Wedding Trends That Take The Cake

Woman Offering Colorful Present --- Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis

As stated in Part 1 and Part 2 of  “Bridal Shower Theme Ideas,” a bridal shower should celebrate…and accentuate…the bride’s personality.  As the party planner, in order to come up with a great theme, make a list of all of the bride’s “loves.” Maybe she loves wine, maybe she loves the color red, maybe she’s a homebody and can’t wait to decorate her home, or maybe she’s super-excited about her honeymoon. List everything that you can think of that helps describe the bride. Once you have the list in hand, use these Bridal Shower Theme Ideas to help you plan the perfect get-together for the bride-to-be.

Garden Shower

Is the bride-to-be an avid gardener? Then why not hold a garden party! Gifts for the bride and groom might include a variety of plants or gardening tools. Not sure what to buy? Gift cards from a local nursery would be great. How about having a tree planted in the couple’s yard or a pot, if they don’t have a home yet. Favors could include seed packets, fresh flowers, or garden tools.

Tea Party Shower

A tea party is a timeless theme. Serve tea along with finger foods, and for a bit of fun, have each guest wear a fancy hat and gloves. This type of shower is less involved than a dinner party, and the theme would be perfect for a mid-afternoon celebration. Bridal gifts might include dinnerware, glasses, place settings, teas, etc. Favors could include a small teapot or teacup with a small assortment of tea.

Honeymoon Shower

Whether it’s an exotic beach location, a camping trip or a different locale, a honeymoon shower should celebrate the couple’s honeymoon destination. Gifts should follow the theme, so let guests know what the couple’s needs are for travel. Luggage would be a great gift for this type of shower, as well as gift cards for the bride’s favorite boutiques. Excellent shower favors would be beach towels, if the location is beach-themed or candles or lanterns, if a camping trip is in order. The favor should be relevant to the theme and may be used as part of the shower décor.

Pajama Party Shower

Want a girl’s night in? Have a pajama party…complete with P.J.s! Everyone should arrive in their cutest pajamas and bring gifts to pamper the bride. Activities might include manicures, pedicures, facials and massages. Fun party favors for the girls might be personalized gifts such as spa slippers, toiletry bags or cosmetic cases.

Scrapbooking Shower

Have your guests get creative, by bringing photos, recipes and other memorabilia of their friendship with the bride. Provide each guest with a blank page or two of the scrapbook to decorate as they wish. The bride will end up with a great book of memories! Party favors could include monogrammed photo albums or picture frames.

Photo invitations are a great way to announce your wedding and are a great keepsake for your invitees.

As stated in Part 1 of  “Bridal Shower Theme Ideas,” a bridal shower should celebrate…and accentuate…the bride’s personality.  As the party planner, in order to come up with a great theme, make a list of all of the bride’s “loves.” Maybe she loves wine, maybe she loves the color red, maybe she’s a homebody and can’t wait to decorate her home, or maybe she’s super-excited about her honeymoon. List everything that you can think of that helps describe the bride. Once you have the list in hand, use these Bridal Shower Theme Ideas to help you plan the perfect get-together for the bride-to-be.

Couples Patio Shower

If you’re getting couples together, host an outdoor patio shower! Fire up the barbecue, entertain outside, and have guests bring a gift for the couple’s patio. Super party favors for your guests might include a bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce and a monogrammed chef’s apron and mitt.

Couples Home Improvement Shower

This shower is great for the do-it-yourself couple! Even the man-of-the-house will appreciate the gifts when guests give you tools and supplies to fix up your home or apartment. If you don’t know exactly what the bride and groom need, request gift cards to their favorite stores. A nice take-home gift for your guests would be an engraved tape measure, so that you’ll guest will think of you whenever they use it.

Bed & Breakfast Shower

Host this shower in the morning and serve a breakfast buffet. Have your guests bring gifts for the bedroom and kitchen. Linens, bath luxuries, candles, kitchen utensils, condiments and gourmet foods would make great gifts for the bride and her man. Guests could be given candles, linen sprays and bath salts for their own romantic bedtimes.

