Bridal Shower Ideas and Tips

She is getting married! You are excited for her and can’t wait to mark this special occasion. If you’re the maid of honor, sister of the bride, a bridesmaid, or mother of the bride or groom, it’s likely your responsibility to organize a bridal shower to celebrate the lucky bride-to-be.

Of course you want to host the best bridal shower ever, and you envision something unique and tasteful, but where will you find the inspiration? For many, the thought of bridal showers brings visions of ribbons and bows, wedding dresses made out of toilet paper, white gloves and aspic.

Bridal showers are taking place in many forms of celebrations. Whether you are planning to have a garden tea party, brunch at a loved French Bistro,  or even plan to travel for a ‘girls weekend getaway’…the important thing is that you make it memorable and something that she will love….what does she like to do?

Here are some ideas for a Bridal Shower:

Shower at a Winery

Spa/Pamper Her Shower

Beauty Shower – learn tips to enhance your beauty

Beach Getaway Shower

Cooking Class

Host a Couple’s Shower

Center around: favorite colors, flowers, dessert, vacation destination, wine, movie…there are endless options.

No matter what type of shower you’re hosting, it’s important to remember some basic rules for organizing the perfect bridal shower.

Bridal showers: The guest list
The guest list generally includes people who have a close personal relationship with the bride. If the shower is women-only, it’s customary to invite the bride and groom’s mother, grandmothers, aunts, the bride’s closest friends, and, if the shower is a larger event, you may extend the invitation to a few work friends or girlfriends of the men involved in the wedding party.

Bridal shower invitations
Set the theme and tone for the bridal shower with the invitations. Whether you would like to mail a formal invitation or use an Evite. The very important thing to remember is to have a contact person listed for guests to RSVP. There are plenty locations to shop in person or online for invitation. Try visiting www.etsy.com they have so much to offer with tons of talented crafty sellers.

Remember to send out the invitations about a month before the bridal shower so people can mark the date in their calendars.

  

The bridal shower menu
Some classic food items that will not disappoint are hors d’ oeuvres’ select several options to please the guests, just remember to have meatless options.  Dessert bars are also a great hit with guests when they have options of desserts the variety of flavors are enticing.  

Bridal shower games
Believe it or not you can forget about the games if you want to. The games at bridal showers are optional; some people enjoy regular games and not the traditional games of creating a dress out of toilet paper.

While many of the games are fun it is best to know what your bride/couple likes and if they are more centered on enjoying the time with their friends, create an agenda that reflects that.

Quick things to remember

Don’t go overboard. If you decide to have a theme, keep it simple and enjoyable for the Bride/Couple

Do have a plan. A good host keeps the event moving along comfortably.

Don’t invite people to the bridal shower who won’t be invited to the wedding. If the bride and groom are having a destination and that guests will not be traveling…that’s acceptable.  

Do make her feel special. Remember, the bridal shower is for close friends to come together and celebrate the bride/couple.

5 Details and Tips - Not to forget for the wedding

(1) When creating your invitations get a final proof with all pieces included in the envelope. Take the envelope to the post office and check the mailing price of the stamp that you will need. Many standard invitations are $.65 to mail for a wedding invitation. Based on the style, size, and weight of the invitation this price my increase the cost of mailing your invitation. 

 

(2) It’s never too early to find out the details and requirements to obtain your marriage license for the location that you will be married in. When you apply for your marriage license you will do so based on the location of your venue. You may be getting married in the city, however live in the county. Your marriage license would be for the city

(3) You cannot legally get married without your marriage license on hand. Give this license to your wedding planner either at the rehearsal or on the morning of the wedding. It is also important that once the license is signed that you have a dedicated individual that will be responsible in keeping the license for you. Usually a parent is the best option for this.  

(4) Keep good track of the RSVPs that you receive using a program like Excel. This gives you the ability to sort your list in many options and create your floor plan and seating chart. 

 

(5) If you are leaving for your honeymoon the next day or just do not want to deal with the hassle of collecting items following the wedding day designate a family member to handle specific items at the end of the evening. For example, the sand ceremony vases, memorial candle, etc…

 

A Little Bling - @ The Hotel at Arundel Preserve

Writing about this next couple is easy and comes with joy! Lorraine and Kevin are both wonderful people. If you have not figured it out I love to create relationships with my clients to have a deep understanding about the two as a couple and the family. This unique duo is undoubtedly made for each other.

It is not every day that you meet people that genuinely care about each other naturally and others. It was very easy working with Lorraine and Kevin they took advice and listen to my feedback. Lorraine tried to fight her shopping punishment (courtesy of Kevin & Kay) but understood completely in the end. It was really fun working with her because she also had great ideas and loved the bling as you will see in the pictures below. 

This may sound cliché…however he truly treats her like a queen and he is her king. I don’t think that there was a dry eye in the reception when their children spoke about the love not only between the Bride and Groom, but the unconditional love they have for their children. 

Their ceremony was held at her church, it was very important for them to get married in a church. The reception was held at The Hotel at Arundel Preserve in Hanover, MD. This is a fairly new hotel and the staff is very good to work with! 

Enjoy the pictures below; there are more in our portfolio if this was a tease.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Scott Bey Photography – www.scottbeyphotography.com 

A Wedding Day for a Lifetime- Radisson Lord Baltimore

We had a busy Fall 2012 season and now it is time to share and post some great weddings!

I had the pleasure of working with a Bride by the name of Robyn. My email queen *smiles* Robyn wanted all the bells and whistles. We created a great wedding that reflected both the Bride and Groom within their budget. They celebrated the wedding day with 125 guests in rich colors of wineberry, purple, and touches of gold.

The ceremony was held at First and Franklin Presbyterian Church Baltimore, Maryland.  This church is absolutely beautiful and was a great place to have the ceremony. The Cocktail Hour & Reception took place at the Radisson Lord Baltimore.

Please enjoy the pictures, details, and décor.

We did not need to have too much decor as you can see, two altar arrangements and a few silk pomander balls (from Prestigious Occasions) was more than enough for this grand church.

This is a picture of the blushing Bride Robyn....she has just left her bridal suite and we are on the way to the church for the ceremony.  She was so excited and also nervous at the same time, she practiced her vows and now it is time to actually say them out loud to the love of her life.  

 

The ceremony was wonderful and you could feel the true love between the couple as they exchanged their vows. During that time while you exchange your vows the most important person in the entire room is right in front of you, live in the moment and take your time to gaze in their eyes. 

For the first dance the couple danced on cloud nine...they dance on a low smoke haze as they danced to Inseparable by Natalie Cole

 

Here are details for the reception, the flowers were created by Bella Fiori....Roberta is a great florist! The table numbers were pictures of the Bride and Groom from their engagement photo shoot. Each table was named after an emotion and or key words that embraced love. 

We miss you Mr. & Mrs. Hawkins!

Photography Credit: Weddings by Tre'Lynn (www.trelynnpro.com)