Are you in charge of planning your best friends bridal shower? Well have no fear, we’ve got your back! This is an opportunity for friends and family to take their creative abilities and put it to planning. The possibilities are endless! It’s easy to have ideas and gain inspiration, but what about the actual planning process. We’ve created a guide that will ensure your bridal shower is a success!
Pre-Planning
Select a Date, Time & Location
Have the crew in your corner help you pick a date, venue, and time frame! This will help you plan for where you need to hold your event, which could be at your aunt’s house, a park, or the cute new venue space in your area. This also helps with starting to create your invites in the activation phase.
Budget
Before picking a menu or choosing a theme, setting a budget will help you figure out what you can all include! Traditionally, the host pays for the shower, but be sure to stick to a budget. Even though we want to spoil the bride, you don’t need to go overboard to give her a great time!
Guest List
After you have figured out when and how much, it’s time to figure out the who! Start with the bride and her must invite list. Make sure you grab the addresses of all the must invite lists to start! A good size is about 25-50 guests, this can fit most spaces where showers are typically held. Everyone who is invited to the shower must be invited to a wedding!
Plan a Bridal Shower: Next Steps
Pick a Theme
This is arguably one of the best parts of the bridal shower! Think of something the bride enjoys, or something that could go with a name is always fun too! You can do a classic bridal shower, and the theme can be showering the bride. This gives you room to be creative if you want parts within the shower to be themed.
Send Invites
Once you have a timeline and the guest list filtered out, it’s time to invite! Create something simple and sweet, you want your guests to have all the details but not too wordy. Do this about six to eight weeks before the event. This time frame gives guests plenty of time to check their schedules, find a gift, or let you know if they can’t attend.
Secure Rentals
While you are creating your list of things to have at the party, make sure you know you can hire outside vendors for help. If this is the case, some of these vendors need a little bit of notice to fill the orders or reserve something for your date. Examples of this are catering, balloon decor, or cupcake desserts. Make sure to reach out to local vendors to make the party unique and well thought out!
Day-Of Set Up
Decorate
This not only includes all the cute decor that you have planned but also another functional decor! This includes the table for gifts, box for cards, etc. This is a fun step and something you can do with the whole group. Make sure to delegate, someone in charge of table decor, dessert/food table, gift table, etc.
Pick Up Rentals
If there is a balloon garland, signs, flowers, today is the day to grab them! Have a helper! I can not stress this enough, it is much easier to have help. While you are at the location set up, the helper can run any last-minute errands.
Set Up Food/Drink
This will be the last step because you want the food to be fresh, and the drinks to be bubbly! Do this so that when guests arrive, these treats are ready for the taking! Some fun drink ideas are mimosa bar, bloody mary bar, or create your punch! The ideas are limitless, and food and drink bring people together.
Complete Weddings + Events Indianapolis
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