Kitchen Shower

Gather up all of the bride and groom’s friends and family and have them give them their favorite recipes and a gift for their kitchen. Have the guests’ recipe “match” the type of gift they’re bringing. If they bring a recipe for a cake, cake pans are in order. If the recipe were for soup, a stockpot would be the perfect gift. A great present for your guests would be recipe cards with their name on them, so as they pass a recipe along, the recipient will remember where it came from.

Christmas Shower

If the bride and groom are having a winter wedding, why not have a Christmas shower? Ask your guests to bring Christmas ornaments for your first tree and other holiday decorations that have meaning to them. You might reciprocate by giving guests their own Christmas ornaments with your wedding information on them.

Room to Room Shower

The newlyweds are gonna need help with every room in their home or apartment, so why limit the gift list to the bedroom or kitchen? Assign guests a specific room of the house or yard. Each guest should bring a gift for their specific room. A nice gift for your guests might be a nice 5” x 7” picture frame.

Stock the Pantry Shower

Similar to the kitchen party, the pantry shower will get the bride and groom ready to get things cooking! Have your guests bring a recipe and all the dry ingredients needed to make it. With cooking made this easy, the bride and her man will be off to a great start. A great gift for your guests? Again, the recipe cards with their name on them…or your wedding info…would be a great idea!

Next week, we’ll give you even more bridal shower ideas in Part 3 of “Bridal Shower Theme Ideas.”

Plan ahead by ordering your Rehearsal Dinner Invitations from Best Little Wedding Shop!

Lisa Bakewell

A bridal shower should celebrate…and accentuate…the bride’s personality. As the party planner, in order to come up with a great theme, make a list of all of the bride’s “loves.” Maybe she loves wine, maybe she loves the color red, maybe she’s a homebody and can’t wait to decorate her home, or maybe she’s super-excited about her honeymoon. List everything that you can think of that helps describe the bride. Once you have the list in hand, use these Bridal Shower Theme Ideas to help you plan the perfect get-together for the bride-to-be.

Wine and Cheese Tasting Shower

If the bride loves wine, arrange an afternoon or evening of wine tasting. This shower can be held at the bride’s favorite winery or someone’s house. Include different kinds of wine and  add cheese for guests to sample. Shower gifts might include wine, wine glasses or other wine-themed gifts. Guests can take home their wine glass charm as a party favor.

Makeover Shower

Inviting a small group of friends to the shower? How about doing makeovers? You can either invite a makeup consultant to do the makeovers, such as a  Mary Kay or Avon representative, or you can have a do-it-yourself party. Gifts for the bride might include lovely lotions, nail polishes, facial creams and body washes. Guests might go home with a small mani/pedi kit.

Naughty & Nice Shower

If the bride is all about fun and games, you might hold this type of shower. Each guest should bring one naughty gift for the bride’s honeymoon, and one nice (normal) bridal shower gift. All of the naughty gifts can be collected and placed in a satin pillowcase for use on the couple’s honeymoon night. As party favors, you might fill another satin pillowcase with some naughty and some nice small gifts, and have each of the guests reach in to pick one. Could be great fun!

Stock the Bar Shower

Ask guests to bring their favorite alcoholic beverages and/or mixers to help the bride stock her bar. For a stress-free, mess-free time, consider holding this shower at the bride’s favorite bar or restaurant. For party favors, guests might receive cocktail shakers, monogrammed cocktail glasses or wine glasses.

Lingerie Shower

The groom will love you for this one! If the bride and her guests aren’t shy, why not plan a lingerie party? You can set the mood with candles, cocktails and chocolates, and ask each of the guests to bring a gift of lingerie for the bride. A great guest party favor might be a scented sachet, scented candles or a fabulous linen spray.

Save the Date Wedding Magnets are a great way to keep your wedding date in plain view for your guests!

