Who Should Be Invited to a Bridal Shower?

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A bridal shower is actually a gift-giving party. The closely-related female guests are supposed to shower the bride with special gifts that would be helpful for couple’s upcoming domestic life. The opening of the gifts also takes place in the party. Sometimes, questions like who should be invited to the bridal shower create confusion in your mind. For making that decision, you must know the bridal shower etiquette.

Who Should Be Invited to a Bridal Shower?

A common misconception that all the women who are invited to the wedding, should be a part of bridal shower as well, occupies most people's mind. Which is totally wrong. You do not need to invite each and every woman. Bridal shower is an intimate pre-marital party, keeping it small and confined to the closest members from family and friends, is highly advisable. The guests to be invited should be;

  • Your bridesmaids

  • Other close female friends

  • Family members of bride and groom (from grannies to cousins)

In some cases, groom’s family is not invited but that is totally a personal choice. Inviting them would be a healthy gesture. Often the groom’s mother offers her services for the planning of the shower party. If such is the case, inviting groom’s close relatives is highly recommended.

What About the Groom?

Following the traditions, a groom is not the part of a bridal shower. But these days new trends like ‘coed showers’, ‘Jack n Jill shower’ or ‘couple showers’ are making their way. A groom can be a part of such non-traditional events.

Notes and Tips

  • List out the names of the people that you like to invite on both bridal shower and wedding. This would provide an overall view of the guests’ number.

  • Consult the host of the bridal shower about the number of guests, she is going to manage easily, considering the location, space and cost.

  • Inviting someone who is not close to you, but surely is, to someone else, you tend to invite, is not at all against the bridal shower etiquette. When it comes to bridal shower guests, focus on the group, not on individuals.

  • Don’t Get Picky! 

    Do not exclude any single person, while deciding of who should be invited to a bridal shower, belonging to a certain group. Like, bride’s colleagues or a group of mommy’s friends ,etc. Do not be picky, invite them all. Wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, there should be no feelings of being left out by anyone.

List of Bridal Shower Etiquettes to Know

  • Make a Difference

Try your best to create a fine line between a bridal shower and a wedding ceremony. A bridal shower should be a small and private event with a handful of guests. Otherwise there would be no difference in a wedding and a bridal shower.

  • Who Is the Host?

No immediate family member of the bride, especially her parents, can host her bridal shower. It would make them look greedy for the gifts. It’s better that a friend, maid of honor or the bridal party arrange the event.

  • When to Hold the Shower?

The best time for a bridal shower is a couple of weeks or months before the wedding.

  • Who Should Be Invited to a Bridal Shower?

As explained above, invite close friends and family members but never invite someone on bridal shower, who is not going to be a guest on your wedding.

  • When to Inform Guests?

Once you have finalized the guest’s list, inform your guests about one month to six weeks in advance of the event.

  • Invitation Etiquette

Sending invites can be in many different ways. From letterpress, couture invitation to the snail mail (You can send in invites just by email, if a save-the-date is also on your hit list).

  • Bridal Shower Rituals

A few rituals include: the showing up of the groom right before the gift opening ceremony. The ribbons and bows used in the gifts are collected to create a bouquet. Ultimately, it is used in the wedding rehearsal.

  • Gift Registry

If you are already registered for the wedding gifts, include the necessary info on the bridal shower invite, it would be quite helpful for the guests in making gift’s selection. On the other hand, always remember that it's a bad idea to inlcude wedding registry information on wedding inviation. 

  • Theme for Bridal Shower Gift

You can set a theme for the selection of gift. For example, in a midnight theme, you may gift a lingerie and so on.

  • Write a Thank You Note

The bride should send a thank you note and some gift item like a spa massage gift certificate or ticket to some nice movie to the host of the shower.

Something New with Bridal Shower

  • Something Non-traditional

Coed bridal showers are getting quite common these days. A coed bridal shower is for the couple and the gifts are selected for both. It would also include the male members in the guests list. Families with modernistic approach are more into coed bridal showers. Those who value their traditions, should stick to the girls-only bridal shower party.

  • Multiple Bridal Showers

Though the situation sounds quite sticky but that practice is also getting quite common these days. Having multiple bridal showers can prove good in many ways (if dealt properly). Firstly, avoid overlapping of the guests list. A bridal shower hosted by close pals should have the friends and colleagues as the guests. If hosted by some relative, it could be a nice ‘just’ family meet up party. And lastly, if there are some guests like bridal party and immediate family members, who would attend all the bridal showers, make it clear beforehand that no multiple gifts are being expected by them.