Bridal shower is a gift-giving party held for a bride-to-be in anticipation of her wedding. Though many cultures have events before the wedding, bridal showers are most common in the United States and Canada.
Bridal showers are a time-honored wedding tradition with origin stories dating back to 16th-century Holland when a young girl’s father refused to provide a dowry to a marriage he disapproved of. The town got together and offered small gifts to help her start her home without the dowry money.
How to plan for bridal shower
Usually, the bridal shower is held two to six months before the wedding. The bridal shower is usually hosted by the maid of honor, close friends, bridal attendants, or bridesmaids.
No matter who is hosting, be sure to communicate clearly to make sure you aren’t planning two separate showers. Traditional etiquette says the mother or mother-in-law (or any relatives, for that matter) should steer clear from hosting as it can appear that they are directly asking for gifts. However, today it’s become much more common and perfectly acceptable for anyone to host who wants to.
Unless it’s a complete surprise shower, the person being showered will generally provide some basics that they’d like at their shower. The host will ask about preferred themes, details, date, time, location, activities, and other ideas to get an idea of where to start. It’s up to the host or hosts to use that input to bring the shower to life.
Who gets invited to a bridal shower?
As with other pre-wedding events, the guest list should be limited to people who are also invited to the wedding. “You can invite whomever you would like from the wedding guest list. Keep the guest list small and manageable, don’t have too many showers, and don’t invite the same people to multiple showers.
For the bridal shower, this usually includes the bridal party and the couple’s family and close friends. The number invited depends on how large the event is intended to be.
