typically not mixed-company events. Some are. Just remember to give them plenty of time to plan an alternate location if you want it to be a girls-only party.
Remember the music! Throwing a bridal shower? Get the couples’ favorite music on a mixed cd and have a ball. Throwing a baby shower? Classical music in the background is a great addition. Whatever your tastes, whatever suits the occasion–don’t forget the musical entertainment!!!
Remember the party invitations! By now the invitations are probably already in the mail or on the guests’ doorsteps. If you’re still early on in the planning stages, don’t forget the party invitations! Be as kitschy or as elegant as you want. Just make sure to have fun!

Ready to have a great time? Just print out this shower checklist and have fun at your party!! Don’t forget to return to the Celebration Advisor and let us know how everything went.

March 23, 2009 by Jamie Jamison Adams

Helpful Ways To Avoid An Office Bridal Shower

Ask The Celebration Advisor: Help. I am not a traditional bride. I am 50 years old and getting married for the first time. Something I just never dreamed would happen. I’m very happy and excited. I have only lived and worked in Charleston for 2 years. We are have a very small & private reception at a private home on the water. We both agreed very early on to not include our co-works as both of us have only worked with them for a very short time.

I work in an office of 30 women. This has caused much discussion among my staff. I don’t want to hurt their feelings, but I also do not want an office bridal shower. The best gift my office staff can give is to just be happy for me. I am well educated, a very private person and very professional when it comes to my position. I do not want to be the center of attention and I don’t mix my personal life with business. I don’t know how to tell my office staff this. Any suggestions.

Reply:
There is a fine line between not mixing personal business and being gracious to those whom you work with who want to honor your upcoming nuptials. Since showers are hosted by someone who wants to honor the bride, you can’t very well forbid an office shower. However, there are ways in which you can come to a compromise that will be acceptable to everyone.

First, you will need the help of someone in your office. If you know who is pushing the office shower or who is in charge of the shower, go to them and explain what you have told me – although you appreciate their thoughtfulness, you don’t like being the center of attention and the only present you need is their happiness for you. Then suggest a different kind of celebration. Perhaps a cake and special pastries during coffee hour where you visit with your staff but without a gift exchange. Or, an office lunch where everyone can visit. If your work schedule doesn’t permit these types of celebrations, try an after-hours celebration like an hors d’oeuvre get-together without presents. You could even have drinks with your staff after-hours. All of these suggestions will allow you to keep the mixing of personal and professional to a minimum.

Although you don’t want a shower, your staff cares enough to want to throw you one. Whatever you decide, it is important to respect their feelings. Hopefully they will do the same for you.

Congratulations and Good Luck.

March 13, 2009 by Jordon Robinson

Not Your Ordinary Wedding Shower

It’s coming up on wedding season once again. Just like years in the past, I am frantically scrambling to come up with creative ideas for my friends’ bridal showers. I feel like every wedding shower is the same: table full of gifts, assortment of finger foods with punch, and lots of females in fancy pastel dresses. This year, I wanted to do something different. This year, I want to host an exciting wedding shower!

I came to the conclusion that to be able to shake things up a bit we needed to do three things:

1) Have the shower in the evening.

2) Invite the boys.

3) Serve amazing food (and drinks of course).

By having the wedding shower in the evening, the atmosphere will be more like that of a dinner party; a relaxed atmosphere where people can have great conversations instead of a stuffy “Sunday shower” environment.

Bringing the boys along allows the groom to be in on some of the special catering the bride gets so much of in the months leading up to the big day. It also gives the guys and gals a chance to mingle. ( Tip: It is a good idea to let guests know that this is a good shower for “manly gifts” like Bar-b-que tools).

When hosting a party in the evening, the food must be a little more extensive than hors d’oeuvres. As you probably know, I am a fan of the caterer. If you aren’t a multi-tasker who can cook and host at the same time, have the party catered or do restaurant carry out. However if you are brave enough, you could pull it together on your own. Nothing fancy required, just enough to get those stomachs full and maybe a signature dish or two. In fact, a great idea for a spring wedding shower is to serve ribs with slaw, beans and rolls and for dessert – “bridal shower” cupcakes. Many bar-b-que places will customize your order based on how many guests you are expecting. All you have to do is take it home and set it out to serve. It’s always a great hit with the male guests too! To really take the party to new heights, add a little spirits with a beer and wine bar.

