Getting Creative With Bridal Showers

Legend has it that a bride was invited to a small party of her female friends and relatives.  Each guest placed a small gift inside a parasol and opened it up over her head.  The presents “showered” over her.  Whether this really happened, no one knows for sure.

But it seems likely that early bridal showers are very similar to the ones we have today.  In recent years, the hot trend in bridal showers has been themed parties.  Some creative new ideas for popular themes are:

• Tea Parties—Have your friends bring a selection of their favorite teas.  Provide an assortment of unusual flavors: apricot, ginger peach, honey lemon ginseng, peppermint, raspberry, and vanilla spice.  Serve these in cute teapots with cups, saucers and cloth napkins.  Finger sandwiches, a fruit tray with marshmallow dip, and lemon scones will make the guests feel like royalty.
• Recipe Parties—Each guest writes down their favorite recipe on a recipe card to give to the bride.  On the back, they can write a little anecdote about the recipe such as “I always make this for Easter dinner,” or “This is Jim’s favorite dish,” or “My Grandmother taught me how to make this when I was 10.”  The guests may also bring the non-perishable ingredients for the recipe in a gift basket.
• Favorite Memories Party—Traditionally, each guest is asked to bring a gift that reflects a favorite past time spent with the bride.  The problem with this is that she could end up receiving tennis rackets, movie theater tickets and bathing suits instead of the more traditional wedding shower gifts.  A better idea would be for each guest to bring no more than 5 photographs of the bride and herself having fun, and sharing their good memories with the other guests.

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