Wedding Trends That Take The Cake

Planning a wedding and reception is very stressfull. Why not plan on having some fun at your wedding and/or reception? Why not bust loose a little? Enjoy these YouTube viral wedding videos, and you may just get some great ideas. Because, after all, your big day should be a fun day. Enjoy it!

Lisa Bakewell

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.

Food for the bridal shower should be planned well in advance, keeping your budget in mind.

If you’re planning an at-home bridal shower, you may prepare the food yourself, have guests and family help you prepare the food, or you have a catered party.

If you’re having the shower in a restaurant or a hotel, make sure to ask them to prepare one of the bride’s favorite meals.

Assign tasks.

Arrange for someone (usually the maid of honor) to make a toast to the bride.

Assign someone to take photographs. Be sure that the bride is pictured with each guest.

Assign one of the wedding party to write down what each gift was and who it came from.

Guide your guests throughout the shower.

Introduce people to one another.

Keep the conversation going when there’s a lull.

Announce when to eat. If there’s a buffet, guide each table in the order that you’d like them to get their food.

Announce when it’s time to make the toast.

Announce each bridal shower game, and tell how it’s played.

Co-ordinate the gift-opening ceremony.

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.

Guess the year and event. Pass around photos and have your guests guess the year and event that bride and groom attended.

Organize a scavenger hunt. Split up into teams and hit the town. Add some humorous items to the list to make it fun. If you’re doing this at night supply flashlights with fresh batteries and make sure each team has a cell phone. Have guests take pictures along their way and you’ll know exactly how much fun each team had on the hunt.

Have a lingerie-themed shower. Instruct everyone to wear their PJs, whether they’re frumpy or sexy. This is particularly interesting when the guys are in attendance.

Name that Couple. Create a list of famous couples. They can be actual people, television characters or cartoon couples. When guests arrive, write each name on a different nametag and place it on a back. Once everyone has a name tag and all couples have a “mate” represented, guests then go around the room asking for clues to guess who their character is (Am I living or alive? Am I a real person or a television character?) Once a couple has discovered their own identity and their better half, they win!

Don’t say that word! When guests arrive to the bridal shower, tell them a keyword or phrase that’s off-limits to say during the party and give them a clothespin to wear or a token to hang on to. Whenever a guest is overheard saying the keyword, the guest who heard them should take their clothespin or token and keep it for the rest of the party. Whoever has the most clothespins at the end of the shower is the winner.

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.

Planning the shower is the generally the responsibility of one of your wedding attendants or a family friend.

Traditionally, showers were for the bride only but, today, showers can include the groom, as well–for a couple’s shower. You know your man, so help your hostess(es) make this decision.

Understanding what needs to be done when can eliminate the worry associated with the “Did I forget something?” thoughts you might have. Use the Party Planning Checklist to keep yourself on track.

Create a Budget.

Set the bridal shower budget very early in the planning process. Though showers don’t need to be expensive, they certainly can be–especially without proper planning!

Once your budget has been determined, set the funds aside.

Ask for help with the costs. Just because you plan the shower, it doesn’t mean you have to pay for the whole thing! Ask all the bridesmaids to help out.

According to PartyPail, the biggest variables in the budget for any shower are the number of attendees, the type of decorations, what food and drinks you are serving, and what you spend on favors. They have created a great Budget Planning Worksheet to use as a guide.

Choose the Date.

Your guests should be notified well in advance.

Since everyone is busier closer to the wedding, you may want to consider having the party about 4-8 weeks prior to the big day.

Make sure the date doesn’t conflict with holidays or other events that would prevent your guests from showing up.

Decide Who to Invite.

Showers usually have 20-40 guests in attendance.

Only invite guests to the bridal shower who will also be invited to the wedding.

If you are unsure about who should be on the guest list, ask the bride. If it’s a surprise shower, ask the bride’s mother or someone else who knows.

Avoid duplicating the guest list if there will be more than one shower given.

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

Pick a Theme.

Have the bride’s wedding gift wish list in hand before settling on a bridal shower theme.

Your theme will become the foundation for your decorations, creating a polished, professional style to the event. Your guests will respond well to a theme too!

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

When planning your decorations, plan your invitations and favors as well.

The party professionals at PartyPail have come up with a Party Supply Worksheet that you can use to plan out all the party supply decorations you need.

Buy the Invitations and Advice Cards.

Bridal Shower Advice Cards are a fun way to share your advice with the bride. These are great cards to pass out at a wedding shower to get the conversation going! Another fun card is a Bridal Shower Receipe Card where friends share their favorite recipes with the bride. Choose from over 100 Unique Bridal Shower Invitations to invite friends and family to this special occasion. Be sure to look through our hundreds of Unique Wedding Invitations and Bridesmaid and Groomsmen Gifts as well.

Visit this blog next week for tips on food and fun (and games) for the bridal shower!

Lisa Bakewell

With weddings costing an average of $20,000 today, it’s smart to start budgeting right away to determine who will pay for what. Traditionally, the bride’s parents picked up the tab for most of the wedding, but today more couples are breaking with tradition (due to later marriages and skyrocketing costs) and divvying up the costs in their own way.

Traditional Expenses:

Bride’s Family

Reception (including food, music, decorations, rental fees and entertainment)
Ceremony
Flowers (wedding and reception)
Wedding Dress, Headpiece and Accessories
Invitations
Announcements
Programs
Postage
Favors
Photography
Transportation

Groom’s Family

Rehearsal Dinner
Wedding Present
Alcohol for Reception

Bride

Groom’s Ring
Groom’s Gift
Makeup, Hair and Beauty Treatments
Gifts for Her Attendants
Bridesmaid Luncheon

Groom

Marriage License
Bride’s Wedding and Engagement Rings
Honeymoon
Bride’s Gift
Gifts for His Attendants
Corsages
Boutonnières
Bride’s Bouquet
Clergyman/Officiant Fee

Wedding Party

Bachelorette/Bachelor Parties
Tux Rentals/Bridesmaid Dresses and Accessories

Non-Traditional Ideas:

Older Bride and Groom
The bride and groom pay for all wedding costs.

Asking for Help
The bride and groom set their budget, then ask for help from their parents for the remainder of the costs. Another approach may be to split the bill three ways (bride & groom, bride’s family, groom’s family).

Lisa Bakewell

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