How to Host a Couples Wedding Shower

Series Summary

Planning a wedding is no small endeavor. There are hundreds of details to account for, like the cake, decorations, cocktails, menus and entertainment. Most importantly, planning a wedding requires tying all of the individual aspects together into a cohesive theme. With so many details to consider, it is sometimes wise to hire a specialist in the field. Wedding showers are a great way to celebrate an upcoming wedding with close friends and family. In this free video series on wedding planning, an experienced wedding planner offers wedding shower ideas. Learn how to plan and host a wedding or bridal shower, whether it be a couples shower, a themed shower, a work related shower or a tea party. Get tips on who to invite and how to throw a bachelor or bachelorette party as well. Host the perfect celebration with this all-inclusive wedding showers guide.

Video Transcript

"Nowadays a bride might be a little squeamish about a bridal shower. She may be telling you she doesn't want one or it just doesn't sound like fun. A great alternative to the traditional all girls bridal shower is to make it a couple's shower. Make it co-ed, you can have a fantastic time with this and put a different spin on it. If you're going to do a co-ed shower, first thing that you want to do is talk to the couple. Make sure they're into it, that it sounds like a great idea. Find out a little bit about their likes and dislikes, what sounds like fun to them. This is probably going to be a little more casual, it's not an afternoon tea like ladies showers. It'll be a backyard barbecue. It could be a night out for cocktails and dinner. Whatever it is find out what they define as fun and then plan it accordingly. Who are you going to invite? Well the rule of thumb with showers is invited wedding guests only. So this time it'll be guys and girls, they do need to be on the wedding guest list otherwise it kind of seems like you're asking for presents and it comes across a little but tacky. Invited wedding guests, guys and girls. This is a time for parents, close relatives, bridal party, friends; it doesn't need to be every single person on the wedding guest list though. Keep it again to where the couple feels comfortable and what they like to do. As far as who flips the bill for this, it kind of depends on what you're going to do. If you're going to be in the house, you're going to have a barbecue then probably a couple of you are going to get together and host this shower. But if you're going out to dinner this will be a pay as you go event and the guests will kind of pay their way as they go along. One thing that makes a couples shower a lot of fun is to incorporate some kind of theme. You can make it a home improvement theme shower. Cocktails and wine were all the gifts are bar related. Maybe they're going some place spectacular for their honeymoon, theme it that way. If it's Paris have a Paris themed shower. That helps make it a lot more fun, helps with gifts helps spice things up just a little bit. And one more thing, if the guys are a little uncomfortable with the word shower because it's bringing a certain girly image to mind, there's no rule that says you can't change that word and call this party what ever you want too. You can call it a wedding shin-dig. Or a hootenanny. I once threw one where I put those two words together and called it a shanna-nanny. Whatever you want to call it just let your guests know where it's going to be, what's going to happen and have a fantastic time."