I love planning parties. Its always very stressful because I normally chew on more than I can handle with big ideas, but its an amazing feeling to see it all come together on the big day. Luckily, between everyone in my family and all our respective birthdays, showers, weddings, and “just because” celebrations, we get to plan a lot of parties.
The most recent was my cousin’s bridal shower! Here are some of the details from the gorgeous event. And if you’re wondering how we stayed organized and sane during the whole process, well…I usually just focus on 5 main things and the rest will follow!
Steps to planning a Bridal Shower:
1 Pick the Date
Ask the bride a few dates that work for her as well as her top 5 people that must be there {i.e, her mom, his mom, aunts, sisters, etc}. This can be the most challenging with a large bridal party, but the bride and her family must take priority.
2 Definite a budget and choose your Venue
Once you have estimated number of attendees from the bride, you can agree on a budget with all parties involved and begin your search for the perfect location. Think about your bride’s personality and the possible flow of the event; should it girly and and glitzy? Or rustic and intimate? Make sure to make this all about the bride!
3 Send out Invitations
Digital invite or hard copy snail mail? Make sure the bride agrees (some may want to keep invitations as a keepsake) and make sure to include an RSVP date. Some of my favorite places to buy invitations include Minted, Paperless Post, Etsy and TinyPrints. Also, if you can design your own invitations, Costco is a great place to economically print invitations.
Give guests direction for their gifts. Include her registries or any special directions – “cooking party”, “lingerie” or the like.
4 Details & Decorations
My decor checklist is usually endless. It usually helps to narrow down the list when you select a color and/or general theme. Ask your bride what her wedding colors are and incorporate them in all your main accents – your floral centerpieces, linens and down to the labels and desserts.
Choose areas of focus like the tablescape, food, or dessert bar, and invest your time in DIY or money since it will focal point of the event (besides the bride herself of course!) We choose to put emphasis on the table setting with custom linens, mercury stained vases and voluminous floral arrangements. The pink rosette table cloth brought a lot of texture and contrast to the green background. And the florals oozes feminine glam against the backyard setting.
Customize a signature item, whether its drinks or desserts, that you know your bride will love. Order fun drink cups {like mason jars} or custom straws. If its dessert, create a dessert bar with a fun selection of sweets and accent decor to frame the area. We loved the full, flowy look of the tulle hanging over the dessert table and made sure we had every possible treat to satisfy all taste buds. Our delicious treats were created by the talented Audrey of Facepop Bakeshoppe.
Create labels or menu cards with the bride’s name, shower date, and a fun hashtag to be placed at that tables or individual seats. It will be fun for everyone to follow hashtag and track all of the photos on social media.
Hire a photographer if your budget allows or ask a guest. We were lucky and one of our friends is an actual photographer! Sharon took some of these great photos.
5 Plan Games and Gifts
Keep your bride and audience in mind when choosing games. If the bride is not so big on cheesy games, then keep it minimal and more social vs competitive. These are some of my favorite shower games – Mad Lib and I Spy.
Additionally, choose party favors that will be useful and make a lasting impact. Admittedly most of the favors I get at events, I throw away in the trash. So my rule is to always ask myself if I would keep it.
And last but most important, have a great time! You’ll always cherish these memories you make with your friends.
xo, lydia
