Bridal shower games

[momz]

I, along with my SIL are planning a bridal shower for my nephew's fiancé. This is an event for extended family. Up to about 30 attendees. This is a fun group of women, I don't anticipate anyone younger than teens to be there.

I am looking for game ideas. What have you tried that was well received, and what have you experienced that flopped?

Any suggestions for prizes/favors?

 

[jdb in AZ]

I, along with my SIL are planning a bridal shower for my nephew's fiancé. This is an event for extended family. Up to about 30 attendees. This is a fun group of women, I don't anticipate anyone younger than teens to be there.

I am looking for game ideas. What have you tried that was well received, and what have you experienced that flopped?

Any suggestions for prizes/favors?

Most of the showers I've been to lately are just come and go, with just visiting instead of games. If your group is into games, a fun one I've tried is when the hostess buys a bridal magazine and a movie star magazine, cuts out heads of the stars and pastes them over the bridal models' faces. Then the guests try to guess the name of the actors. It's not as easy as it sounds, especially when you use male faces on the pictures with a model's long hair or veil. The funniest picture is when you put the face of the guest of honor's groom's face on a gown.

 

[Southernmiss]

I, along with my SIL are planning a bridal shower for my nephew's fiancé. This is an event for extended family. Up to about 30 attendees. This is a fun group of women, I don't anticipate anyone younger than teens to be there.

I am looking for game ideas. What have you tried that was well received, and what have you experienced that flopped?

Any suggestions for prizes/favors?

For my dil we played a 'How Well Do You Know The Couple Trivia' game that was actually fun. Probably found it on Pinterest.

The maid of honor had a list of questions she asked my son and his fiancee individually and had the answers.

My 15 year old daughter actually won that game. We realized that she and dil are much alike in their thoughts and likes and dislikes.

Prizes were mason jars of fresh flowers used to decorate the tables.

 

[wishesuponastar]

At my daughters bridal shower in 2016, there was a game that was the bride to be wore an apron with things attached to it and she walked around the room then left and everyone had to remember what was in the apron. I think there was a wooden spoon, can’t remember what else.

I can’t remember the prizes but for her baby shower just this March the prizes I bought were Bath & body works hand sanitizers, the mini ones for about $1.75 and their mini hand creams too.

The favors for both the bridal and baby shower were decorated cookies. I found a nearby bakery and gave them a photo of a cookie and they made the dough like a black and white cookie. The cookies cost $1.75 ea. Found favor bags at Michaels.

 

[aprilgail]

I detest having to play those games at showers- but if you must Lottery Scratch offs are good prizes! For favors the last 2 I went to had individually boxed cupcakes from this gourmet cupcake shop that is nearby

 

[powellrj]

I like the old school word search games. I also like when they give homemade soap as a gift.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Please avoid the string/ribbon game where each guest cuts off a piece trying to guess how big around the mom-to-be's belly is. That one always makes an emotional pregnant woman feel like everyone thinks she's as big as a hippo.

As the expectant mother, I sadistically enjoyed watching the guests play the baby food eating contest and guessing the gross smelling foods in diapers (like pureed tuna, stinky cheese, dog food...). It was payback for that stupid string game, though I don't think the guests enjoyed it too much.

I've heard of some showers having a bunch of plain white onesies in various sizes and a bunch of fabric markers. The guests all decorate a onesie and prizes can be awarded upon determination by mom-to-be for her favorites or things like Most Unique, Funniest, Cutest, etc.

Other than that, with a large group I'm not a huge fan of baby shower games as it's usually just too many people to try to get everyone to pay attention/ hear what's going on. At the shower for my second, my lovely, wonderful aunt (host) had raffles for prizes (instead of actual games) and everyone hung out and talked, ate, whatever. Bonus for me was that I was able to open my gifts in front of everyone but since most people were mingling and chatting, I didn't have to deal with the awkward "everybody stare at me and watch me ooh and ahh over opening a tube of diaper rash cream" stuff. She gave Bath and Body works liquid hand soaps for party favors and I think potted flowers for the prizes.

 

[mjkacmom]

Please avoid the string/ribbon game where each guest cuts off a piece trying to guess how big around the mom-to-be's belly is. That one always makes an emotional pregnant woman feel like everyone thinks she's as big as a hippo.

As the expectant mother, I sadistically enjoyed watching the guests play the baby food eating contest and guessing the gross smelling foods in diapers (like pureed tuna, stinky cheese, dog food...). It was payback for that stupid string game, though I don't think the guests enjoyed it too much.