So, be on the cutting edge in your circle of friends and host a couple’s wedding shower. It is a great way to have a dinner party and honor your firends at the same time.

January 5, 2009 by Jamie Jamison Adams

Wedding Showers Etiquette For Traveling Bride

Ask The Wedding Guide: I live in Florida but my family and wedding shower will be in New York. Because it will be so difficult to fly with our gifts I dont’ know how to let my guests know what to give. I have thought about having a gift card shower? Is that common? How do you politely tell your guests in the invitation? Or do you have any other solutions?

Thanks for your help! Anna

Reply:
Anna,

You do have quite the dilemma but breaking a wedding etiquette rule is not a good idea. Wish lists or gift buying instructions are not by etiquette standards permitted on the invitations. Traditional [Read more…]

September 19, 2008 by Celebration Advisor

Wedding Shower Etiquette

Wedding Shower Etiquette: Keeping The Love

What could be better than being in love, surrounded by your closest friends and family, and receiving beautiful gifts from those who know you best? A wedding shower is a lovely event full of both tradition and creativity that is only rivaled by the wedding ceremony itself. Just like a wedding, a shower is an intimate celebration of the beginning of a life together. Good food, gifts, and loved ones–what’s not to like?!

Nevertheless, being the honoree at a wedding shower has its responsibilities. Wedding shower etiquette is something many brides-to-be find intimidating and sometimes a little outdated. However, by adhering to a few tried-and-true rules and suggestions you can ensure that everyone (including you) will have a wonderful time at this special event!

The first thing you need to consider is that, although someone else is planning the party, you as the bride need to have a say in a few key areas such as the guest lists. By keeping a master list for yourself no one will be invited to more than one shower and certainly only those on your wedding invitation list will be in attendance at your showers. Programs like Microsoft Excel are ideal for keeping track of your guests, their contact information, and what shower they attended. You can also add what gift they gave you to make writing thank-you cards a breeze!

When it comes to inviting people to your wedding shower they must first be invited to your wedding and [Read more…]

February 26, 2008 by Celebration Advisor

Paintball Party Wedding Shower

Wedding Showers are not just about the presents; they are great bonding experiences and a way to have fun before the big day. Paintball is a great party theme for a groom’s or a couple’s wedding shower.

Start by renting a paint ball course for day. Spinning this wedding shower theme into a couple’s shower is easy. Make it a bride’s family/friends verses the groom’s family/friends with colorful tee shirts as unique personalized party favors. Each team gets preprinted team shirts … for the Bride’s family, pink shirts with her name printed on them (team Becky), while the groom’s team wears blue with Team Rob printed on them.

Decorations are simple a banner containing the team logos and placed them at each end of the playing field. [Read more…]

December 27, 2007 by Celebration Advisor

Showering Outdoors

Hosting A Wedding Shower

It all began one Sunday morning at church. Let me see the ring? What’s the date? Congratulations were being thrown right and left. Then the most exciting and horrifying words came out of my mouth, “Why don’t we have a wedding shower at my house?” Exciting, because I was so happy for this couple and wanted to contribute something to their joyous time. Horrifying, because now I had to come up with a great party for them.

At some point in our lives, we will put ourselves in a trying situation. Planning a wedding shower doesn’t have to be; in fact, this wedding shower turned out to be a wonderful experience. Traditionally this kind of party was called a bridal shower and involved only the female side of the equation. In fact, it was usually the bridesmaids that threw the bridal shower. Housewares and lingerie were the typical themes for the party; neither of which interested the groom. Well maybe he was interested in some of it – but he still wasn’t invited to the bridal shower.

Today, wedding showers are given by anyone willing to throw the couple a party. Modern wedding shower themes include [Read more…]