The time honored tradition of the bridal shower serves an important function. Showering the bride with not only gifts, but love from friends and family as she prepares to begin her new life as a Mrs. Getting creative and beautiful bridal shower ideas doesn’t have to be stressful.
When you prepare the party to reflect the bride’s style and add in fun games along with amazing food, it’s destined to be a day she’ll remember as one of the highlights of getting married.
If you’re the one throwing the shower, we have everything you need for a stress-free event. Bridal shower themes, decoration ideas, menus and cute favors are all easy when you have it all in one place. Whatever your style, we have all your bridal shower planning needs covered.
Themes and Decorations
If you’re the one that’s in charge of hosting the bridal shower, your party planning will be so much simpler if you have a theme. This is the party the bride will remember as the lead up to her big day. Make it unforgettable without going broke or getting stressed-out. If you need bridal shower theme ideas, we have quite a few to get you started. Some are complete themes, others are ideas for you to incorporate into a theme of your own choosing. Now let’s inspire you!
Bridal Shower Ideas for Themes
Have the Festivities Outdoors
If the weather cooperates, consider an old-fashioned picnic theme, complete with checkered cloths and wicker baskets filled with goodies for the guests to eat and drink.
Have a Stock the Bar Bridal Shower
This bridal shower idea is perfect for the bride who already has a fully stocked kitchen. Consider throwing her a stock-the-bar-themed shower. It’ll equip the happy couple with everything they need for entertaining together.
Hearts & Flowers Romance
The romantic bridal shower is one of the favorites, for a great reason. You’re celebrating the love that two people have for each other, so hearts, flowers, champagne and chocolates are the cornerstones of this theme.
Have a Fiesta
Tacos aren’t just for Tuesday with this theme. Everyone’s favorite is served along with machos, salsa, guacamole and other Southwestern themed foods. Serve margaritas, either virgin or with alcohol. Decorate with cactus, colorful southwestern florals, piñatas and sombreros to add to the theme.
Beach Themed Bridal Shower Ideas
Bring the beach to the bridal shower with sand, seashells, nautical decor, and (hopefully) beautiful weather to provide plenty of sunshine. From the blues of the ocean for color to starfish and seashells for texture, you can easily create an elegant beach theme. For favors, pack a beach bag with flip flops, a sun visor, and a romantic beach read.
Meet Me in Paris
Celebrate love with a shower inspired by the beauty of Paris, the city of love. For decorations, include the Eiffel Tower and other famous Paris landmarks. Serve French wines, cheeses, and mini French desserts.
Have a Destination-Themed Bridal Shower
If the happy couple is having a destination wedding, have a travel theme as the bridal shower theme. Use decorative luggage and trunks covered in travel stickers, globes, and old school paper maps that guests can sign.
Bollywood-Style Bridal Shower Ideas
Capture the beauty of Indian design with deep jewel,tones accented with gold. Serve traditional Indian cuisine. Make the Bollywood theme more authentic by having a henna artist to decorate each guest’s hands.
Winter Wonderland
For a winter bridal shower, use wintry snow white décor, evergreen boughs, holly berries, crystal or glitter snowflakes and pine cones. Include a hot chocolate bar to warm up your guests as they arrive from the frosty outside.
Garden Theme
Decorate with flowers and potted plants. If your food is being served buffet-style, set the utensils in pretty clay flower pots. Give seed packets as favors along with a flower pot for each guest.
Look to the Stars Theme
If the bride is a stargazer, throw a shower inspired by the heavens. Celestial decor that includes the stars and planets, a deep midnight blue and silver or gold color palette, candles in star cutout holders as centerpieces, star and planet themed place cards, and Van Gogh Starry Night inspired favors make this theme out of this world.
Have a Tea Party Theme
Set up a traditional afternoon tea party. Offer a variety of teas and scones (add clotted cream and jam for an authentic English experience) served on elegant china with vintage style floral paper napkins. Each guest keeps their tea cup as their favor. Old china is in abundance at thrift shops, and very affordable.
