Bridal Shower games
 

I'm throwing a bridal shower in a few weeks and a lot of people have suggested that we play some "games". Every wedding website I've checked out have had the LAMEST ideas for games. The theme of the shower is "In the Kitchen and the Bedroom", so we're buying gifts for either the kitchen or bedroom (or make her guess if you come up with something that good!). If any of you know of any good games that aren't just insultingly dumb, please suggest them!

If it really is better to just do hors d'oeuvres and drinks, let me know, because I'd probably rather do that anyway!

We didn't do games at two of mine. They just gave out prizes for the person who has known me the longest and one for who travelled the furthest to get there. At my kitchen shower (which was mostly people my mother's age) they did a game where they had jars with different spices in them and they had to guess which ones they were. Whoever got the most right won. I thought it was lame, but they all loved it. I guess it all depends on the ages of the people in attendance.

I've never been to ONE shower in my life where we played games and it was the stupidest thing ever. I don't think anyone would miss them if you didn't have games.

The best showers have good food and drink and then you watch the person open presents, shoot the shit and go home.

Gosh at my daughter's bridal shower, hosted by my sister and niece, they had a psychic for entertainment ;)

It was at a local hotel with an indoor pool, etc...so while we all swam and chatted, etc, those who wanted had a mini-reading with the psychic.

Totally fun, especially to compare afterward. YES, she was really a good psychic.

Some games are definitely lame.

Don't do the unscramble these words or see how many words you can make out of the couple's names or something. Stupid.

The bingo thing is kinda cheesy, but it gives guests something to do while the bride opens her presents.

I don't like the games where it's who knows all these questions about the couple. The people who don't know them well enough to know what restaurant their first date was at, etc don't have a chance.

I'd be all about having a "different" sort of bridal shower if I ever get married. The best ones i've been to have been at someone's house, where there were a lot of people, everyone made something, and we just had a good time.

But as has been said, depends on the age of the guests

THere was one shower I went to with games that weren't COMPLETELY stupid, a little cheesy, but fun. You know how when people get fortune cookies they always say "in bed" at the end? well this game would go perfect with your theme. They had a box/bag of fortune cookies and each guest had to get one. THey had to read the fortune to the bride to be and say "in bed with Jeff" at the end. It was pretty hillarious. Her mom had to read one that said something crazy like, "you will end up in an exciting new position" and then she had to say "in bed with Jeff" we laughed for soooo long, her mother was mortified.
One that I did for my little was kinda silly but puts them on the spot and can be hillarious. Call her fiance and ask him a bunch of questions, like what was his first dog/car/etc, where did he graduate from high school, what is his favorite color, food, restruant, etc, where was their first date, etc. Then at the shower you ask the bride to be the same questiosn about her fiance and see if they match up. It's kinda funny but can be bad if she realizes she doesn't know him that well!

I've been to a couple of showers where there were games. Honestly, most of them are kind of lame.

At one shower, people were asked to form teams. Each team chose someone and dressed her up as a bride using toilet paper. The only people who were actually interested in that one, were the little girls. The rest of us just sat around and talked.

At another shower, they did something similar to what DZGirl mentioned, only without the gum. The maid of honor made up a list of questions, got the groom's answers ahead of time, then asked the same questions to the bride in front of all the guests. Fun to watch (especially when she got something wrong and turned bright red!) but it didn't really engage the guests in an activity.

Think about the guests that will be at the shower. Are they the type that would enjoy games? Without a game to engage their interest, would they just sit there bored, or would they mingle and chat? If they wouldn't enjoy the games, skip them and just have hors d'oeuvres and drinks.

There's always the closepin game. Upon arrival, guests each get one closepin. If they say "wedding" or whatever 'marriage' words you pick, they lose the closepin. Whoever has the most closepins at the end of the shower gets a prize.

I should print this out and hand it to the MOH for the wedding I'm in. Shes insisting on games, and NO alcohol at the shower (shes pregnant so the rest of us have to suffer).

I do NOT want to play games...neither does one of the other bridesmaid, and the other 2 are MIA. I think they are very lame, and I want no part of it.

I agree with everyone who said that the games probably will not be missed!

The only bridal shower I've been to recently (i've been invited to 9 this year, but was only able to attend one) they did not play games and several of the people there said they were thankful since the games were usually dumb anyway.

Thanks ladies, for providing me with honest insight as well as suggestions. Since the other bridesmaid is going to be bailing on me and I will be the only one actually throwing the shower, what I say goes, and that means no games. :D

I'm thinking of going by Bed Bath and Beyond and picking up one of those containers of frozen cosmopolitan mix. Mmmmm... I know how to make some cute hors d'oeuvres too, so I should be safe.

The only funny thing I did at the last bridal shower I threw was we wrote down anything the bride said as she opened her gifts that could be taken the wrong way. Then, we read it out loud as a list of things she'd say on her wedding night. There were some good ones! I will probably ask a guest to do this so I can write down who got her what.

