Time for some fun!

You can have the conventional brides show or a Jack and Jill shower, being coed and fun for everyone.

The bridal shower is a celebration tradition inviting you to enjoy - a gesture from your friends puting you in the spotlight. Create the best feelings for all who honor you.

Today's bashes are much more informal too, like a casual cocktail party or a backyard barbecue. The number of guests is up to the hostess; select among those who know you well enough to be at your wedding. It's tasteful to NOT include any one guest at more than two parties where gifts are given - or to specifically tell a friend one gift is plenty. (example: a co-worker invited to the office bridal shower, and then as a friend to the family bridal shower).

Remember it is all about celebrating the new couples plan of getting married and joining their friends and family together with them.

Gift themes can echo kitchen tradition or shout sex, fun and friendship, with laughs over lingerie. Expect creative types to concoct poems or dishes to spice up the day. Any theme involving clothing needs your size and color preference. You have the option of listing stores where your registry is on record.

As hostesses - make sure to contact those on your guest list at least a few weeks in advance.

As for the brides - expressing gratitude in writing to all who give you presents and parties, in the form of thank you cards.

The Maid of Honor is usually the person expected to plan and organize the bridal shower. If she lives out of town, however, it’s fine for someone else to do the honors. Don’t take over without checking with her, though. It is her privilege, and you should always ask her before assuming anything. If you are going to do it for her, make sure you keep her as involved as she would like to be through frequent emails and phone calls.

Bridal shower etiquette traditionally says that a shower should be at least four to six weeks before the wedding. This is for purely practical reasons – the bride is going to be too busy any closer to the ceremony – but if she’s coming home only two weeks before the wedding, talk to her and see how she feels about having a shower in her honor so close to the wedding. She may think this is fine if most of her friends will be able to be in attendance at that time.

There has been an uncomfortable trend in recent years for large showers with nearly everyone the bride knows invited. This is not what the bridal shower is supposed to be. A bridal shower is supposed to be a small, intimate gathering of the bride’s closest friends and family. Proper bridal shower etiquette dictates a group of no more than ten to twenty guests.

The guest list should include the wedding party, the mothers of the bride and groom, sisters of the bride and groom, and the bride’s closest friends and/or coworkers. It shouldn’t include every female invited to the wedding.

Finally, bridal shower etiquette means being sure to include the wedding party and the mothers in the shower itself in some way. Ask each person to take on some responsibility, whether it is recording a list of the gifts and givers as they are opened or organizing the group for games. This will make everyone feel they’ve been part of this special day.

A cute wedding shower gift idea!

Make a towel cake.

Surprise the Bride with a cake made out of monogrammed towels! Roll the bath towels like a newspaper roll then tie with a fancy ribbon for the bottom layer. Roll the handtowels and tie them for the second layer, and the washclothes for the third layer. Slip little bath and beauty items into the folds, letting them stick out slightly - and you have a memorable gift, decoration and centerpiece! A cute shower gift idea!

It is all about the details that the bride will love, and appreciate that you have taken the time to do for her.

By the time the invitations are sent out the entire shower should be designed - at least in theory. The invitations set the tone with a design, phrasing or colors. Invitations are just a hint of what's to come, and what you might want from the guest to make the party more interesting.

When designing a shower, think visually: beautiful ribbons, flowers, favors and serving pieces; and utility; ease of serving, clean up and minimal fussing. It is a lot of work up front, but it will allow you to sit back and enjoy the shower with the bride.

Have the food beautifully presented by the time the guests arrive. You can look for sandwich and salad recipes that are really special or pick a theme. Remember food does not have to be hot to be delicious; like specialty breads, cheeses and tasty spreads. But all food should be made fresh the day of the shower.

If you go with a cold menu, place the sandwiches in clear cellophane bags tied up with ribbons that might carry on the shower design. Put a salad or two into clear single serving dishes with covers. Place the entire lunch on or in something that lends itself to the shower, such as a pretty tray, an enamel bucket or little basket - something your guest can just pick up and take home with them after the party with any keepsakes.

With guests from both sides of the bride and groom you might need a way for everyone to get acquainted. Shower games can be a great way to do this, name games or even name tags can be fun. For the name tags you could ask them to put there name and pick and animal or flower - example: Julie the tiger or Mary the rose. If everyone will be sitting around a table you can put little pieces of paper with a different number into a bowl for the guests to pick when they arrive. Then when it is time to sit down and eat they would need to match their number with the one you have waiting on their plates.