Disney Princess Wedding Bridal Shower Ideas
This bridal shower idea uses the recurring theme in most Disney movies…the princess gets married at the end. Decorate with Disney princess decor, with the princesses each wearing their wedding attire. Have Cinderella’s carriage as the cake design, complete with a glass slipper somewhere near the coach. It’s all about happily ever after, a great bridal shower idea!
Bridal Shower Ideas for Decorations
Homemade Name Tags
Give each guest a name tag decorated with the theme of the shower. Name tags are wonderful to use for parties where all the guests may not know each other, and saves the embarrassment of asking each other to repeat their names.
Vintage Themed Floral Centerpieces
Bridal showers and flowers are perfect together, so take your flower displays up a notch by placing your blooms in vintage salt and pepper shakers. You can choose anything from kitschy figurines to elegant china shakers. Have a drawing at the end of the shower for,the salt & pepper sets, a few lucky guests will get to take beautiful vintage tableware home with them.
The Bride’s Throne
The bride will love opening her gifts from a beautiful throne. Decorate her chair with flowers, ivy, and other Mother Nature inspired decor. If she’s more of the Queen type, cover her chair in gold foil and deep red velvet. Make sure she has a crown for the festivities.
Make Vintage Looking Crystal Tiered Serving Plates
Buy crystal candlesticks at a thrift shop or dollar store and hot glued one to the bottom of a clear glass plate or pretty china plate (thrift shops are filled with china sets). Serve dessert from the raised plates for a touch of elegance at a fraction of the cost of a ready made tiered cake plate.
Tea Cups and Flowers Favors Bridal Shower Ideas
Buy a flat or two of seasonal flowers like impatiens or marigolds. Fill thrift store teacups with a planted flower inside for an affordable and adorable bridal shower favor that will last long after the shower is over. This bridal shower idea is perfect for a tea party theme!
Decorate With A Balloon Arch
Ballon arches look impressive but aren’t all that hard to make. By attaching balloons to a chicken wire frame you can wow the guest of honor and her friends and family. Add fresh flowers at the top for an extra special touch. YouTube has dozens of easy tutorials that don’t cost a fortune and won’t take days to make.
Affordable Decor
Here are so many affordable bridal shower ideas that you don’t have to spend a lot to throw a beautiful bridal shower. Go with a rustic theme using old apple crates, thrift store doilies, mason jars filled with pretty flowers and other thrifty finds.
Decorate with Glitter
Roll mini wine bottles in glitter for a sparkly bridal shower favor. Use a glittery ribbon to attach the guests names to each bottle.
Make a Unique Centerpiece
Scour thrift stores for vintage stand up handbags. Fill each one with flowers and use as your table centerpieces. Place a lacy hankie at each place setting along with heart shaped chocolates and the guest’s name on a place card for a beautifully personal touch.
Decorate with Hanging Flowers
Cover affordable embroidery hoops with lace so the wood doesn’t show through. Hang bundles of flowers from ribbons attached to the top to create a chandelier effect. Hang each chandelier over the main bridal areas like the dessert table or the bride-to-be’s chair.
All in the Family
Honor the bride and groom’ s families by placing their wedding photos on display for a sweet bridal shower idea. The beauty of wedding gowns and hairstyles from years gone by will captivate guests and family alike.
Have an Old-Fashioned Pounding
This bridal shower idea comes from bridal showers that were thrown generations ago. A Pounding is a tradition from long, long ago. It’s a baking-themed bridal shower, called a “pounding” party because guests all bring items to stock the bride’s baking pantry, or “a pound of sugar, a pound of flour” and so on. Decorate with vintage aprons and mixing bowls. The centerpiece can be a stand mixer, the perfect gift for a Pounding themed shower!
Make it Meaningful
Create a homey, handmade mood, including the main bridal shower tablescape. A vintage looking quilt with with matching themed serving ware will add to the timeliness and elegance of the event.
