10 Games to Liven Up Your Next Bridal Shower
Know a wonderful bride-to-be? The bridal shower is a great opportunity to show your favorite bride how much she means to you.
Traditionally, this mission is accomplished with a luncheon or get-together with good food, and ideally, lots of fun. To break the ice and generate some laughs, most bridal showers dedicate 30-60 minutes to games that induce giggles, create a unique bonding experience, and hopefully, send off the bride with some warm pre-wedding memories.
Typically, the guests at a bridal shower probably know the bride pretty well. But they don't always know each other. If this is the case, here's a great way to start the party. The hostess writes the name of each of the guests on a name tag, along with a word related to weddings, such as veil, favors, garter, etc. Once tagged, you aren't allowed to say the word on your tag, or you lose your tag to the person who tricked you into saying the word. If you get one or more tags, you have to refrain from saying any of the words you've acquired on your tags. If you say the word on a tag you snagged from someone else, you have to introduce the person who tricked you into saying the word to the person you originally got the tag from from. There's no clear end to this game, so set a time limit.
In this game, the hostess draws up a list of items that you'd often find in a woman's purse, and gives a point value to each of the items, depending on how unusual it is. For example, car keys, being very common, would only be worth one point. A less common item, such as a bottle of aspirin, might be worth 5 points. The hostess can also offer a 10 point bonus to the person who has the most unusual object in their purse. The woman with the most points wins the game. You can up the ante with this game by playing a timed variation. When the hostess calls out an item, the first person to come up with the item wins a point. When the objects are all listed, the player with the most points wins. Make sure you have some truly groovy prizes on hand for the winners, as well as some novelty items just for laughs.
This is a simple trivia game. The hostess reads the first name of a television couple -- then the guests have to guess their last name. A simple example: when the hostess calls out "Homer and Marge," the guests answer "Simpson." The guest who answers first (correctly) gets a point, or perhaps you can award more points if the answer is pretty obscure. To mix things up, try celebrity couples from the headlines, or historical ones.
Play this just like traditional bingo, except instead of using letters and numbers for the spaces, fill each space with words that relate to weddings, such as brooch, bustle, favors, eternal, blusher, gold, and so on. The hostess will need to make up the cards ahead of time, and write each of the words on a slip of paper, which she'll then place in a bowl. At the party, she'll draw out slips one at a time, and announce the word while participants mark the squares on their cards. The first person to fill a row, column or diagonal is the winner. Be sure to have plenty of savory snacks on hand to help power all this effort!
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One game everyone's sure to love is a door prize drawing. The hostess purchase a few small but attractive gifts beforehand, perhaps from the Dollar Store or Oriental Trading Post (try scented votives, bath and body supplies, pots of herbs, luxury lip balms). The hostess then asks each participant to fill out an envelope with their name and address to enter the drawing. The hostess then draws winners from a box. This game gives everyone, including the bride, a chance to win a prize. It also helps the guest of honor, because she has everyone's addresses already written on envelopes for thank-you notes!
This is a great game to mix things up between your guests. The hostess prints out pictures of romantic characters from books, movies or TV, and tapes one character to the back of each guest. The guests can't see what character's taped to them, but everyone else can. Each guest tries to guess their own character's identity by asking the others simple yes or no questions. At the end of the party, it's time for everyone to announce who they think is on their picture. The results can be pretty funny.
This simple game is surprisingly satisfying, especially for those who indulge in occasional Sunday crossword marathon. To prepare, the hostess draws up a list of wedding-related words, then scrambles each one so they're out of order. (Download free software to make this task simple, here: www.teachers-pet.org/) The brainy guest who unscrambles the words first wins a prize.
This game always raises the energy level at a shower, but make participation optional, since being timed can make some people anxious. Once you have volunteers, time each one individually on how fast they can complete a series of wedding-related tasks. Examples: wrap a wedding favor in a tulle circle, address a return envelope, fold a napkin, fill out a place card, assemble a centerpiece, and so on. For added hilarity, try trickier tasks such as painting their nails or pulling on a pair of hose. The player who can do the task(s) the fastest wins. This is a fun game -- and if you plan it really carefully, you can even take some work off the bride's hands.
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Have the hostess assemble a tray of various household items. The hostess brings out the tray and shows it to the guests for a few minutes, then hides it. From here, there are a number of variations. The hostess could ask what items were on the tray, or where certain items were located on the tray. The hostess could also ask another guest to carry the tray, and then ask the participants questions about what the person carrying the tray was wearing, or what they said while they were doing it. The number of responses, especially incorrect ones, can be hilarious.
In this game, the hostess purchases ten useful or interesting household items, such as hand towels, potted plants, liquid soaps, tea or coffee containers, and so on. The guests then try to guess the price of each item. Points are awarded based on how close the guesser came to the actual cost, and the player with the most points wins a prize. When the game ends, hand out the items to the bride or interested guests.
Games at a shower make a lot of sense, especially if you're holding one on the traditional side with people of several generations, such as aunts and mothers. They make the time pass quickly, get people mingling, and usually lead to a lot of laughs. Still, as with any other aspect of throwing a party, you should keep close tabs on your guests. Are they still engaged, or is interest waning? Be sure not to overdo it, and be ready to move on when your super-hostess sixth sense tells you it's time.
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Tags: 
March 20th, 2008 at 7:52 am
hey i’m planning a bridal shower for my cousin but i have no idea as to what games to play any advice?
October 31st, 2007 at 2:49 pm
As a spin on the memory game, we went and found a whole bunch of kitchen utensils, about 24 (25 including the apron) of them, and sewed them on an apron and claimed it to be “the latest fashion for the new bride.” We then had the bride wear it around the room and make a circle. Afterwards, we gave everyone two minutes to write down everything.