Movie Themed Bridal Shower!

As a future bride-to-be, I've been thinking more seriously about all the events surrounding my wedding day. Needless to say, there are a number of traditions the bride takes part in and one of them is a Bridal Shower.

In more recent years, the rules around who throws a bridal shower have been thrown out the window. Now, it can be anyone as close as the mother or sister of the bride, to friends and cousins as well. The important thing to remember, is that it's a party for all women involved in the wedding in some shape or form.

I'm lucky to have a sister who will give a lot of thought and attention to detail when it comes to my wedding. But, that doesn't mean I can't have my input! In thinking about a Bridal Shower, I always think they're a bit cheesy with games that aren't much fun or gifts that reek of blandness. A lot of these problems can be eliminated by picking a theme for the Bridal Shower that creates a commonplace for all in attendance.

I thought a Movie Themed Bridal Shower would be a great idea! Since I am an avid movie fan, this idea appealed a lot to me and the games, food and decorations would present no problem in creating the mood to match. Here are some of the ideas I came up with.

Food

For a Movie Themed Bridal Shower, snacks are definitely key. Have lots of candies on hand such as Jujy Fruit, Sour Patch Kids, Junior Mints, M&Ms, and Twizzlers. It goes without saying that you'll have to have popcorn and nachos as well. A cool idea may be to have an actual popcorn popper stand. Many party rental supply stores do rent out popcorn machines. The other option is to google popcorn machine rentals in your particular area. I've found that for a day, popcorn machines range from $55 to $65 as their rental fee. Not a bad price! Oh, don't forget to buy popcorn containers! www.orientaltrading.com has some great ones.

I don't think it's a bad idea to have food other than snacks available but to keep with the "mood" of the environment, choose something simple such as pizza or hot dogs. Sodas, water and slurpees or icees are a great idea and keep with the movie themed atmosphere. Don't turn away from alcoholic beverages but keep them fun and simple. Frozen margaritas are the perfect choice!

When it comes to plates, napkins, table coverings, etc. for your Movie Theme Bridal Shower, there are endless possibilities for where you can buy all this stuff. First, check out your local party supply store. They are bound to have a number of movie themed items to purchase. Second, check out www.orientaltrading.com where you can buy pre-packaged items in bulk. This way, you don't have to buy everything separately. Also, if you can't find any generic movie theme plates, napkins, etc., perhaps try focusing on a specific movie. If the bride-to-be is a fan of Disney movies, maybe buy plates and plasticware pertaining to The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast.

Games

The possibilities for the different types of games you can play at your Movie Theme Bridal Shower are endless. For example, take an old classic like pin the tale on the donkey. Replace the donkey with a blown up photograph or poster of an actor the bride is a fan of. Replace "pinning the tale" with kissing the photograph of the actor by aiming for his face or whatever body part you choose (make it fun!). Make sure to have all people playing the game wearing lipstick so it's easy to tell the winner.

Charades, Taboo or Pictionary are always great games to play. Make sure you make all the word games movie related. The point of the games are to choose topics within the movie category that the bride enjoys. If she's not a fan of westerns, don't make the games Western Themed.

One of the sure fire ways to have a lot of fun at Movie Theme Bridal Showers are to have everyone arrive at the party dressed as a specific actor or actress or even a character from a movie. The more outrageous the better! Even if it's easy to guess, do it! It'll be a great way to liven up the party.

If dressing up doesn't sound appealing to the majority of those attending, perhaps a more subtler approach would be to choose gifts pertaining to specific movies. Popular movies where gift ideas are given are from Ghost (pottery), The Godfather (Italian gift basket...anything Italian), Beauty and the Beast (make-up, candles, clock), Breakfast at Tiffany's (breakfast items, toaster, cereal bowls). Be creative! The fun of this game is that the gift you provide should have some explanation as to why it's related to the movie you picked.

Another fun game is writing down names of popular movie stars on index cards and have everyone tape them on their foreheads without looking at what name is written on their card. When taped to your forehead, the name on the card should be visible to everyone else. The object of the game is for you to figure out who you're supposed to be based on the conversations you have with the rest of the people playing the game. Make the game tough and set rules such as, no one is allowed to mention the name of movies the actors/actresses have been in.

Decoration

This is my favorite part! Decorating the location of the Movie Theme Bridal Shower can be a lot of fun depending on how far you want to go with it. Almost all google results for my search of "movie party decorations" came up with great ideas. I cannot stress enough how great party supply stores are because they will most definitely carry many of the items you will need to decorate your house. However, there are a lot of cool items you can make at home yourself.

A movie marquee is an awesome decoration piece to have the front of your house or location of the party. It's easy to create as well. You will need 1. sturdy cardboard (preferably something like a science fair board), 2. white christmas lights, 3. scissors, 4. and markers. With your scissors, poke holes along the border of the cardboard lengthwise. After you've poked holes all around, push each individual christmas light through the hole. When you're done, you should have a mock-up movie marquee. With markers, write something clever such as "Welcome to [bride's name]'s Theater." It's a great way to get a lot of compliments, plus, it's a resourceful way of making a great decoration piece.

The Bridal Shower invitations definitely have to be movie themed. You can easily buy movie invitation that have all the necessary information listed and you would have to do is fill in the blanks. Movie Invitations is a cool website to get some ideas or even order from.

Stringed popcorn, although more popular at Christmastime, is a cool decoration piece. You can just throw them all around the location of your party. To keep some part of the wedding in the Bridal Shower, you can always add streamers or balloons in the color of the bride-to-be's wedding.

The most important thing when planning a Bridal Shower, regardless of theme, is to be creative! This is an event that will bring all women of both sides of the groom and bride together and it should be a fun event! Good luck on planning your one of a kind Movie Theme Bridal Shower!