Recipe Cards
Buy the bride-to-be a recipe box but send out the recipe cards
with the invitations. The guests are to bring a dessert of their
choice, bring a sample to the shower and include their dessert
recipe in their gift card. The recipes will be judged by the bride-to-be
and the winner will receive a prize.
Comments the Bride-to-be
Makes
Have someone in charge of jotting down all the comments the bride-to-be
makes as she opens her shower gifts. Then after the presents have
been opened, have someone with great expressions read them back
telling the bride... these are supposed to be some of the comments
she'll make on the night of her wedding (i.e. oh, it's so cute;
my mother has one of those and uses it all the time; do you think
they would mind if I exchanged this, I've already got one!) Lot's
of fun, especially for a young bride.
Clothespin Game
The clothespin game is where everyone, upon arrival, is given
a clothespin & has to pin it on their clothes where it is
plainly visible. Then you make up a rule like, "No one can
cross their legs" or "you are not allowed to say the
word "wedding" or "you can't use the word 'pretty'
in describing a gift the bride receives" - whatever rule
you want. If a guest catches anyone breaking the rule, they can
run over and take that person's clothespin. The person at the
end of the gift-opening, or whenever, with the most clothespins
wins a prize.
Bridal
Shower Bingo
Bridal Shower Bingo makes the gift-opening process as much fun
for the guests as it is for the bride-to-be! The cards contain
names and descriptions of traditional shower gifts - from naughty
nighties to a good set of China. As the bride-to-be opens each
gift, guests place an "X" on the spot on the card that
corresponds to the gift. The first guest to mark off all the gifts
in a row wins a gift herself. With Bridal Shower Bingo, everyone
gets to participate, instead of merely sitting on the "sidelines".
What's
in the Bag?
This game is similar to the game Memory. Fill a bag with related
items - kitchen stuff, bathroom stuff, etc. and pass the bag among
the guests. Everyone gets 30 - 60 seconds to look at the contents
of the bag before they have to pass it to the next guest. Once
everyone has had a look, ask the guests to make a list FROM MEMORY
of what was in the bag.
The person with the most correct
answers, wins the game! (If you have more than 10 guests, I would
make two identical bags and start them from opposite ends of the
room.)
12
Questions For the Groom
Prepare before the shower by asking the groom 12 questions, such
as when and where was your first kiss? How many children do you
want? What nickname do you call her? Then at the shower sit the
bride-to-be in front of all her guests. Begin to ask her these
questions. For every one she gets wrong she is to put a piece
of bubble gum in her mouth and chew it. At our shower she had
10 pieces. It was a lot of fun and also very silly!
How
Much Do You Know About the Bride
You make a list of Questions and the guest answers them. The questions
my guests we asked were:
What is the brides favorite color?
Where is her and her fiancé's favorite place to eat?
How long have they been together?
Where did they meet?
When is there wedding day?
Wedding
Win Lose or Draw
Pictionary with only wedding related words and phrases. Like "tie
the knot", "honeymoon" etc. Break the party into
two teams. One person draws while the rest of her team guesses
what she's drawing. Use an artists easel and a large pad of paper
with big markers.
T.P.
(Toilet Paper) Gown
You can pick the future mother-in-law mother and to volunteer
for this game. You make two different teams - one team for each
mother and then you dress them up in a wedding dress using only
toilet paper. This is a timed game. The bride or a committee of
bridal party members can judge. Winning team gets a prize!
A
Twist on the Game "What's in the Bag"
Guests get 30 to 60 seconds to look in the bag or look at a tray
full of items, and then they list the items from memory. Someone
is chosen to walk around the room presenting the items to all
of the guests. Most guests have played this game before, so they
know to look at the items and try to remember them. After she
has made it through the entire room, she leaves with the items.
At this point the guests are
told the object of the game is to write down as many things as
they can remember about the person holding the items. The guests
were so busy memorizing the trinkets, they probably barely glanced
at the presenter.
I did this at my best friend's
shower. I'm 5'8" with long red hair and wore a skirt. People
said I was short, blond, wearing jeans, etc. It was great fun.
After about 5 minutes, have the presenter come back out. The person
with the most correct observations wins.
Guess
Who?
We have asked shower guests to bring wedding snapshots of themselves
or their mothers, putting their name on the back for identification
and return. Then, everyone will try to guess who brought which
photo and who is in the photo. This will get young and old and
those who may not know each other visiting with each other.
Name
That Spice
We took 10 spice jars, covered their labels, numbered them, and
then passed them around and everyone could smell them (but not
taste) the one with the most correct answers won.
The
"Touchy-Feely" Game
The hostess numbered 10 or 12 small paper bags, put one small
ordinary item from around the house in each bag, and stapled the
bags shut.
Each shower guest tries to
guess what's in the bag just by "feeling" it - no peeking!
(You need to make sure that none of the items are fragile.) The
person who guesses the most right, wins.
