We’ve all been to a million bridal showers.

If we were to all be perfectly honest about them, most of us would say that it’s time to refresh the whole idea of the bridal shower!

Today, I’m sharing some fun, unique ways to engage guests and modernize this otherwise fun and beautiful tradition.

The Modern Bridal Shower

Here are some fun ways to modernize any bridal shower that you are planning.

Personalize each invitation with a hand-written note. Have the bride include a little favorite moment or reason why the guest is important to her.
To honor tradition, stick with formal paper invitations, but include an option for guests to RVSP by joining a Facebook group.
In the Facebook group, post detailed directions, reminders about the party, and a few secrets for guests (see below, and shhh, don’t tell the bride!).
Include the bride in planning the shower! Traditionally, the bride is kept out of the loop. For a modern take, consider asking her to take part (if it’s something all of you would enjoy doing together).
Ditch old ideas about the second marriage! The second marriage deserves just as much fun and love as the first; don’t be afraid to plan an elaborate bridal shower for a 2nd-time bride.

Here are a few tips for using the internet to plan a smashing bridal shower!

Remember above, where I mentioned setting up a guests-only group on Facebook where you can share directions and secrets?

Here is where things become fun, modern, and interesting. This is all about including the guests as much as possible so that their contribution to the bride is so much more than just attendance and a gift.

Ask guests to share photos of their own weddings, and then create a collage or memory book for the bride to flip through.

Ask guests to share photos of themselves as a bride. Print these images (with permission from guests) and hang them around the room in frames.

Have guests each share a story about how they know the bride and the reasons that they love her. Encourage them to post their response with a favorite image. Print out their replies and make a photo book that guests can sign. Include both the favorite images and the beautiful sentiments shared by the guests. This will surprise the bride and the guests!

Have guests share favorite personal images of them with the bride, and then use the images to create custom thank-you cards for the bride to use when writing her thank-you notes to shower guests.

Encourage guests to also bring the bride a favorite scented candle. She will have a beautiful collection of candles for her home that will all be favorite scents of her beloved guests.

Have guests share photos of their wedding china (if they still have it), and use the images in a collage to compare then-and-now styles.

5 Modern Bridal Shower Games

In your secret Facebook group, ask guests to share their wedding-day mishaps.

At the shower, read the mishaps out-loud and have the bride guess at whose wedding the mishap happened.

If you have a good collection of mishaps, the entire party should be roaring with laughter!
Play a fun game using vintage wedding photos. Use Pinterest to find photos of vintage weddings. (Yes, the 1980s may be considered vintage).

Find 3-5 images of each category: wedding gowns, cakes, china, ceremony decor, getaway cars, locations, reception and so on.

Print out a 5x7 photo of each and place them face-up in categories on a large table. Gather guests around the table.

Blindfold the bride and bring her out to the table, where she will pick up one image from each category without seeing them.

Share the brides vintage dream wedding with her, one image at a time.
Play ‘The Price is Right’

Choose some common shower items that the bride did NOT register for.

Examples: obscure kitchen appliances, vacuums, fine china, etc.

Print a large image of each.

Create a sheet for guests to write what price they think the item sells for at retail (no sale prices).

The person who is closest without going over on the most items wins a prize.
Do a ‘blind’ cake tasting for the dessert.

Purchase 3-5 small filled cakes (a bakery is your best bet. Here are some good examples: chocolate + strawberry filling, white cake + lemon filling, pear or apple cake + cinnamon filling, champagne cake + cream filling and so on).

Find the most obscure, yet delicious flavors that you can find.

Artfully slice small single bites of each cake and create plates for each guest where all 5 cakes are presented left to right. Cover each plate so that guests cannot see the cake they are eating.

Blindfold your guests and present the plates. Have them taste each cake, and then write down on paper what flavor they think each cake is.
Pop Quiz the bride

Before the bridal shower, quiz her fiancé about life, marriage, and habits.

Use this information to pop-quiz the bride, and see how many she can get right! Here are some examples of questions you might ask the brides partner:

a. What is your favorite part of her body?
b. What is her favorite part of YOUR body?
c. What are you most looking forward to at the wedding?
d. What do you think she’s most looking forward to at the wedding?
e. What is your favorite car/hike/dog breed/etc.?

So on and so forth. Have the bride answer each question. The harder the questions are, the more likely that everybody will be laughing!

Most of all, it’s important to HAVE FUN. Bridal showers can be as upscale or as relaxed and simple as you wish to make them. Keep it fun, friendly, and inviting and you cannot go wrong.

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