Lisa Bakewell

As the father of the bride, you have some very important roles on the day of your daughter’s wedding. Though your primary job is to be there for support–and to make sure your daughter’s big day goes off without a hitch–other responsibilities might include:

Paying for the wedding. Traditionally, the bride’s family paid for the wedding. Today, though, there are no steadfast rules, so check with your daughter and her husband-to-be about their needs. As soon as your daughter is in a relationship that you suspect will lead to marriage, check your finances and decide how much you are willing and able to pay towards the wedding. Then, subtly make your daughter aware of this figure, so there are no misunderstandings later on.

Playing therapist. Both your daughter and her mother are going to be highly stressed during the planning stages of the wedding, and they may find that they disagree over wedding details. Your job is to be there for moral support and keep emotions under control. Be willing to listen to both parties and encourage them to find a middle ground. And remind mom that, even though a daughter’s wedding is stressful to her, it’s still her daughter’s wedding, and her daughter should have the final say on all details.

Attending events. Many fathers will attend the rehearsal dinner and, generally, will give a speech to the groom. Beyond the rehearsal dinner, though, your daughter may want you to attend other events, as well. Make sure that you ask her about these details well in advance, so you can make sure you don’t have any scheduling conflicts.

Making travel arrangements. The couple may need your help in giving guests directions, chauffeuring before, on and after the wedding day, and booking hotel rooms for out-of-town guests. Make sure that you’re available to help them.

Coordinating schedules. You’ll absolutely want to make sure that you get your daughter to the church on time, but you’ll also want to ensure that the rest of the wedding party does as well. Make sure that you’re aware of everyone’s schedule, and help the bride and groom make sure they all arrive where and when they’re supposed to.

Traveling to the church with your daughter. Traditionally, the father of the bride travels to the wedding site with his daughter. Check with your daughter ahead of time to see if this is what she’d like you to do.

Walking your daughter down the aisle. This is one of the most emotional roles that you’ll play today, dad, so be prepared. You will literally be giving your daughter away to her new husband and his family, and this may be tough for you. Unless you want her to be in floods of tears as she arrives at the ceremony, though, keep the heart-to-heart talk for another time. Today, just give her a hug and tell her she looks beautiful.

Being a good host. Traditionally, the father of the bride greeted guests at the reception and expressed thanks on behalf of the bride and groom for everyone’s attendance. Today, though, anything goes, so make sure that you know what the couple’s wishes are beforehand. But, regardless, make sure to mingle with guests and make introductions, where necessary, during the reception. You may want to escort guests to the door, too, when it’s time to go home.

Making a speech. Traditionally, the father of the bride makes the first of the speeches at the reception. If you’re asked to do this, you may want to welcome the groom into the family and share with your guests some memorable childhood memories of your daughter. At the end of the speech, you’ll want to propose a toast to the happy couple.

Note: For speech help, topics and tips, visit Speech Topics Help for father of the bride speech ideas.

Dancing with your daughter. If the reception has dancing, you’ll want to know ahead of time if–and when–your daughter wants to dance the father-daughter dance. She may want you to cut in toward the end of their first dance, or she may want you to have a full father-daughter dance with a special song selected by her. Just make sure you have clear instructions on when you are supposed to dance and with whom.

Being a diplomat. If you are divorced from the bride’s mother, you’ll want to work hard to put aside any differences and come together for the sake of your daughter. If one or both of you are remarried, you will still co-host the wedding events with the bride’s mother, just be sure to communicate with your daughter to let her know that you’re happy to participate in whatever fashion she’d like you to. Blended families must be cooperative, so when it comes to father of the bride duties, take your daughter’s lead. Most of all, though, get along. Leave the disagreements for another day.

Lisa Bakewell

You’ve taken a huge step and popped the question. You’re going to get married! But, while your bride-to-be may be handling a lot of the details with (major or minor) input from you, you still have a big decision to make. Who’s going to be in your wedding party? And harder still, who are you going to choose to act as your Best Man?

In order to help you make an informed decision, we’ve broken down the responsibilities that you’ll need your Best Man to handle, and we’ve given you some ideas on who you might want to choose.

