Your best friend is getting married and you want to throw a bridal shower for her that she’ll never forget. Your first challenge is to decide on a theme. There are many choices for a bridal shower theme, including themes related to the couple and their wedding; gift-related themes; and personal themes.
Examples of bridal shower themes related to the couple and their wedding are a luau theme for a couple planning a honeymoon to Hawaii, a calypso or islands theme if they will be honeymooning in the Caribbean; a maritime theme if they are going on a cruise; an outdoors theme if they met while hiking; and a media theme if they are movie or music buffs. Gift-themed bridal showers can focus on a room of the house, such as the kitchen, or a category of items, such as glassware and dishes, with all shower gifts related to the theme. Examples of personal-themed showers would be a lingerie shower, a spa/beauty products shower and a reminiscing shower.
Caribbean -themed Bridal Shower. For a Caribbean or Calypso-themed bridal shower, invitations, decorations and food should reflect Caribbean island/beach motifs; tropical hues should dominate the color palette; and such images as parrots, palm trees, shells, pineapples, coconuts, flip flops, tropical fish, and beach umbrellas should feature prominently in the decorating scheme. Serve rum punch, pina coladas or margaritas (don’t forget the little umbrellas) as well as tropical juices, and put together a menu that includes island favorites such as coconut shrimp, baked jerked chicken, pineapple, and mango sherbet. Play Jimmy Buffett music. One good source of invitations and decorations for a Caribbean-themed part is themepartiesnmore.com.
Kitchen-themed Bridal Shower. A kitchen-themed bridal shower is perfect for a couple who will be furnishing and equipping a home for the first time. All guests should bring a kitchen items as gifts. Suggested gifts include cookbooks, appliances, cookware, cooking and serving utensils, serving dishes, and so on. Use recipe cards as invitations, with a recipe on one side and shower details on the other. Incorporate small kitchen items into the decorations. For example, centerpieces could be baskets of brightly colored napkins and kitchen gadgets or baskets of herbs and spices, small dish towels could be used as table napkins, and aprons and oven mitts could feature as part of the decorating scheme. After the shower, give the guest-of-honor any kitchen items used in the decorations.
Lingerie Bridal Shower Theme. Opt for either risqué and racy or romantic and lacy as your decorating theme for a lingerie bridal shower and then have fun with your choice. If you opt for the sexy approach, your decorating scheme might feature red and black colors, feather boas, garters, and hot-house flowers. If you go for the romantic theme, emphasize pastel colors, such as pink, peach and white; carnations, lilies or roses; and floral-scented potpourri or sachets. Guests should bring gifts for the boudoir, such as night gowns, sexy panties or bras, negligees, garters, and teddies or perhaps a gift certificate to a lingerie shop such as Victoria’s Secret (www.victoriassecret.com).
Spa and Beauty Product Bridal Shower Theme. This shower is meant to pamper the bride-to-be with personal care and beauty products. This should be a casual shower at which everyone can relax. Tell guest to dress casually in their most comfortable clothes. Attach a small sachet to each invitation. Use scented candles or aromatherapy products to create the right ambience. Create a centerpiece using inexpensive personal care products, perhaps a basket of small soaps, lip gloss, or bottles of bubble bath, lotions, or nail polish. The gift list could include aromatherapy products, lotions, perfumes, skincare products, a manicure kit, gift certificates for spa treatments or personal services like manicures, and gift baskets of personal-care products such as those available at Bath and Body Works (www.bathandbodyworks.com).
Reminiscing Bridal Shower Theme. For this shower, gather as many pictures of the bride and groom, alone and together, at all ages, with their friends and families, at special occasions and so on and make a collage of them for the bride. Use one of the photos on the invitation to the shower. Pick a few pictures and incorporate them into a centerpiece or table decorations. Use others to as part of the shower decorations. Ask each guest to bring a picture of them with the bride, if possible, and to talk about when it was taken and its meaning. Gifts could include photo albums, photos, film, disposable cameras, and frames or gifts personalized with photos, such as those available at Shutterfly (www.shutterfly.com).
Sources:
themepartiesnmore.com, Caribbean Party.
www.victoriassecret.com, Victoria’s Secret Lingerie and Women’s Clothing, Accessories and more
www.shutterfly.com, Welcome to Shutterfly
www.bathandbodyworks.com, Bath and Body Works
www.bridalshower.com, shower themes