Pick a theme for the shower, like a retro one with beautiful aprons hanging off the back of each chair, 1970's candy, and cookies from grandmothers and great-grandmothers recipes. Maybe a flower theme, or princess, or pretty in pink would work. The aprons could be a great way for each guest to pick one to wear and maybe even tell a little story about when was the last time they put one on. Or if your looking for something else try a different purse on each chair, then watch the guests ming around them as they pick their favorite one.

When it comes to the desserts, serve individual desserts like tarts, cheesecakes in cupcake tins, nut baskets, mousse cups, even cup cakes. You can never go wrong with chocolate candy too.

Don't forget to take pictures too.

Fun party gifts for the new bride.

In your invites you can ask your guests to bring in their favorite items that match your basket theme. For example:

You can have one for the pantry, where you bring in can or boxed food items, or anything goes.

You can have one for the health nut, and everyone brings in healthy items.

Then there is the laundry basket it's self that can be filled with all the laundry items. From rope and clothes pins, to soap and cling sheets and more.

There is also the weekend cleaning bucket, that could be filled with everything from a broom and mop to all the cleaning items.

If she is the princess type, you can put together a bathroom basket, from beauty items, soaps and shampoo, to even a first aid kit.

Depending on your guest list they might each want to pick a basket theme to fill themself, and this would give the new bride lots of fun baskets to enjoy.

Dish Towels

Here is an idea for your bridal party invites:

Ask each person to bring one new dish towel with them to the party for the bride.
You can do this with almost any item you think the bride could use.

GAMES!

There are so many and there are even Bridal Kits you can buy on line. You can even make your own. Like Bridal Bingo with these or other words for each square:

True Love
Doves
Rings
Groom
Bride
I Do
Something New
Ushers
Wedding Vows
Wedding Shower
Wedding Gown
Tuxedo
Something Barrowed
Officiant
Flower Girl
First Dance
Rehersal Dinner
Church
Romatic
Honeymoon
Veil
Groomsmen
Photographer
Bridesmaids

You will need 5 rows and 5 squares across and BINGO in the center square. You and use any 24 words you like to make the bingo game special for the bride to be.

You can also use these words in a word search puzzle.

Or you can give your guests a sheet of paper to see how many wedding terms they can think of in 5 minutes.

Here is another game idea called: How well do you know the bride? With this game you make a list of questions that each guest needs to answer, and the guest who gets the most right would be the winner. Here are some questions you might ask:

When is (the Bride's name) Birthday?

How old was she at the time of her "first kiss"?

How many boyfriends has she had?

Has she ever been engaged before?

How did the couple meet?

Where was the happy couple's first date?

How long has the couple been dating?

What is the bride's favorite drink?

What is the bride's favorite flower?

What is the bride's favorite color?

What is the bride's favorite male movie star?

This list of questions can be as long as you like. Give your guests enough time to fill out the sheet. Then have one person read off the questions. Let everyone have a chance to say the answers, and then let the bride tell the true answer. Sometimes the story that comes with the answer can be the best part.

Another game: How Well Do You Know The Bride?

Answer the following fifteen questions the way you think the bride-to-be woudl answer them by circling one of the choices for each question. The bride-to-be fills out a sheet with her own answers, and the winner is the player who guesses the largest number of the bride-to-be's answers.

1. For your honeymoon, would you prefer to go to France, Italy, England, Germany, Switzerland, or to the local pool hall?

2. Would you prefer a floor-length evening gown of velvet, silk, satin, lace or burlap?

3. Would you prefer the gown to be all black, all white, black and white, powder blue, shocking pink, or polka dotted?

4. For a second car, would you buy a sports car, an antique car, a large convertible, or a boxcar?

5. Would you prefer to go water-skiing, fishing, hicking, bike riding, horseback riding, bowling, or flea catching?

6. If you were going to the movies, would you prefer to see a tender love story, a terrifying horror film, a spectacular epic, a susperseful mystery, a comedy, a musical, or the previews?

7. Would you prefer to read a beautiful sonnet, a hilarious essay, a home decorating magazine, or a letter of intent signed by a football player?

8. Would you prefer to master the art of cooking Italian food, French food, German food, Chinese food, or dog food?

9. At a party, would you prefer to drink champagne, spiked fruit punch, a daiquiri, soft drink, beer, milk or water?

10. If you were spending an evening at home, would you prefer to read a book, watch TV, play games, listen to music, or eat?

