Bridal & Wedding Shower Ideas

Where did the idea of a shower originate?

No one knows for sure, but the legend is that the bridal shower orginated in Holland.  According to the tale, a disapproving father refused to provide his daughter with the dowry she needed to marry a miller of modest income.  Since a woman couldn't marry without a dowry, townspeople sympathetic to the young couple's plight decided to take matters into their own hands.  The "showered" the bride with gifts to make up for the dowry her tingy father refused to provide. Whether this is true or not, it highlights the fact that a marriage is a community event, with important social implications.  Today's bridal showers' serve somewhat the same purpose as a dowry.  A shower provides the couple with what they will need to set up their household.  It is a wise decision for a bride to complete her gift registry selection before any showers take place.

Any person close to the bride can host her shower. If a friend or relative does not host a shower, the maid of honor or one of the bridesmaids should offer do it.

It is customary that all gifts be opened at the shower, unlike the engagement party.  The bride should appoint someone to record the names of the givers and the gifts as they are opened.  Keeping an accurate record will ensure that "thank you" cards will go to the proper persons.  Don't be embarrassed by thanking the wrong person for the wrong gift. 

Shower Themes

You don't have to plan a shower around a theme, but the benefits of selecting a theme based shower allows the hose to select theme-based invitations and decorations.

Common Themes

• Major Holidays - The host can indicate on the invitation that gifts should relate in some way to the holiday.

• Time of Day - A unique and entertaining way to theme a shower is to assign to each guest a time of the day and ask that gifts be related to those times.
• Honeymoon - Find out where the couple intends to spend their honeymoon and use that destination as the theme for the shower.  Guest should be encouraged to give items that the couple might find useful on their honeymoon, including travel items, film, cameras or gift certificates for out-of-town restaurants.
• Kitchen and recipe shower - Help the bride furnish her kitchen and each guest is requested to contribute her favorite recipe on a 3" x 5" recipe card.  After the bride opens her gifts, the host collects the recipes and places them in a small box for her to keep.  This is a great way to ensure that traditional family recipes are passed on to the new bride.
• Personal Shower - This theme is intended to add to the bride's trousseau.
• Honeymoon-at-home-Shower - Not every newly wed couply embarks immediately on their honeymoon.  Gifts for this couply might include maid service, gift certificates for local restaurants, free babysitting for couples who already have children.
• Thanks for the Memories Showers - Brides who are especially sentimental and family oriented will appreciate the gifts of old photographs from her childhood.  Those who know her best might write letters, poems or essays reminiscing their memories of growing up with the bride (and/or groom).  The host should be prepared to place all the personal gifts in an heirloom scrapbook for the bride to keep.
• Gourmet Shower - For those who love to cook and entertain, gifts might include any items that would enhance one's ability to create and serve culinary delights.  Gift certificates, cookbooks, subscriptions to gourmet cooking magazines, as well as special occasion gadgets, such as coffee bean grinders, cappuccino machines are always welcome.

What do you do at a Shower?

Not all guest at a shower know each other well.  To make everyone comfortable and to create an atmosphere of warmth and camaraderie, it helps to start out with one or more icebreakers.  The focus should be on getting acquainted and having fun.

When activities are in the form of games, guest enjoy winning prizes.  Prizes don't have to be expensive.  The idea is more that the guests walk away from the party in an uplifted mood and that they carry away something in return for the gift they brought.  Gifts are not owed them; rather, prizes should be seen as tokens of the host and bride's gratitude for their attendance, support and good will.

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