Games and activities have always been a part of the bridal shower tradition. You can make bridal shower games as unique and creative as you want to, or as raunchy as you want. They are all about having a good time. Here are some guidelines and ideas for incorporating activities into your bridal shower from The Everything Bridesmaid Book, ranging from the subdued to the sophisticated to the downright spicy.
Shower Game Basics
Part of the grand history of showers is a little game-playing among the ladies. Games can often serve as ice-breakers, fostering interaction among guests who don't know each other, or they can just serve as a fun diversion between eating and gift opening. (Or during gift opening, which can seem interminable -- especially at large showers.)
Bridal shower games can range from corny to goofy to somewhat sophisticated. Women seem to fall on either end of the spectrum when it comes to their feelings about shower games. Some women can't tolerate them and dread the moment they begin. Other women, though, wouldn't consider it a proper shower without them.
What Kind and How Many?
Choose your games carefully, and tailor them to the group at hand. Don't choose a game that requires guests to bare their souls if you know you have a conservative group. Choose age- and personality-appropriate games, and everyone is sure to be enthusiastic.
ESSENTIAL TIP Two to four games during a shower are usually appropriate -- any more, and your guests may start to lose interest. Remember to have plenty of pens and paper on hand, as well as firm surfaces on which to write if guests aren't seated at tables (magazines usually do the trick). And don't forget the prizes!
Prizes
Prizes are a great way to get guests more involved and enthusiastic about playing shower games. But how much should you spend on prizes, and what items are appropriate?
Your best bet is to offer small gifts that will have universal appeal. Ideas include candles, potpourri, body lotions, small perfumes, candy or chocolate, gourmet food items, pretty kitchen towels, small flower arrangements, trinket boxes, paperweights, bookmarks, pens, novelty kitchen timers, bath soaps, small photo albums, sachets -- the list is endless. You may also wish to include one grand prize, such as a bottle of wine or champagne, a basket of lotions and shampoos, or another item you think your guests might like.
Game Ideas
There are countless games you can play at showers. Some of the following may be familiar to you from showers you've attended in the past, or they may be games you've never heard of. Remember -- choose the games you feel your particular group will be enthusiastic about playing, and have one bridesmaid in charge running them smoothly.
The Name Game This is a simple, quiet game guests can play throughout the shower. At the top of a piece of paper, write the bride's and groom's names -- for instance, Kimberly and Scott. The guest who creates the most new words using the letters of the names wins. For example, words derived from these two names would include "kilt," "bet," "best," or "toy."
Wedding Song As each guest enters, supply her with a small sheet of paper to jot down her wedding song (or her favorite song with a boyfriend, if she's not married). Later in the party, have the bride announce each of the songs that have been written down; guests then guess whom each song belongs to.
The person with the most correct guesses wins -- bonus points if she guesses what song the bride and groom have chosen. This is a fun way of discovering the wedding songs of family and friends, especially of older guests.
Bridal Bingo This game takes a little advance prep work, but it's a fun diversion during the gift-opening session. To play bridal bingo, give each guest a customized bingo card (for fun, write the letters B-R-I-D-E at the top, or M-A-R-R-Y). In each square, write the name of a popular shower gift. These might include blender, plate, pitcher, cheese grater, toaster, lingerie, colander, frying pan, spatula, pillowcases, bath towels, and so on. (Have all the bridesmaids chip in to make these cards, as it can be a bit time-consuming.)
As the bride opens a gift that matches an item in the bingo square, the guest can cover it or cross it off. When she gets five in a row, she yells "Bingo!" and wins a prize. Much fanfare can be made of "checking her numbers" against the gifts already opened. And like regular bingo, you can continue playing the game until someone covers four corners, the inside square, or her whole card.
Spice Girls This is a fun game for all ages, and would make a great tie-in to a kitchen theme shower. Take about ten spices and cover the labels with the letters A through J. Then pass them around, and ask guests to identify each spice. Have them write their answers on a sheet of paper, indicating each spice by its letter. At the end of the game, reveal the spices -- the guest with the most correct matches wins.
Safety-Pin Game This is a silly game that will keep guests on their toes. Give each guest a safety pin when they arrive to pin to their shirt or scarf. Then pick a word that you think will be used fairly often at the shower, such as "bride," "groom," or "wedding." Tell the guests that this word is off-limits over the course of the shower.
If a guest is caught using it, whoever caught her can take her safety pin away. Maybe she has already collected a safety pin or more from other loose-tongued guests; if so, she has to give up all the pins she's collected in addition to her own. Whoever collects the most safety pins by the end of the shower is the winner.
