from carpeicthus

Traditionally, wedding showers can be hosted by the bridesmaids, Maid of Honor, mother of the bride, sisters or a close friend. The traditional purpose is to shower the bride-to-be with useful gifts that will give her a start with her new life. A secondary purpose is to have fun and celebrate the pending wedding with the bride during her last days as a single woman.

Games at wedding showers are standard methods of getting the guests to relax, laugh and get to know each other. The games do not have to be elaborate but some consideration has to be given to the size of the room for the shower.

A good way to start planning your shower is to make a checklist of generic items you will need and, as you gather them, put them in a shoe box or plastic container so you don’t have to hunt for them on the day of the shower. Items you might need include, pad of paper and pens, trash bags, scissors, aspirin, guest list with phone numbers, any items to be used in the games, clothespins or cotton balls, etc.

Make your list of games you want to have at the shower and buy enough inexpensive prizes to have one for each game. One fun way of awarding the prize to the game winner is to have them wrapped and in a bowl or bag. Tie a colorful ribbon on each prize and dangle the ribbon outside the bag or bowl. The winner picks a ribbon and pulls the prize out.

These suggestions will get you started:

Famous Couple Game:

Make a list of one half of a famous couple and include a line next to each name for the other half. The couples can be contemporary, historical, movie couples or cartoons, like Popeye and Olive Oyl or Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

Guests fill out the answers on a note pad and share their answers when all are done. The winner is the guest with the most correct matches. Part of the fun is laughing at some of the mistakes.

How Well Do You Know The Bride:

Make a list down one side of a piece of paper with questions about the bride. Your guests fill in the details on the line next to each question. Questions could all be “What’s the brides favorite _______ ?” Just fill in the blank with anything about the bride, like color, food, movie, etc. Going around the room, the guests read their answers. There should be a few laughs during that exercise. The bride can participate by verifying the correct answers for each question.

Identifying The Scent:

Get 10 small paper cups and number each one. Place a different tablespoon of an herb out of your kitchen cupboard in each cup. You can mix things up by using other scented items like ground coffee, loose tea or chocolate in some of the cups. Cover each cup with foil and poke a hole in each cover.
Make a master list of the cup number and the contents.

Give each guest a piece of paper with the numbers listed and have them write down their guesses after smelling each cup. When the last cup is passed, have the guests read their answers.

The Price Is Right:

This take-off from the old TV game is a lot of fun and a good game if your shower has a kitchen theme.

Purchase ten normal household items, like dish soap, scrubbing sponges, room deodorants, cleaners, etc. Make a list of each item and the price for your records. Give your guests a list with the name of each product. Display the items on a table or in a plastic tub. Your guests have to guess the price of each item and/or the total price of all of them.

The best wedding games are simple and not so involved that they take a long time to finish. Simple games inspire laughter and friendly competition. Isn’t that what you want at your wedding shower?