It's Tipsy Thursday and time for more Wedding Etiquette. April Showers.....bring Bridal Showers.
This may be the first of many celebrations in your honor. A wedding shower is a gathering of your friends, family and bridal party where they "shower" you with gifts....what fun!!!!
So here's some wedding shower basics every bride should know:
-Showers can be held anywhere from a few weeks prior to the wedding to a couple months. Just try not to schedule it too close to the wedding day as you'll have a few other things on your mind!
-Who's the Hostess? One long standing rule is that it's condisered rude and greedy for your immediate family to host the shower. This would include your mother, grandmother, siblings, mother-in-laws. This is the general rule, and in certain circumstances it is becoming more common for anyone to host the shower.
-Your fabulous guests- Usually this is made up of only close friends and family...you after all asking them to bring you a gift so your guests should be people you know! Anyone invited to the shower should also be invited to the wedding. Nowadays this gets in to a problem with you work friends- if your office chooses to host an office shower that is the one exception as nobody expects you to invite all your coworkers. If you are having multiple showers were you may have some overlap on the guests, you should only invite them to one or two of the showers. Your bridal party, if invited to all showers, needs to be told they should only bring a gift to one of the showers...or they may want to do a joint gift at the showers to keep the cost down. This last word on guests is very imporatant.......the hostess decides how many people to invite afterall she is paying for it and you should be considerate to her checkbook.
-Invitations- the hostess can be issued in person, by phone, or typically in an actual inviation (many are available that are preprinted andyou can just fill in the pertinent information) It is acceptable to include registry information in the invite.
-Opening the gifts- this is the highlight and often the entertainment of the shower and usually happens after the refreshments are served. Have one of your attendants sit next to you so they can write down what you received and who it's from. You shoud thank each gift giver. Keep in mind you still will need to send a thank you note for the gift later. Often brides will keep the bows from their shower to put on a plate and make a "practice bouquet" to use for the rehearsal.
-Decor, theme, refreshments-this can get pretty creative! There's no real rule here except that it should be appropriate to the time of day (brunch, afternoon tea, cocktails, dessert). the hostess may want to have alovely arrangment on the table where drinks and snacks are being served. Often the hostess will select a theme for the shower...Round the Clock (guests are assigned a time and bring a gift appropriate to that hour)...Couples Shower (the grom and his friends attend- usually gifts are geared more towards the couple than just the bride)...Pantry Showers..Stock the Bar Showers...Recipe Showers. In some parts of the country there is the tradition to play some games, but many are steeering away from this and just using it as a time to get to know those closest to the couple and celebrate their upciming marriage.
-How many can I have? Typically two is really the limit with different guests invited to each one. You don't want to put a strain on your guests pocketbooks!
-Be sure to send a thank you note to the hostess, and even a little gift would be appreciated for all their hard work on your fabulous shower.
Enjoy these celebrations in your honor, just remember that it's not the loot that's important, it's the intimate celebration with your closest friends and family!
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