11. Would you prefer a French poodle, German shepherd, cocker spaniel, dachshund, shaggy dog or hot dog?

12. Would you prefer to live in the mountains, by the ocean, in a small town, in a big city, or in a cave?

13. Would you prefer to live in a luxury apartment, colonial home, a modern ranch style house, a thirty-room mansion, or a teepee?

14. If you give birth to twins, would you prefer two boys, two girls, or a girl and boy?

15. If you were having a buffet, would you prefer to use sterling silver, shiny copper, stylish wooden serving pieces, or paper plates?

* GAME #1 *

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What's Happened?

You have one minute to study this scene. Remember all you can about the picture.
After the minute is up, turn the page over and write down as many as you remember.
The one with the most wins.

* GAME #2 *

You have one minute to circle all the items that are WRONG.
The one with the most wins.

A Bridal Survival Kit

Make sure the bride is prepared for emergencies on her big day. Here is a cute gift idea. Put together a little purse or bag containing items such as:

Band-Aids (great for those shoes that don't fit so good)

Clear nail polish (to stop a run in panty hose)

Asprin, allergie medication, and visine

Extra pair of panty hose

Needle and thread(s) (white & color of bridemaid dresses)

Pins

Tissue (someone is going to cry)

Bottle of water

Stag Party

The bachelor party - today's participants seem to be taking an unnecessary amount of precaution against possibly unscrupulous strippers, beer, dirty movies, loud music, and a striptease, or lap dancer.

Ancient Spartan soldiers reportedly were the first to hold what came to be known as stag parties. The groom would feast with his male friends on the night before the wedding as a way to saying goodbye to his carefree days and pledging his loyalty to his friends.

Loyalty still matters, but now where you go and what you do is considered a bonus.

So drop the blow-up doll and check out the new ideas for a bachelor party:

Paintball - rapidly becoming the norm for bachelor parties nationwide.

Bowling, darts, pool, and games, night out.

A weekend golf outing.

Sports events.

Extravagant dinners and fine wine.

Las Vega for a little gambling.

Hunting trip.

Sure, some women see the bachelor parties as caveman-like, chest-thumping wastes of time, but for men, this is an important time for them. The most important thing is having your close buddies there with you to celebrate. Plus the brides sure appreciate these types of bachelor parties more.

My daughters shower was on October 24th, and now I can share with all of you what happened now that the surprise is over.

First I had to pick my theme since I was the lucky one to get to plan the bridal shower, there was no one in the wedding party so there was no one else to do it. I wanted it to be so special for her since she is my only child, and it would be a fairy-tail wedding. So I went with a Princess theme, and since her colors would be purple and black, I added pretty in pink to my colors for the shower.

I wanted all the invited ladies to feel special to, so on the invites I asked that they would all wear dresses.

Here is what the invites looked like:

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It turned out pretty cool, since I dressed in a black shirt and pants with a white tie - I would be the one to serve the ladies their drinks and finger food on trays. This was my way to let them all feel pampered for a day.

The next item I wanted for her shower would be the wishing well, but I did not want that white box type or cardboard paper well that you always see. So I wanted to make her one that would more real, and have more then a one day use. So with the invites each person got a blank card to decorate any way they wanted with a wish for the bride and groom, and attach a token. This was to be returned with their R.S.V.P. to attending the shower. To my surprise the wishes were very sweet, and would be perfect for the brides scrap book. As for the wishing well it made a perfect piggy bank for the bride and groom to save for new wishes.

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The third piece to the invite was: A Bridal Shower Check List. This was my way to let the guest know what to bring to the shower to make it more fun.

1. Bring a flower for the Princess vase.
Each guest brought a flower (some real, some silk and even one was carved out of wood). A picture was taken with the Princess as each guest gave her their flower. The flowers were all put into a vase for her to enjoy the week before her wedding.

2. Bring a copy of your favorite chocolate recipe.
These were then put into a book for the bride to enjoy making for her new husband. At this time I served the ladies chocolate covered strawberries.

3. Bring a nonperishable food item to spice up the couples pantry.
To my surprise the bride got more then just one item. There was lots of new items for the couple to enjoy together.

4. Bring any special picture(s) of the bride you want to share.
If you have ever been to a shower, there is always that odd time where people need to introduce themselves and how they know the person. So I wanted to add a little fun to this but using pictures and have a show and tell time. This was fun as the guests would tell interesting stories and pictures were passed around.

