When someone you know is getting married, there is likely a wedding shower involved. This is a great chance for the bride's friends and family to get together, shower the bride with gifts, and perhaps share wedding advice. If you are the maid of honor or one of the bridesmaids, chances are it's up to you to throw the wedding shower. While this task may seem daunting, if you give yourself enough time to plan and stay organized, then it should go off without a hitch. Here are some tips to plan a successful wedding shower.
Work Together
Ideally, it's best if you and the other bridesmaids work together to plan the wedding shower. This helps take some of the burden off of you and also ensures all of the aspects of the party are well taken care of. You may consider splitting the wedding shower planning into categories such as:
- Theme and decorations
- Food
- Games and activities
When one or two people are in charge of each aspect, it can make things a lot less stressful. However, when splitting the duties, it's important to coordinate because you don't want the wedding shower to be disjointed or not go together well. It can be helpful to meet a couple of times throughout the planning process to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Guest List and Invitations
You should get a guest list from the bride-to-be of who she would like to invite to the wedding shower. She might want a more intimate gathering of ten or so people, or she might be planning on having a huge event with many guests. Knowing this ahead of time will help you figure out where you should have the shower and how much food you are going to need. Try to get the invitations out in a timely fashion. This will increase the chances of a good turnout. It's best to have the shower a month or two before the wedding, before things get too hectic. You want to send out invitations about a month in advance, which means the planning process should start about three months before the wedding. On the wedding shower invitation, be sure to include the date and time, location, theme (if you are having one), and where the bride is registered. You might also ask guests to come with their best marriage advice.
Plan the Time Wisely
You want to have activities to fill the time, but you also don't want the event to be overwhelming. Opening gifts can take a while, and people are likely going to want some time to mingle. If the shower is about two hours long, then you might plan for 30-45 minutes' worth of games. This will usually be two or three games. You might want to plan a couple of extra games in case any of the games go by more quickly than you expect.
Thank You Notes
The couple will need to write thank you notes, but you can make this an easy task with just a little bit of effort. Purchase the thank you notes and have each guest write his or her name and address on an envelope. Put a stamp on each envelope. Also, make sure you have someone keeping track of who gave which gift so the bride knows who to thank. This will cut your time writing thank you notes in half, and it's really quite simple to do.
Having a successful wedding shower comes down to organization and appropriate planning. Get the invitations out at the right time, coordinate the jobs with other people as necessary, and make sure you are able to fill the time appropriately. These things should lead to a fun and successful wedding shower.
Add Your Comment