Purse Game This hearkens back to the old game show Let's Make a Deal. At various intervals during the gift-opening session, one of the bridesmaids will act as emcee, announcing to guests that they'll be playing the purse game. The bridesmaid will then announce random items, and if a guest happens to have that item in her purse, she wins a prize.
The more obscure the item, the bigger and better the prize. It's a funny way to see what women will actually schlep around in their purses. Try items like "underwear," "sugar packets," "foreign currency," "condoms" -- whatever you think would be fun and appropriate for your particular group.
Welcome Shower Diversions
Of course, there's no specific formula you need to stick to when hosting a shower. You can add or subtract anything to kick things up a notch. From practical to sentimental, added shower activities can really help reflect the true meaning behind the shower and the coming wedding. They can also help guests connect in a whole new way.
The following are a few ideas to get you thinking about additional activities for your shower:
Create-a-Scrapbook Making a scrapbook for the bride involves a small investment in guests' time before the shower. Along with the shower invitation, send a blank page from a scrapbook or photo album. Invite each guest to design a page for the bride using pictures, poems, artwork -- anything goes. It should simply reflect the guest's feelings or relationship with the bride. The guest should then bring the page to the shower to add it to an album, which will be presented to the bride as she's opening her gifts. (This is best done as a surprise.)
Bridal Quiz Show The bridal quiz show begins by giving guests a page with questions about the bride, to which the bride has supplied answers (to you only) prior to the shower. You can ask questions from all facets of the bride's life, such as the name of her first pet; the name of her first boyfriend; her major in college; her most embarrassing moment; her proudest moment; the thing she loves most about the groom.
When guests are finished completing questions, one bridesmaid can announce the answers. For added fun, give the quiz to the groom before the shower, and read his answers aloud, along with the bride's, to see how much he really knows about his beloved. Undoubtedly, his input will make for a good laugh or two.
The person with the most correct answers can be given a prize or memento.
What Makes a Good Marriage? As guests arrive, give them a sheet of paper and a pen and ask them to share one tip about what they feel makes a good marriage. Then, as a break from opening gifts, have the bride read these tips aloud to the group.
For added fun, have the group guess who wrote each individual tip. Inevitably, you will get a full range of ideas, from silly to sentimental. But no matter what the advice, it's a game that really brings to light the meaning of the bridal shower -- and reminds the remaining guests of what marriage is all about.
Bridal Clone This is a quick, fun activity that can also double as a game. In advance of the shower, make a list of characteristics that start out quite general but get more specific as the game goes along. The object is to see who is most like the bride. You might start off by saying, "Like the bride, you have blue eyes." Everyone with blue eyes remains standing; everyone without them sits down and is out of the game.
Then go on to a question like, "Like the bride, you have a bachelor's degree," followed by "Like the bride, you play tennis." The end statements should get quite specific, such as "Like the bride, you're wearing red underwear right now." Be creative and make up fun questions that relate to your particular bride.
Then give a prize to the last woman standing, and announce that it is she who is closest to being the bridal clone.
Funniest Memory If your group is big on laughs, this is a game that keeps them coming. As guests enter the party, give them a sheet of paper and pen to write down the funniest memory that they share with the bride.
Once everyone has written their memory, give them to the bride to look through and read aloud. The bride can then elaborate, relaying the funny story to the group. This activity works especially well if the bride can ham it up and tell a good story. It may fall flat and make her uncomfortable if she's shy in front of groups.
Creative Basket This is a shower gift and an activity rolled into one. If there's a particularly creative bridesmaid, she may be able to take charge of this one. The creative basket is a great gift for bridesmaids to give, as a supplement to hosting the shower, especially if you've already given the bride gifts at other showers.
It goes like this: Buy a bunch of brand-name products from the supermarket, the names of which you can incorporate into a story about the bride and groom. For example, one sentence might go like this, "As the bride waited months and months for her groom to propose, she knew something would have to 'Tide' her over until she'd see that ring 'Sparkle' on her finger. So she made a 'Dash' for the border for a 'Bold' weekend of fun and excitement in Tijuana with her girlfriends ... until it 'Dawn'ed on her that she was really much happier with her man."
Create a gift basket of all the products used in the story, then lift them out as you recite the story aloud for the group. It's a clever way to give the bride household items she'll inevitably need -- and to tell a fun story that specifically relates to the bride and groom.
Excerpts: From The Everything Bridesmaid Book by Jennifer Lata Rung. © 2004 F+W Publications, Inc. Used by permission of Adams Media.
