In the past several years with the explosion of celebrity chefs, cooking shows and cooking networks, making a meal has become more of a fun experience that many want to do rather than a chore. For those brides-to-be that have a passion for the kitchen, whether it’s savory or sweet, a cooking themed bridal shower will be a hit not only for her but for all the guests as well. Everyone will walk away with an experience they will never forget!
There are so many cool things you can incorporate into a cooking themed shower and I’m excited to share some with you. For starters, the invitation can start everything off just right. You could send invitations that are in different shapes of items that you would find in a kitchen or have kitchen themed images on them and explaining that you are throwing a cooking themed bridal shower. There are also a number of ways to send the message that this is a cooking themed party other than just coming out and saying it. For example, send the invitation attached to a small cutting board that the recipient will be able to keep as one of their party gifts. This could get a little pricy if you are on a budget so you could always go and have small slabs of butcher-block or bamboo cut that may save you a few bucks. Or a much more economical item could be wooden spoons or spatulas these you could easily get at the dollar store. Attach the invite to them with a piece of ribbon.
Something that is really cool that every bride would enjoy are RSVP recipe cards. When sending out your invitations, include blank recipe cards with each invite and ask each guest to send back one of their favorite recipes along with their RSVP. This will help the new bride fill her recipe box right away with a bundle of recipes.
Another request you can make to the guests when sending out your invitations is to substitute giving a card to the bride at the party with their gift with another inexpensive item. For example, you could ask each guest to bring a bottle of a spice that the bride could add to her spice collection and just add a tag with the guests name on it. Or you could ask the guests to bring an inexpensive cookbook or cooking magazine. Ask each guest to sign the inside cover of the book or magazine and perhaps write a special message to the happy couple. This was something my friends had done for me for a baby shower. Instead of cards, I received a bunch of Little Golden Books that had well wishes written inside and even to this day, eight years later, my daughters and I can enjoy the stories as well as remember the people who gave us the gifts.
With all of these social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and blogs, you could set up a page and ask each guest that is attending to sign in and write what cookbook, magazine or spice they are bringing if you are afraid of having duplicates. Or have them contact you with the information and you could update the page as you get current information for everyone to see.
The location of your shower could be something more homelike and cozy like a nice large living room or someone’s home that has a large kitchen. You could rent out a room of a local favorite restaurant or my personal favorite to rent out a co-op kitchen or restaurant rental space that you could entertain in.
A great idea for fun and entertainment is to hold a cooking class. You could enlist your most seasoned cooking veteran as the teacher to show your guests how to make a meal or a bunch of appetizers together. Or even better call a local chef to lead the cooking lesson or you can contact the local colleges and have a culinary teacher show your guests a thing or two. This is where a large kitchen or co-op kitchen would come in handy.
Obviously with a cooking themed party your bride will want to register for kitchen themed items. It is ok these days to add on your invitation where the bride is registered.
Decoration for a cooking themed party is endless. There are so many possibilities that you can do. You could use fresh fruit, veggies, breads, cheeses etc. These items can serve as a dual purpose, décor for the room and tables and appetizers and snacks for the guests. Beautiful fruit and veggie bouquets would make awesome centerpieces for tables. Fruit carvings and food sculptures are something your guests will talk about for a long time. Simple but delicious tea sandwiches and finger foods would be a great way to allow your guests to try a bunch of different things and not spend a lot on a large seven-course meal. Or maybe you want to do an elaborate seven-course meal that your foodie friends will enjoy.
There are so many food games you could play with your guests that everyone can participate in and enjoy. Name that spice game is a fun for all. Put a different spice in small sauce cup or Dixie cup and ask each guest to name that spice. The one guest that names the most wins a gift. You can do a blindfold taste test game where the winning team or person wins a gift for guessing the right number of items. Or do an ultimate cooking party game and hold an iron chef competition.
You can have a lot of fun putting together the gifts for the games and the party favors. Keep the gifts for the games along the food theme. Depending on your gift budget you can give away items as inexpensive as spatula sets, kitchen towel sets or potholder sets or if you have a bit of a larger budget pick out items that are a bit bigger. Some other items can be kitchen canister sets, small to midsize appliances like can openers, blenders, mixers or gift certificates to restaurants or to have a private chef cook for them.
Party favors can be just about anything food related. Some of the fun food mixes in a jar are fun like brownie mixes in a jar. Spatula sets or maybe a hard to find spice like saffron would make a good gift. Or give a copy of the brides’ favorite cookbook to each of the guests.