Bridal Shower Ideas – Things to Do
Have a Cake Decorating or Cookie Decorating Shower
Check with your local bakery or search for at home teachers to teach all the guests the basics of cake or cookie decorating. It’s a fun and tasty activity that not only makes sure everyone has a great time, but they get sweet treats they can show off (and eat) after the class portion of the shower is over. You can also go with cute aprons for each guest. They’ll serve as both clothing protectors while decorating and bridal shower favors that they’ll actually use.
Have a Gift-Around-the-Clock
This bridal shower idea works best with large groups. The way it works is each bridal shower attendee is assigned a specific time during the shower (written on their invitation). Increments of 10-15 minutes allowed enough time for the bride to open the gift and show it off. When it’s the guest’s assigned time, their gift would be given at the designated time. In order to keep track of who gives what present when, the maid of honor would have a timekeeper’s master sheet and would announce the time and who has that gifting time (even better if it can be done in rhyme).
Create a Date Night Ideas Jar
Give the bride and groom new date night ideas. Have each guest write their idea on a small index card and drop it into a box from a craft store. You can also use wooden tongue depressors and glittery gel pens and have guests place their ideas in a large mason jar or cute kitchen canister.
Create a Recipe Box for a Happy Marriage
Pick up a cute recipe box at a craft store and turn it into a guest book. Have the guests write down words of wisdom for what makes a happy marriage. Guests can also bring their favorite recipe to add to the box.
Play Bridal Shower Games
Printable games aren’t anything unique when it comes to bridal shower ideas, but sometimes the tried and true works the best. While some of the typical printable type games are boring after so many bridal showers, many do stand the test of time. Know your audience, if they like guessin games try one of those or trivia for the competitive types.
Bridal Shower Ideas for Food
Dessert Ideas
Have a Tea Party Themed Dessert Table
Serve the the dessert selection as mini deserts, each tucked into a vintage tea cup that each guest can take home as a bridal shower favor after the shower. Get a cute chalkboard sign and colored chalkboard markers. In feminine script, create a menu that showcases the bridal shower dessert offerings.
Personalize the Desserts
Whether you have a dessert or candy bar, you can personalize everything from the cupcake toppers to the tableware with the couple’s monogram. Decals stick easily in glass serving pieces to tie it all together.
Have Cake or Pie Pops to Make Dessert Portable
You can choose from dozens of different flavors of cake pops, dipped in melted chocolate and covered in sprinkles for a fun, portable dessert. Pie pops are equally tasty, especially when dusted with confectioners sugar while still warm.
Have a Doughnut Bar
Who doesn’t love doughnuts? Instead of a dessert or candy table, serve a variety of bakery fresh doughnuts displayed on tiered cake plates. Include mini doughnuts with a diamond printed cutout attached to a toothpick, and spear the doughnuts to look like engagement rings.
Drink Ideas
Have a Drink Station
Whether you’re serving soft drinks, fancy cocktails, or both, create a well put together drink station with all the essentials within easy reach. Glasses, pre-made soft drinks like tea or lemonade in pitchers, alcohol, mixers, garnishes, straws, ice, and stirrers are just a few things to include.
Serve Seasonal Cocktails
With summer bridal showers, farm markets are bursting with delicious seasonal fruit. The possibilities are endless when it comes to creating beautiful and delicious fruity drinks.
Serve White Peach and Mixed Berry Sangria
Sangria doesn’t have to be red. White Sangria uses summer fruits and either regular white wine or sparkling white to create a delicious and beautiful drink. Our favorite recipe is at Allrecipes.com. Be sure to make a day or two in advance so the fruit flavors get infused into the wine.
Food Ideas
Serve Bite-Size Sandwiches
Serve mini sandwiches like BLTs, toast and Brie, or mini croissants with chicken salad, cut in half. Each guest gets to sample different t sandwiches instead of one flavor only.
Make Everything Finger-Foods
From small hand held small sandwiches, to mini cakes and desserts, hand held foods make it easier for your guests to eat while not sitting around a table.
Get ideas for games the guests will love playing with our bridal shower games.