Planning a Wedding Shower

There is so much planning to be done before a wedding, it can be a daunting, overwhelming, and stressful task. Planning some of the pre-wedding events, such as the wedding shower, should help to lighten the stressful burden of conducting the final confirmations, changes and orders for the big event. Ideas for planning a wedding shower exist in abundance.

First, a bit of history. During the wedding preparations, an Italian bride would gather together furniture, clothing, and other domestic goods in a trousseau to take to her new husband's home. Friends and family would contribute household goods or even money for the dowry. Over time, this has become a standard for American weddings, to shower the bride with gifts before her wedding day.

Remember when planning a wedding shower to keep it simple and fun. There is another, much bigger event coming soon, the wedding itself. The bride, her family, and the wedding party are all anxious about the wedding and certainly there are many details still being worked out. If possible, the job of planning a wedding shower should go to someone who is not central in planning for the wedding. This way, the wedding shower planner can be focused on putting together a single event that can be a period of relaxation and enjoyment for the others. Do not try to pack the party full of activities on a tight schedule, after all people need some time to mingle and talk. But do not leave too much open or free time, as having a few planned activities can get things moving along at the wedding shower.

The wedding shower can also serve an important purpose for everyone involved in the wedding and its planning. The wedding shower can provide opportunity for friends, family, and neighbors from both the bride and groom's side to get together in an informal, fun atmosphere and get to know each other. It is an excellent idea to involve everyone in the activities, so be sure to have a variety. Also, you can adapt many ice breaker style games to get people talking to one another and learn each other's names. If planning competitive games, be sure to group participants together, so that they have the opportunity to get to know each other in smaller groups.

Of course, do not neglect the bride, the center of attention during the wedding shower. If at all possible, make it easy for the bride to get to know the unfamiliar faces at the wedding shower; though she may know her future husband and his immediate family quite well, she may not have yet met the more distant relatives or family friends who come to the wedding shower. Name tags are a good idea, but if you can somehow work those nametags into a game, or find a creative and fun way to spice them up, they will be more memorable and contribute more to the atmosphere of the wedding shower, instead of just being bland stickers that tell people your name.

To make the planning even easier, encourage a potluck arrangement for refreshments. Have guests bring a different dish to share, and bring the recipe card for the bride. This always encourages conversation among guests as they sample one another's cooking, and give the new bride an instant repertoire of recipes to use in her new home, while introducing everyone to treasured family culinary backgrounds. Some guest from other sides may even find common ground in cooking styles, recipes or favorite foods, so involving the refreshments in the mingling process is an important consideration in planning a wedding shower.