The other thing I'm doing to keep the guests entertained is I'll buy a little book where guests can write their wishes to the couple and present it to them as a present at the wedding.

I went to a bridal shower once where we had a crossword puzzle with all the clues about the bride and her fiance (i.e., how long they'd been together, favorite colors, etc) It got kind of hard though-- honestly, after meeting the fiance ONCE how on earth was I supposed to know what his favorite movie and color were and what their song was? I really don't think anyone will miss the games.

This was one of the things they did at one of my bridal showers that I really liked. The prompt was three words/ qualities needed for a good marriage. Of course, my friends put down things like "amazing sex" and "a husband that works nights" :D, but I really cherish some of the qualities some of the older married ladies put down; they were so eloquent and meaningful.

*bump*


Has anyone ever heard of the 24 hour shower? I was recently invited to a shower for a friend in which the purpose is that everyone draws a "random" time in which you're supposed to give the bride a gift that corresponds with the time that you got so for example, if it's 8 am, you get her something like gift cards to Starbucks or a fancy basket w/scented soaps & shower gels. If you drew the 9 pm slot, you could give her martini glasses & so on and so forth.
The bitch of it was that her aunts (who threw the shower) decided that to keep up the spirit of the game, we had to give her the gift at the time designated. They of course had the best times like morning & afternoon while her close friends were given the evening times. The rest of us were given the 2-5 am time slots. I got 3 am. I was like WTF??? Are you serious? You want me to drive my ass at 3 in the morning to give her a pillow b/c that's exactly what she needs at 3. A pillow or a blanket to sleep. I don't think so. I'm not planning on attending though I will send her my gift but this is just stupid.

It could be worse though...I guess. I just think of the stupid baby shower game I hate that has the guest measuring the womans belly with toilet paper. I don't like that game at all.

This is why I don't go to bridal or baby showers. I hate those silly games. I just send my present and forget about it.

Games are lame. If you must, set up a theme. But don't play any games-- let people wander, converse, sip tea or wine, enjoy some food, watch the bride open presents and chat together. Offer some kind of take home treat-- chocolate dipped strawberries or biscotti, perhaps-- wrapped in a chinese take-out style "to-go" boxes that you can dress up with some colored tissue paper. Classy, easy and you're not spinning your wheels coming up with creative games that no one is going to enjoy anyway.

I've thrown an Around the Clock shower before and had one thrown for me, but we all showed up at the same time and the bride opened up her gifts in the order of the times. One girl got confused and showed up at noon for a 1 PM shower because she had the noon time. :)

Personally, I like the games because they're an icebreaker for the people who don't know each other. I like the clothes pin one because it doesn't take up extra time at the shower, and I also like the Wedding (or Baby) Bingo game for the same reason. However, if you don't like games, you could always have a few small gifts wrapped up beforehand, have each guest put her name in a bowl when she arrives, and draw names randomly throughout the party as door prizes.

One other game I've done is a list of famous couples with the girls on one side and the guys on the other. Everyone had one minute to match as many as they could, and the person who got the most correct got a prize. (If you do this, it's fun to put the bride and groom's name on there, too.)

I was leafing through a booklet they gave me at Target about bridal games & the one I liked is for someone to randomly set a timer to go off every few minutes. When it dings, the person who's gift is being opened wins a prize. This way, the guests have a chance to win something w/out the bizarre games like the toilet tissue bride one.


I went to a baby shower where the lady throwing it was nicknamed Baby Shower Nazi by me. She had a list of not 2 or 3 games but 8! She would not let the gifts be opened or the cake cut until all her damn games were played. These were loooong games too. By the time I left during game #5, where there had previously been 18 women at the shower, there were only 9 left.

At the bridal shower I threw for my close friend/AGD sister a couple of years ago, we did indeed play some of these rather 'cheesy' games (complete with equally cheesy prizes), including the toilet paper bride, clothes pin, tacky trivia and head drawings, which seemed to be well received with everyone there (about 20 AGD sisters, aged 20 - 30), and made for some hilarious photos. In addition, we also asked each guest to write their personal advice and wishes to the bride and groom on cardstock sheets. Following the shower, each of the advice/wish sheets were bound into a book, together with the photos and even some of the cheesy head drawings, as a wedding present for the bride.

I guess what it comes down to bridal showers and deciding whether or not to play games is to consider who the guests will be, how well they know each other & the bride/her fiance, and their ages as well. In my case, everyone knew each other and the fiance quite well, which made playing the trivia and the other cheesy games fun.

Just my $.02.

I like the timer idea. That's cute! :)

I hate games. But I like prizes. So if I win a prize without having to work for it---I get it just cause I showed up----that's cool.

I mean, I'm there. I've already bought a present. Don't make me play a game.