Tips for Hosting A Great Bridal Shower

Being a bride-to-be has been so much fun. And since Michael and I are only having a 3 month engagement, I am trying to soak it all up before I’m officially a Mrs. ! 

One of the first things that made all of this bride stuff feel very real was walking into my bridal shower a couple weeks ago. The summer has been flying by and while all the wedding planning has been super fun (and getting me in the wedding spirit) it really hit me walking into a room full of people I love all there to help me celebrate. 

I can’t take any credit for this amazing event, that’s all my Aunt Lourdes but I do want to highlight some things that she and her friend did to make it such a fun and special day. Read below for tips on throwing a great bridal shower!

1. Stick with one theme or color scheme. My aunt asked me what color I wanted for the shower and since my wedding colors are mixed metals (gold, silver, rose gold, etc) she used rose gold for everything. All the decor was beautiful and tied together so well because she stuck with a rose gold palette. The flowers, plates, party favors, all the details were rose gold!

2. Decor that works double time. Right next to the mimosa bar was an awesome rose gold sequined set up for photos. This was a great backdrop for photos all day and people could strike a pose while they waited for their bubbly. She also had a photo spot right when you walked in that served as a barrier from the upstairs and a festive entryway. 

3. Keep the refreshments simple. Think lite bites and mimosas. Instead of going all over the place with different types of wine, cocktails and beer she made an adorable mimosa bar. This doubled as an activity for people to do –mixing up their own mimosa concoction– and was an easy way to add variety with fruit juices instead of lots of alcohols. For the food she kept everything bite sized and room temperature. Nothing had to be heated back up or stored in the fridge for a long time. Sundried Tomato catered and dropped everything off and she made a beautiful charcuterie spread to go with it. Her super talented friend Tina helped with all the decor and made her signature cake pops in a rose gold color too!

4. Keep it casual. There were so many people to mingle with and groups of people meeting for the first time that having the food out, mimosas self-serve, and no timeline for events was the way to go. People could eat when they were hungry, sit wherever, take photos and more. Aside from one of the games, and opening gifts, there was no agenda to run through and it was such a fun and mellow day. 

5. Limit the games. She chose three games that were super fun and didn’t take up the whole day to play. One was a game that people could play throughout the shower. They got a ring when they entered and would try to hold onto it by avoiding certain phrases.  If anyone said “bride” or “wedding” you could steal their ring and whoever had the most by the end of the shower won. Another game was “kisses for the Mrs.” that people could play at their own pace, guessing the amount of Hershey’s kisses in a jar. The last game was a quiz that everyone played together guessing if answers were the bride or groom. This was really fun and silly and I asked all the questions and gave the answers as we went. I’ll note this worked really well because none of the questions were too personal or awkward! 

6. Useful party favors. Keeping with the rose gold color scheme, my aunt got adorable mini bottles of sparking rosé for everyone to take home as a favor. Also, for the game prizes they had lipsticks in neutral colors which was something every woman can use! 

I hope these tips can help you throw your next shower or get together and help things run smoothly!