Bright Wedding Shower Ideas to Ponder

Wedding showers, usually planned by either the matron of honor, family members and/or close friends, are now popularly associated to a kinky and naughty sex-themed bash (No thanks to bad, tasteless movies and television shows for giving wedding showers a bad reputation).

But did you know that wedding showers should be a clean and fun gift-giving occasion which should come not sometime after the engagement party but before the wedding day?

This wedding bash, they said, originated in the Netherlands. Whether true-to-life or fiction, they said that there was this story of a young woman whose love for a poor miller was disapproved by her father. And when her father attempted to sabotage her planned marriage by refusing to hand over his daughter's dowry, the village, who took pity on the couple, came to the two lovers' rescue by "showering" them with gifts.

Romantic isn't it? From then on, this once-upon all-women tea parties have evolved in myriad ways. The grooms are now getting their feet wet with a pre-wedding shower bash too.

The bride and groom's attendants, co-workers and friends do the hosting job. Usually, everybody who's invited to the shower should also be invited to the wedding. Why? It will be doubly hurtful for the shower guest who doesn't get a wedding invite as he or she may feel snubbed.

Anywhere, a wedding bash can be thrown: a favorite restaurant, spas, outdoors at the park or in the host or hostesses' home.

Explore some bright and favorite bridal shower themes that over the years have bring fun, excitement and fond memories both to the hostess and the guests:

Stock the Bar Shower. Everyone who is invited to the bridal shower is assigned a different kind of liquor such as vodka, brandy or tequila. Sometimes, the guests may be assigned to bring the appropriate glasses to serve them in. For additional fun, guests are also suggested to bring bar ware like corkscrews, funky coasters and pica-pica servers.

Bon Voyage Shower. This so-called bridal shower theme sports the idea that guests shower the couple with all the essential items for enjoying their honeymoon. Sometimes, gifts range from disposable cameras to map to luggage. Gift certificates are sometimes given to couples, especially if the trip's location has already been determined.

Electronics Shower. In this ultra modern lifestyle times, newlyweds set a rather techy or modern take on bridal shower theme. This shower is ideal for couples who are passionate after the latest digital cameras or home theater systems. Sometimes, as in most cases, guests are asked to bring in disks to stack in to the couple's library of music or DVD collections.

Spa Pampering Shower. The couple receives matching robes from the host or hostess and guest bring all the necessary items for an in-home spa pampering. Think fluffy towel sets, sea salt, bubble bath, candles, lotion and detachable bathtub jets. The group might even pitch in to send the couple to a favorite spa for his-and-her massages.

For one, Urban Spa in Shangri-La Plaza Mall in the capital Manila, Philippines offers bridal shower service of spa pampering for a group of up to 20 persons.

Ms. Happy Concepcion, the assistant manager of Urban Spa, enumerated that the services, while not limited to the following, include full body massage, foot massage, facial massage and express massage among others, of which package price may start at P8,000 ($164) depending on the treatments.

The bridal shower group may also hold programs at the Urban Spa, which Ms. Concepcion added that if the group lacks time, the first batch of 10 people usually undergo to the first hour of the treatment, while the remaining 10 may commence with the bridal shower program.

So before anything else, Urban Spa should be able to receive from the bridal shower organizer what the treatments they would require so that the company would be able to prepare beforehand their proposal.

Ms. Concepcion recommended "As in Heaven" which is a half day or roughly four hours of combined full-service spa experience which include milk bath, hair spa, and one-hour full body massage, among others.

Color my world Shower. At Color Me Mine Studio, the host or the host's friends can bring the excitement to the soon-to-be wed couples by creating artworks on ceramics or glass as bridal shower gifts.

Ms. Connie Pacana, the Color Me Mine in Philippines' Shangri-La Plaza Mall, said that guests may pick or choose any piece of ceramics available at the Studio and paint it according to the wedding theme set by the host or the would-be couples. The finished personalized painted ceramics or glass materials would then become the shower gifts of the guests.

"This is a very unique way of enjoying your bridal shower compared to some usual themes of wedding bash," said Ms. Pacana. "Bring your food, your coffee, or anything here and relax."

If you are planning a unique, artsy wedding bash at Color Me Mine, the minimum starting rate would be about P8,500 ($175), which include painting time and would only be up to three hours.