Your Bridal Shower

The bridal shower is a traditional
celebration which allows friends
and family to show their affection
and “shower” the couple with gifts.
The shower occurs from two months
to two weeks before the wedding and
can be anything from an informal
luncheon at the office to a buffet
dinner in an elegant restaurant.

Bridal showers or couples showers are usually given
by members of the wedding party, cousins, or friends
of the families. Two or three friends can act as
co-hostesses or hosts. No one should be invited to the
shower who has not been invited to the wedding or who
does not know the couple. One of the bride’s
responsibilities as far as her shower goes is to provide
the hostess with a guest list and to make sure that she
hasn’t created a financial burden on anyone by inviting
her to more than one or two showers. She should also send
a written note of thanks to her guests for any presents
received, as well as to the hostess(es) for their
hospitality.

Shower themes can be fun and useful. Unique shower ideas
are: A “round the clock” shower where guests are assigned
an hour of day on their invitations and bring the
appropriate gifts (for example, a “7:00 a.m. guest” might
bring a toaster). A home repair shower for the bride and
groom. A lingerie shower. A recipe shower where each guest
receives a recipe card and fills in a favorite dish.
A “wishing well” shower, where in addition to the gift, the
guest brings a tiny present (a wooden spoon, a kitchen
sponge etc.). The hostess makes a cardboard replica of a well,
and the gifts, wrapped and tied with ribbons, are tossed in.
There are no cards attached, though sometimes the guests write
a poem, and attach it to their gifts. The bride pulls out the
gifts with the ribbons and reads the poems aloud.