Being A Maid of Honor 101 Part II: The Bridal Shower
You’ve been asked to be Maid of Honor. Now what?
It’s bridal shower time!
First things first -- who’s hosting? As tradition goes, the Maid of Honor hosts the bridal shower. However, in my case (and many cases), the bride’s mother (my aunt) hosted the shower. The shower host could also be the Bride’s grandmother or another important woman in the her life. Whoever it may be, this is the first aspect of the day that needs to be figured out.
Once the host is decided on, the planning can really begin! It’s important to talk to the bride and figure out what she wants, and more importantly, what she doesn’t want. Does she want to be surprised or know the date? Open gifts or have gifts wrapped in clear? Bridal shower games or some other form of entertainment? There are so many ways to customize a bridal shower so be sure the bride’s expectations are clear. Luckily for me, I was able to share this opportunity with a co-MOH (Hi, Alex!). Together with our Aunt, we made sure Ariana’s day was one she’d never forget. We knew from the beginning that Ariana did not want to be surprised. She wanted to be at the restaurant greeting her guests, rather than the other way around. She also wanted to spend some time at the party actually opening her gifts, so we didn’t ask the guests to “be a dear, please wrap in clear”. Knowing this was all very helpful when I started designing the invitations. Since the shower was in April, I thought that the invites should have a Spring feel to them. After collaborating with my Aunt and Alex, we decided on something that was pink and full of florals. I decided to make a pocket invitation for this (my first one ever!). I’m so happy with the way it turned out!
Next, we figured out what we wanted to do for centerpieces as well as place cards. Because the theme we were sticking to was “Spring”, it only made sense to have beautiful floral centerpieces and succulents as place cards (which are my favorite place cards to do because they double as favors!). Your centerpieces can be simple. Florals are always a good way to go.
When deciding if we wanted to do a Wishing Well, we thought that we’d be a little different and ask each guest to bring a lottery card for the Mr. and Mrs. to be. If you decide to do a wishing well, don’t feel that you have to be traditional. There are many things you can ask for as a wishing well gift, wine included!
We did play a few games but nothing over the top or cheesy (I personally am not a fan of bridal shower games, but that’s just me. Everyone is different!). Some of the games we played included guessing how many kisses were in the jar (“How many kisses for the soon-to-be Mrs?); guessing how old Ariana was in pictures (I liked this one because it gave my aunt the opportunity to look back in old photos and reminisce); and finally, a “How well do you know Ariana?” game. We gave the winners a choice of prizes - Bath and Body Works candles, soaps and lotions.
A few additional touches of the day included a sangria bar, chocolate covered pretzels, and my personal favorite, a Snapchat geofilter to match the theme. It was such a beautiful day and I was so honored to have been able to help plan it for my cousin!
Overall, planning a bridal shower should be fun and stress free. Remember, it’s another important milestone before her big day so be sure to keep that open conversation with her (while not giving too much away) and help bring her visions to life.
Next up: The Bachelorette Party
Stay tuned!
xoxo,
Alissa