Your Best Man will have a variety of very important responsibilities. You’ll want to choose the person for the job according to who is most likely to be able to complete the required tasks successfully. After all, you want to pick someone who will help the wedding run smoothly, not the person who is the most fun to be with. A Best Man’s responsibilities might include:

• Making sure you arrive at the church on time.
• Keeping track of the wedding rings–and the ring bearer, if you have one.
• Acting as a formal witness to the signing of your marriage license.
• Giving a speech at the wedding reception. (Keep in mind here, that you’ll want someone who’s not afraid to speak in public.)
• Helping to choose the men’s formal wear for the wedding.
• Organizing the Bachelor Party (Keep in mind that you’ll want someone who can plan a fun party, but one that won’t get too out of hand.)
• Assisting with your honeymoon plans.
• Helping to keep you organized.

As a final note on the responsibilities of your Best Man, you’ll want to choose someone who can actually afford to take on the responsibility. Unless, of course, you are footing the bill…

So…who do you choose?

First of all, your Best Man needs to be responsible to complete all of the above tasks and more, but he also needs to be trustworthy. After all, you’re only planning on having one wedding day, right? And you want it to go off without a hitch.

When considering who to choose as your Best Man, you may have both a brother and a best friend that you can trust with all of the responsibilities. In this case, experts say that you should always choose your brother, provided you have a good relationship with that individual. After all, blood is thicker than water and friends come and go.

In some cases, a groom-to-be may not have a brother, but has a close relationship with a sister. In this case, it’s perfectly fine to have your sister stand up in the wedding for you. Just keep in mind attire and bachelor party duties. You may want to have a best friend plan your party and you’ll want to check with your sister to see if she’s rather wear a tux or a dress that compliments the groomsmen’s tuxedos.

If you don’t have any siblings, the job of  Best Man generally would fall to a friend. A long-time best friend would be a good choice. This person knows you well and can be invaluable in helping with plans for the bachelor party and wedding day particulars.

Another option might be to make your fiancée’s brother the best man. This will definitely help you score points with her family, though it may not bode well with your friends. In this case, though, it’s up to you to make that choice.

Once you’ve chosen your Best Man–and your groomsmen–you’ll want to formally ask them to be a part of your big day. Doing this in person is best, and you may want to ask everyone over a meal or a beer at your favorite pub. After all, it should be a celebration!

Plan your announcement well in advance, so that you can give your Best Man and your groomsmen as much time as possible to plan for your wedding. They’ll want to put your wedding date on their calendars, plus you’ll want to give them as much time as possible to plan for your wedding financially.

Once you’ve chosen your Best Man and groomsmen, you’ll want to start thinking about a thank-you gift you’d like to give to them for their extra efforts on and before your wedding day. Since you’ll be buying each member of your wedding party a gift, which is traditionally distributed at the rehearsal dinner, it makes sense to buy each person the same gift. Try to come up with something more creative than a tie or a pocketknife, though. Think about what your friends have in common and give them something relevant to everyone that’s cool and a little bit unexpected–but don’t go overboard on the price! For some great gift ideas, visit Best Little Wedding Shop.

Lisa Bakewell

Woman Offering Colorful Present --- Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis

In Bridal Shower Planning Tips (Part 1), we discussed making the plan, creating your budget, choosing your date, deciding whom to invite and picking a theme. In Part 2, we’ll discuss food and fun–and games!

Plan the menu.

Assign tasks.

Guide your guests throughout the shower.

Pick a couple of games to play.

Playing games is a great way to break the ice at a bridal shower. Listed below are several games that may be fun to play, but only pick one or two. You don’t want your guests to be too overwhelmed with planned activities.

Don’t forget your Wedding Shower Favors! Send a special bridal shower remembrance with all of your guests.

Lisa Bakewell

Besides your wedding day, the day of your bridal shower may well be one of your most memorable days. Generally given by one of your attendants or a close family friend, this day should be one of fun and absolutely no stress. To aid your hostess(es) in the planning of your bridal shower, pass along these tips:

Make a Plan.

Create a Budget.