5. Give a list of gift ideas that the bride would want.
For example - Put together a cute basket, bag or even a box filled with a theme. Wine and cheese, or bubble bath and body lotion, cookie cutters and colored sugar, coffee and cookies, kitchen towels and hot pads, holiday items or even adult toys.
To my delight the guests really enjoyed putting together their special gifts as they really took the time to think about the couple and what they would like.

Make sure you send out your invites early enough to give your guests time to R.S.V.P. and time to be able to make a gift. There was some very special gifts that were handmade for the bride.

Pick a small hall or a park shelter for your party, this makes it fun for everyone and gets you out of your home. A hall gives you more room to work with too.

Since I went with a Princess theme I wanted to give the room a royal entrance. So I had a long table set up for all the ladies with the princess at the head of the table.

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When the bride to be arrived she was greeted by her fairy-God-mother, who then crowned her a Princess for the day.

There was one table for the wishing well and the first cake Willy Warmer, that the bride had requested I make for her. Later she would enjoy cutting it too.

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The second table had the water fountain from my wedding and the mini-bride cake, that I also made with purple cake to surprise her.

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The Games! Yes, it would not be a shower party without the games and prizes. And when you rent a hall it give you lots of room for games.

1. Each guest got a clothespin to wear, and then told of the secret word for the party.

The idea is that if someone says that word you can take the clothespin away from that person. The guest with the most clothespins at the end of the party gets a prize.

2. A game to make the bride to be feel special. Each guest gets a piece of paper and pen to write down all the words that describes the bride in 1 minute. The person with the most words reads them out loud, and wins a prize. (all the guest at our shower each signed their name to the list they wrote and gave them to the bride, this way she could read them when ever she has a bad day.

3. Items in the purse.
There are different ways to play this game, but we had the bride take out things from her purse and everyone else would have to see if they also had that item in their purse. It is very interesting to see what ladies carry with them! The bride picked out 20 items and the guest who had the most matches won a prize.

4. Again each person gets a piece of paper and pen. Then given the new full name of the bride to be. The idea of this game is to write down all the words you can make with the letters from her name in 3 minutes. The winner with the most words gets a prize.

5. The memory game. (first you have to collect lots of little items, between 20 to 25) Each person will need a piece of paper and pen again. Have everyone clothes their eyes. On a tray you want to place all the little items - then give each person a few seconds (I counted to 13 before I went to the next person) to look at everything on the tray. (I tapped them on the shoulder when it was their turn to take a look). After everyone has had time to look, give them a minute or two to write down everything they remember. Show each item and say what it is to make sure everyone saw the same thing. The winner with the most, gets a prize.

6. Story time. This chain story goes until you have one or two winners that last the longest. The idea is each person adds a word to make a story. The first person (the bride) starts and adds a word, then the next person repeats the story the word added by the bride and adds another word. Then the next person repeats the story and the new words and adds one more - this continues on and on until a person can not remember what comes next in the story and is out. A prize is given to the last person.

Here is how the story starts:

I'm going to (the place where the bride wants to go on her honeymoon) and I am going to take . . . .

7. Hot Paper Bag.
This is played the same as the children's game hot potato. But you have a brown paper bag and inside a small stuffed teddy bear.
The idea is everyone makes a circle, the you say "The time has come to spice up the party - the one stuck holding the bag has to wear the teddy". What is funny is all the ladies will think you have nightgown inside the bag that they will need to put on and not know you have a stuffed teddy bear inside the bag. You can play the game with music like musical chairs and every time you stop the music the person holding the bag is out - or you can just count to 13 like I did. The person holding the bag has to open it and put on the teddy (but to their surprise, they are the winner of the game and get to keep the teddy bear).

8. The toothpick game.
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This game you will need a yard stick, a penny (an extra one just in case it falls on the floor and gets lost) a shot glass, and a toothpick for each player.
Then to set you you need a table and chair. The yard stick will lay from the top of the table edge to the end laying onto of the shot glass that is sitting on the chair. Each person takes a turn to slide the penny down the yard stick with a toothpick in your mouth. No hands, just the use of the toothpick to slide the penny all the way down the yard stick and into the the glass. Once the game starts no one can move the yard stick unless it falls. This can be done by most people so everyone who plays got a thank you gift for coming to the shower.