Things You'll Need:
- games
- great food
- party favors
- name tags
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Step 1
After setting the date and getting the guest list with addresses put together, the first thing you need to do is buy invitations. If you want to get something cute and classy without buying prepackaged ones from the drugstore, do what everyone else does: shop online! When I planned my sister's shower I shopped numerous websites for nice, inexpensive invitations. I finally found some from www.weddingpaperdivas.com. They have pages of unique and fun invitations. You can have them sent to you blank already printed for an extra fee. But to save on cost I created my own text with Word and printed them myself on our printer. Another way to do it would be to taken them to a FedEx Kinkos. But the cheapest way would be to do them yourself. All it takes is a little creativity and some patience with formatting. On the invitation, be sure to include who it's for, who's throwing the shower, date, time and location, RSVP date - I think it's very important to have an RSVP date so you don't have people calling you the day before the shower. Also be sure to include where the bride is registered. Some people think this is inappropriate. I think it's very important to say where the registries are so the bride ends up with things she needs. After all, she and the groom spend time creating a registry so people can use it.
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Step 2
After you've gotten the invitations in the mail, the next best thing to figure out is your menu. Most people would have a shower catered. While that's all good and well, It's also costly. The first thing to do is decide which foods would be most appropriate. For example, if you're having a brunch shower the most common foods would be: some sort of egg dish, potato dish, muffins, fruit and punch. In order to decide which dishes taste best, you might want to have a tasting party. Pick a few friends and/or family members and have them each bring a dish to taste. After you've chosen your dishes it might be best to have the shower pot luck-style so you don't have the burden of preparing a lot of food by yourself. Assign a different dish to some trusted friends and/or family members and have them each bring their assigned dish to the shower. I've found the best way to serve the food is to have casserole dishes set out buffet style. That way you don't have to worry about serving all those people yourself. They can serve themselves.
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Step 3
Games, games, games. Games are a great way to break the ice at a shower where conversation isn't flowing. Although, you don't want to spend too long playing games, as people will become bored and wish to move on the gifts. There are ways to plan games without going out and buying kits or supplies. One game which will last the entire shower is the clothes pin game. All you need to have are a bag of clothes pins and ask that each guest clip one onto their clothing. There are many different versions of this game. The most popular version is using the bride's name. For the entire shower the guests aren't allowed to say the brides name and the one who slips looses their clothes pin to the one who catches them. Whoever has the most pins at the end of the shower wins a prize. Of course you can add any words you want if you wish to spice things up. Also, at many showers, there are people who don't know many other people there. One great game to get people to talk to each other is the toilet paper game. This only requires a few rolls of toilet paper. Have the guests break up into teams and each one has to design a wedding dress out of toilet paper. And then the bride chooses her favorite and that team wins a prize.
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Step 4
Favors. Most people think favors are unnecessary. But I think they're a nice ending touch for guests when they're leaving. A cute way to display them is to find an end table have them sitting by the front door. That way people can take one as they leave. To do this on a budget go to www.beau-coup.com and find their favor boxes. They have several colors to choose from and they're fairly inexpensive. Then, go to your nearest candy store and fill them with some tasty candy. If you really want to add a classy touch, go to a fabric store and buy some ribbon to tie little bows around the boxes. All in all, this is a cheaper way than having something like personalized cookies made.
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Step 5
Decorations. It doesn't take much to decorate for a shower. If you're on a budget - which I was when I planned my sister's shower - here are some ways to decorate without emptying your wallet. First, go to your closest party supply store and get about a dozen balloons. Balloons are fun and come in many colors and shapes. All you have to do is set them in various locations of the shower and let them float around. Photos are also a fun way to decorate. An added touch of fun is to find photos of the bride from her life and make a collage using a piece of foam board. It also give the guests something to look at and talk about! Finally flowers. Everybody loves flowers. Instead of dropping serious coin with a florist - and you don't have a particularly green thumb - find a friend and ask if she would mind arranging a few bouqeuts of the bride's favorite flower and strategically place them around. Some suggestions are: by the food, on the favor table, and the gift table.
