Bridal Shower Themes: Fun Ideas & Resources

The maid of honor is usually delegated the duty of organizing a bridal shower and to make sure that the party is as perfect as the bride could have hoped for if she’d arranged it herself. A dubious honor sometimes, because it can be so nerve-wracking. Your best bet to host a bridal shower that everyone will enjoy is to work around a theme that everyone can participate in. Stuck for theme ideas? The following list offers some fun and exciting themes that make for popular showers the bride will appreciate. Just pick a theme that works with the bride’s personality and include elements of the theme she’s chosen for her wedding.

Gourmet Bridal Shower

If the bride loves too cook and enjoys gourmet foods (yeah, like who doesn’t?), this is a really fun type of bridal shower. Ask the guests to each bring a small gourmet dish to the shower – if the bride is having a culturally themed wedding, the dishes could be themed in the same way. So if the bride’s wedding is to be an asian-themed wedding, everyone could bring oriental dishes and practice eating with chopsticks.

Presents in this type of shower can follow the same theme and provide the new couple with things they might not otherwise receive. Look beyond the tupperware and seek out particularly lovely items that will stock the kitchen or dress the table in a beautiful way. Look for specialty items like woks and pretty chopsticks, stoneware bowl sets, or hand-made place settings.

Want to add a final touch to the theme? Send out invitations that are in the shape of a take-out box, food, or hand-deliver invitations wrapped in an apron.

A site to check for gifts and supplies: The Pampered Chef – http://www.pamperedchef.com/ – This site has absolutely everything a serious food lover could ask for.

Stock the Bar Bridal Shower

Especially great for young couples, this bridal shower theme will land the newlyweds with plenty of spirits! In the invitations, ask each guest to bring one bottle of alcohol. Wine, beer, spirits, or liquor – you might even ask guests to bring a particular type (scotch, tequila, etc.) so that the couple doesn’t end up with 10 bottles of vodka.

During the shower, have lots of fun with the drinking theme. After all, the boys get to play, right? Try making some naughty bachelorette drinks and open the gifts over classic rock music. If you can, renting a pool hall for the evening is a lot of fun and gets everyone involved in the good times.

Another twist on activity for this type of theme would be to invite a bartending instructor over for the evening. They will usually let you hire their services for a few hours, and can teach everyone some tricks of the drink-mixing trade.

A site to check for gifts and supplies: The Beverage Factory – http://www.beveragefactory.com/barware.shtml – If you want to supplement the liquor with all the nifty paraphenalia, this is the site to see.

Lingerie Bridal Shower

Likely one of the single most popular themes recently for bridal showers, this one can be perfectly naughty if the bride is a free spirit. Typically, this type of bridal shower is only for younger brides who will be comfortable and have fun with the nature of a lingerie bridal shower – depending on how comfortable the bride and her guests are with the risque aspect, you can play with the theme even further.

Each guest should bring a piece of lingerie for the bride. Really, the possibilities are endless – from sexy little teddies to thigh-highs and garters, the bride gets showered with ultra-feminine pretties and the groom … well, he will definitely appreciate the effort! If the bride is particularly easy-going, you might incorporate sexy treats into the shower as well – from the fairly easy to get away with stuff like honey dust to the more naughty things like sex toys, this theme has a lot of room for playing around with.

Some ideas for entertainment? Really, this depends on the bride. But you might try to find a massage instructor who can show a few tips for a sensual night that all the guests will benefit from and enjoy, or make it more of a “beauty” night by asking over a cosmetics salesperson who are usually trained to give instruction on how to apply makeup in ways that will transform everyone into the goddesses they are.

A site to check for gifts and supplies: Three Wishes Lingerie – http://www.threewisheslingerie.com/bride.asp – Not only are their normal lines beautiful, but they have a full “honeymoon” themed section that will get you clicking fast.

Room of the House Bridal Shower

A newer bridal shower theme, this one requires guests to bring gifts specific to a room in the newlywed’s home. For example, one guest’s invitation might read “Please bring a gift that the couple can use in the dining room”, while another’s might read, “Please bring a gift that the couple can use in the bedroom”. Each guest would then have a world of opportunity for gift-giving ideas, and the newlyweds will have plenty of nice things to start their new life together with.

Activities for this type of shower are wide open because the theme doesn’t narrow you to a specific idea. Everything that could be done in any of the other showers can be done here. One that might be really enjoyable for the more conservative bride is sharing romantic stories, poems, and anectdotes around coffee and tea.

A site to check for gifts and supplies: Bed, Bath & Beyond – http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/default.asp?order_num=-1& – Filled with everything a new home could possibly need, this site carries quality, beautiful products you’ll be proud to give.

The success of your bridal shower depends almost completely on the theme that you choose, so make sure that you pick one that fits the personality of the bride and her guests. Otherwise, the bride will be disappointed and you’re going to feel frustrated. Above all else, though, have fun – your smiles at the shower are definitely contagious, and everyone there wants to have fun, they just might need a little nudge.