We had a great time with this
one - my aunt, who is 82 years old, won - she guessed 9 out of
10, including the beanie-baby lizard!
Recipe
Game
Have six recipes written out on a sheet of paper with one ingredient
missing in each. Have the guests guess what the one ingredient
is, and the one with the most right wins. After the game, give
the master recipes with "all" the ingredients to the
bride.
What's
in the Purse
Make list of things people might have in their purses and assign
points for each item the one with the most points from their purse
wins.
What
is the Bride Wearing
Have the bride leave the room and ask everyone 10-20 questions
about what the bride is wearing (i.e. What color shirt or dress?,
Is she wearing a watch, earring, necklace?, etc.).
Kitchen
Gadget Memory Test
Attach as many kitchen utensils to the front of an apron as possible.
Have the bride put the apron on and stand in front of everyone
for 3 minutes. After the bride leaves, have everyone write down
as many utensils as they can remember.
Spice
Rack
Choose ten spices and cover the names with paper or place some
of the spice in a Ziploc bag. Number each bottle/bag and write
down a list of each spice with its corresponding number. Pass
the bottles/bags around to the guests, who will write down their
guess as to what the spices are.
Here
Comes the Bride
For a small group, use the bride; for a large group divide your
guests up into teams and choose a bride for each team. Hand each
group several rolls of toilet paper and ribbons, and have them
dress the bride. If you have teams, award prizes for creativity,
beauty, silliness, etc.
And
how about Party Favors and Prizes?
While it is not necessary, it is nice to give your guests a little
memento - a prize from a game or a party favor.
Trivia!
Have some questions about the bride and or groom ready to be asked
and see how many people "really" there about to be wed
friend. (questions can include things like, how they met, what
was the first job that the bride held... you get the idea)
Guess?
Find or buy a cute container or bottle and fill it up with candy,
or safety pins, or anything having to do with the wedding or shower.
Make sure you know how many pieces are in it before you seal it
up. Pass the bottle around and have the guests guess how many
pieces are in it. Have them write on a piece of paper with their
guess. Who ever is the closest, wins.
Wedding
Dress
Before the shower, purchase several rolls of white toilet paper.
At the party, divide the guests into two or more groups of 3-5
people. Each group must choose a model for their wedding dress
(mothers of the bride and/or groom work wonderfully). The goal
is for each group to design and fashion a "wedding dress"
out of toilet paper. Accessories are allowed (earrings, bouquets,
trains, headpieces, wedding ring, etc.), but they must all be
fashioned out of toilet paper. Once the groups are finished, the
bride must pick the winner of the contest. This is my favorite
bridal shower activity. And brides love this contest for the wonderful
photo-memories it provides.
Changing
Gifts
This one is way fun to play. We play this one at our Christmas
Parties. But it can be just as fun for any party! You will need
some floor space to play this one... get everyone in a circle
and place some wrapped gifts in the center, usually a number less
than the number of guests that arrive. Wrap them in all different
size boxes, and colors and pretty them up with a bow or unique
wrapping paper. The gifts should range from a really cheap joke
or an inexpensive (like the anything less then $1.00 stores) to
a few nicer gifts (bath beads, little picture frame ..etc.) Set
a timer for about 10 minutes (longer if you have more then 15
guests). Start with the Bride-to-be. Give her a set of dice and
tell her to roll them. If she gets doubles, she picks out a prize
in the center of the circle. Then start passing the dice around
the circle. Anyone that gets doubles may take a prize from the
circle. Once all the prizes from the center are gone (this is
where the FUN begins!) the guests can start to taking gifts from
the other guests, when they roll doubles or "trade"
with another guest. Keep passing the dice around until the timer
goes off. Whoever has the gift at the end gets to keep it! It
is funny to see what gift the guests start fighting over because
of the shape/size of the box or even the wrapping paper. Nine
times out of ten the guests end up fighting over that joke gift!
...NOTE... as you may have been able to guess, NONE of the gifts
can be opened until the timer goes off at the end!
The
Wedding is Over
Tell the guests and bride to pretend the wedding is over and it
is the wedding night. The motel/cruise boat/etc. that the couple
is staying in loses all electricity and the bride must prepare
for her wedding night in complete darkness. Next blindfold the
bride and hand her a suitcase. He must put on everything in the
suitcase. Put items in it such as sunglasses, men's underwear,
big bra, work gloves, or anything else that may bring a laugh.
(She puts all this on over her clothes!) When she is done take
a picture ...it's hilarious!
Complete
the Sentence
Each guest should receive a piece of paper with the following
sentences that need to be completed. Time limit should only be
5 minutes. (to keep in tune with the times it has been brought
to my attention to remind people that THESE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY!
Feel free to change or modify any of the statements as you deem
appropriate)
Use these sentences:
Throw the bridal shower of a lifetime
with these games, themes, and poems...
