For a bridal shower at a banquet hall and a bride who hates shower games, what can I do to entertain guests?

Question

The shower will have approximately sixty guests and although not formal, it will be a sit down meal. The bride refuses to have games but does realize that for such a large venue and group size, there has to be something going on the entertain. She attended another shower that showcased a fashion show. Although that is not reflective of her personality, she would like me to come up with something unique and memorable like this. Any suggestions are welcome! The location is a hall but also a gallery, if that helps spark any ideas.

Also, the dominant culture of the guests dictates monetary gifts, so there won't be anything to open (remember, this is at a banquet hall). This is new to me, I thought bridal showers were at home with sandwiches and opening gifts in front of friends. THIS IS NOT THE CASE.

At one hall shower I attended, the bride did an Arabic theme and had belly dancing lessons on the dance floor for all of the guests. This is not appropriate for my friend, but these are the kinds of different things she wants instead of games to fill time and allow the large number of guests to interact IF THEY CHOOSE TO.

The mother of the groom is very elegant and classy, and she will probably insist upon a certain level of formality.

Answer 1

Hi Jen. I don't know where you live, but where I live people don't do anything to entertain guests at a shower. I have never heard of that! All the bridal showers that I have been to recently (within the past 2-3 years), NO games are played. Everyone hates them here.

~ Have introductions of the wedding party, brides mom, groom's mom, etc.
~ Eat
~ Open gifts - it will take a while with that many people.
~ Serve dessert while she is opening gifts.
~ Maybe have some nice flowering plants on the table and pick names and give them away.

That's the kind of shower I like and that is the norm where I live (Michigan). Most people work and only have 2 days off on the weekend and don't want a long (4 hour) shower to go to. As it is, it will be long enough with food and opening of gifts. I would leave it at that!

Answer 2

I once went to a shower where everyone brought in a recipe and then transferred it to a decorative card. When all collected, the cards would make up a recipe book of the bride's favorite family foods growing up. It also included favorite childhood recipes of the groom (from his family) too.

However, this was also a surprise shower. So, as the guests we were asked to arrive at 1:30, but the bride didn't make an appearance to about 2-2:15. Normally, games are not played. But, I think this was a nice thing to do to keep the guests busy while other people arrived, including the very surprised bride.

Answer 3

Instead of typical games, you can do Trivia (questions about the bride or the couple). If you have children attending maybe they can perform if you let the parents know ahead of time. If you have alcohol, do karaoke :-) You never know what Aunt Marge will do after 3 margaritas! For the fashion show you can have the ladies model all their horror story bridesmaid dresses of weddings past (whether or not they zip up all the way). Make sure no previous brides who made them wear these monstrosities will be in the room unless they have a good sense of humor! You can also have the ladies model 'matronly' outfits of what the bride is expected to wear now that she will be a married woman. They can be sexy or old fashioned or whatever, all in good fun! o it in a time progression from newly married to old age :-) Some of these can be actual gifts, some can be from the thrift store. Costumes can be made to resemble the "Mrs. Cleaver" type and other famous TV wives. In fact you can make this your theme and a game you could play which is a good 'mixer' is to put the names of famous 'wives' on the backs of everyone in attendance and you have to ask yes or no questions to figure out who you are. The bride doesn' have to play, but can watch people trying to figure it out. It's not a traditional game so she may really enjoy it. You can try to match the 'famous wife' with the personality of the person you put it on like if the bride's mom is a Johnny Cash fan you can put "June Carter Cash" on her back. You can use Infamous wives depending on her sense of humor (Lorena Bobbit) though it may be in poor taste!

You could also do something like a luau theme and hire a halau of Hawaiian dancers to perform. Choosing a theme would solve a lot of decision making problems. Try a site like party411.com for more inspiration.

good luck and have fun!

Answer 4

A slide show of the couple growing up and then together is a good idea. Is there a theme to the shower - if so, center around the theme. One thing I saw that I loved was having people paint plates for the couple and then having them glazed/fired at a local pottery place. The paint colors were what she chose as her kitchen colors. Each plate was a special "gift" or momento and was useful afterwards. I don't know where you are, but there's a place called Potter's Wheel in Houston that would probably help you arrange something like this. They give you the plain, white clay plates and you paint on them. After they've been fired they're professional quailty stuff.

Answer 5

Surely there will be some gifts for her to open. Between the socializing, eating and gifts why bother with entertainment?

You can hire a strnig quartet, harpist or pianist to perform, but I think that takes away from the focus on the bride.

Just have a nice dinner party and don't worry about entertainment or games.

Answer 6

1. Create a slide show set to music of the bride growing up and then all the photos of her and her soon-to-be husband.
2. Have scrap book items set out for guests to help create a scrap book of the photos and memorabilia of the couple's relationship.
3. Serve cocktails. This is really enough to carry a party for hours.
4. Hire a chef to give the ladies a cooking lesson.
5. Hire 2 or 3 massage therapists or manicurists to give mini manis and mini chair massages. Who wouldn't like that?

Hope these ideas get you thinking. Have fun!!!
Bests :D

Answer 7

I suggest some jazz music, a nice ambience, maybe low lights and lots of candles (if they're permitted). Turn it into a cocktail party. Amazing things can happen with the mix of strangers, friends, and martinis!

Answer 8

I was at one where they just had a cocktail hour.... have a couple of drinks and chatted, we didn't need any games after a glass of wine :)