Choose the Date.

Decide Who to Invite.

Tip: If there are multiple showers planned, you may want to consider combining them.

Pick a Theme.

Tip: For Bridal Shower Theme ideas click Wedding Checklists in the column at the right.

Buy the Invitations and Advice Cards.

As a Maid of Honor or Matron of Honor, you play a key role in making sure the bride’s wedding day is a huge success. Below are some of the top Maid/Matron of Honor duties:

Pre-Wedding

• Help with the location. Spend time with the bride looking for wedding and reception possibilities. Many times the she’ll want a second opinion when choosing where to have the ceremony and party besides.
• Help with the wedding invitations. Also, offer to help her assemble and address them.
• Help with the décor. Your opinion may be helpful to the bride. Also, you’ll want to make sure that they arrive in time for the wedding, shower and bachelorette parties.
• Help with the dresses. Shop with the bride for her wedding dress as well as the bridesmaid dresses. Also, one of your job’s is to help make sure the dresses are ordered and arrive in enough time for alterations.
• Attend all fittings. It is helpful for you to attend the multiple wedding gown fittings for added support and feedback.
• Help with the registries. You can be very supportive by going with your friend to register for her wedding gifts as well as letting other guests know where the bride and groom are registered.
• Help with the seating arrangement. It’s helpful to make a seating chart on paper to bring to the reception in case of errors or rearrangement needs.
• Host and plan the Bridal Shower as well as the Bachelorette Party.
• Help keep order and organization with the other bridesmaids.
• Attend and help out during the rehearsal dinner. Make sure that the bride has everything that she needs. Help her to remember to drink water.
• Attend all bridal fairs with the bride–including caterers and cake testings.

Wedding Day

• Make sure the bride arrives to the ceremony and that she has everything.
• Assist the bride in getting into her dress and makeup.
• Be the messenger if the bride wants to communicate messages to the family or groom.
• Visit the reception location to make sure there are no problems or issues.
• Be sure the bride has privacy if she needs some quiet time before the ceremony.
• Be a witness in the signing of the marriage license.
• Help the bride with her veil and train.
• Be your friend’s right-hand-woman at the altar.
• Keep the brides bouquet during the ceremony.
• Keep the groom’s ring.
• Make a toast during the reception.
• Lock up the bridal/groom money bag after the bride and groom dance with all of their family and friends.
• Provide moral support.
• Be a great listener.

Expenses

Here are some traditional maid of honor responsibilities:

• Maid of Honor Dress
• Shoes
• Jewelry
• Hair styling (for yourself and offer to help pay for the bride)
• Shower Gift
• Bachelorette party (It is traditional for the maid of honor to chip in and the other girls to help out with the cost)
• Wedding Gift
• Travel Expenses

Visit the Best Little Wedding Shop for unique and affordable wedding invitations as well as a party planning checklist and other great resources.

Lisa Bakewell

DO
…buy your own bridesmaid dress, shoes and accessories
…provide emotional support–especially during the final weeks
…offer to help and help often
…encourage the bride have a good time planning her wedding
…plan, host and help pay for showers and bachelorette party
…attend the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner
…help record gifts at the showers for thank-yous afterwards
…be there for the bride on her big day
…help the bride get ready before the wedding
…bustle the bride’s dress before the reception
…stand in the receiving line at the bride’s request
…pack the dance floor at the reception
…take the job seriously

DON’T
…show up late for anything wedding related
…barrage the bride with tons of last minute questions
…make a spectacle of yourself by drinking too much
…complain about the style of bridesmaid dress the bride chooses
…insist on a particular dress style because it’s flattering on you
…commit to being a bridesmaid unless you’re prepared to spend several hundred dollars
…hold any neurotic episode against the bride during this stressful time

It’s a great honor to be a bridesmaid. And though it might be stressful at times, be the bridesmaid that your bride can count on. She’ll thank you for it.

Visit the Best Little Wedding Shop for unique and affordable wedding invitations as well as a party planning checklist and other great resources.

Lisa Bakewell