How to Do a Couple's Bridal Shower
Traditionally, the bridal shower has been for women only. An exciting alternative to this is to include the groom and other males in this event. A couple's bridal shower allows both the bride's and groom's friends to get to know each other before the big day. When planning a couple's bridal shower, there are a couple of things you should take into consideration.
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Instructions
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Select a name for the event rather than a shower. This way men will feel more comfortable attending the event. A suggested name could be the pre-wedding party or Jack and Jill party.
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Pick a man to help organize the event. The best man as he will often have a good idea of what the groom would like. Having a man help organize the event will ensure that both the male and female guests enjoy all aspects of the party.
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Decide a time and location. Usually a Saturday or Sunday afternoon is a good time for such an event, this way most people will not have to take time off work. Choose a location that will appeal to both men and women such as a patio/backyard, social club or the couple's favorite restaurant.
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Choose a theme. For a couple’s shower, you want a theme that will draw everyone together. One theme that could be used is a honeymoon vacation theme. For example, if the couple is going to Hawaii for their honeymoon, give guests the option of dressing in a Hawaiian theme. A naughty or nice theme, or sports theme are also ways to get the males involved. For a naughty or nice theme everyone brings a nice gift for the couple, and a naughty gift for the honeymoon. For a sports theme, you can base the event around a sports game and have everyone wear jerseys. Some other options are a karaoke and patio party theme.
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Plan a menu. For a couple’s bridal shower you will need to choose foods that appeal to both men and women. A back yard barbecue is usually a good choice, or depending on the location and budget you could provide chips, vegetables or fruit trays, or hot and cold meals. Consider serving alcoholic beverages, as these are more often served at couple's showers.
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Decide if you are going to play games during the event. When making your decision, consider that games maybe a great way for the bride and grooms friends to get to know each other. You can purchase a Bridal Shower Game Kit, talk to friends about game ideas, or look couple's games up online. Some examples of games are "how well do you know the bride and groom" or "who said that?". For the former you would ask questions about the bride and groom and have the guests write answers. For the latter, compile quotes from the bride and groom from weeks before and ask the guests "who said that?". If you decide not to play games, it maybe beneficial to have guests place their name in a draw for a door prize give away.
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Open the gifts. Sometimes the males may not be interested in watching the gifts being open. Therefore, in a couple’s bridal shower, the gift opening could be turned into a game. An example game would be a scavenger hunt where all the guests hide their gifts and the couple of honor has to find them. You could also have guests guess who gave each gift and write it down, after the opening of the gifts tally up who has the most correct guesses and provide a prize for this person.
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Provide favors for the guests. These are small gifts of appreciation that will be given to each guest before leaving. Make sure your favor is appropriate for both the men and women at the event. They can be theme related, such as a patio party theme; you could send each guest home with a homemade barbecue sauce. Favors could also be something as small as a box of candy.
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Tips & Warnings
Ensure to tell everyone who is invited that it is a couple's shower, so no one is surprised.
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