I've heard of some showers having a bunch of plain white onesies in various sizes and a bunch of fabric markers. The guests all decorate a onesie and prizes can be awarded upon determination by mom-to-be for her favorites or things like Most Unique, Funniest, Cutest, etc.

Other than that, with a large group I'm not a huge fan of baby shower games as it's usually just too many people to try to get everyone to pay attention/ hear what's going on. At the shower for my second, my lovely, wonderful aunt (host) had raffles for prizes (instead of actual games) and everyone hung out and talked, ate, whatever. Bonus for me was that I was able to open my gifts in front of everyone but since most people were mingling and chatting, I didn't have to deal with the awkward "everybody stare at me and watch me ooh and ahh over opening a tube of diaper rash cream" stuff. She gave Bath and Body works liquid hand soaps for party favors and I think potted flowers for the prizes.

It’s a bridal shower, I really hope they don’t guess her circumference!

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

It’s a bridal shower, I really hope they don’t guess her circumference!

Oh gosh, I totally read the title wrong!

 

[minnie1012]

I went to one recently and we had a form of "what's in your purse?" and the person with the most points won. Then we also did the how well do you know the bride. I didn't win so I didn't see what the prizes were. People seemed to like both. There was another game where they hid plastic diamond rings and the one who found the most I think won? I'm not sure if there was supposed to be a ready set go type thing or scavenger hunt. A special needs woman in attendance grabbed them all so that was a bust. I'm not exactly sure how that was supposed to work. I liked the games because they weren't embarrassing for guests and they were fun.

 

[CarolAnn856]

My honest advice? Skip the games. Let people enjoy visiting with each other rather than have to join in some goofy game.

Or, if you absolutely have to have an activity, figure out something similar to the onesie idea above. For a bridal shower, you could purchase inexpensive stemware, glass paint, and brushes, set everything out on a table, and invite each guest to paint one glass. You could even set a theme to help people along, such as "summer fun" or "warm winter nights." This way, guests can participate if they want to, the table itself becomes a great way to visit with each other, and it's something the bride will have as a keepsake. (Just remember that, like the onesies, there is some follow-up on the items so the paint is set.)

 

[bianca]

I detest having to play those games at showers- but if you must Lottery Scratch offs are good prizes! For favors the last 2 I went to had individually boxed cupcakes from this gourmet cupcake shop that is nearby

The lottery tickets are a great idea. That may actually get me to attend a shower, but unless they are also serving liquor, I doubt it. I don't attend any bridal or baby's showers due to the stupid little games. I have much better things to do with my time. My free time is very limited and I don't spend it on antiquated ideas of female bonding.

 

[misse336]

One game I've played at a bridal shower that was better than the rest was a form of The Price is Right. The hosts bought a few household items (think cleaning products, tp, tea towels, tissues) that people would need starting out and put them in a wash basket. I think there were 8-10 items? The people at the shower had to guess how much each item cost and then add up the costs. The guest who was closest to the actual cost of the items without going over won a prize. The bride-to-be was given the household items. It was quick, somewhat fun and the bride to be got something useful to use after the shower.

As far as prizes consumable type ones are best - food/chocolate/candy, candles that can be burnt, potted flower or hand sanitizer. Anything that doesn't have to suit a person's taste and won't clutter up their house/get donated.

 

[dosekies]

Gift bingo is always easy. Everyone gets a blank bingo card and can fill it out how they please with whatever gifts they think the couple will be receiving. As the gifts are opened, cross them off your card and whoever gets a BINGO wins a prize.

 

[sjrec]

Is it a surprise shower? If not, I would ask the bride if she’s into the games. To be honest, I hate them and haven’t been to showers in the last couple years where games were played. My daughter’s generation doesn’t seem to into playing them.
But if your group is, the Bingo game doesn’t sound awful.

 

[lorimay]

Last year for my daughter in laws shower, we played a great game called "Say yes to the Dress". I bought bunch of toilet paper from Costco and gave each table of 6 people 6 rolls and they chose someone from the table and designed a wedding dress on her made out of the paper. It was such a blast. We laughed so hard, everyone was so creative. Even the workers from the venue came in and were enjoying it.

 

[scrapquitler]

I, along with my SIL are planning a bridal shower for my nephew's fiancé. This is an event for extended family. Up to about 30 attendees. This is a fun group of women, I don't anticipate anyone younger than teens to be there.

I am looking for game ideas. What have you tried that was well received, and what have you experienced that flopped?

Any suggestions for prizes/favors?

Skip the games.

I hate the games. Just let everyone sit or stand around and visit.

 

[DisneyHardin]

One game I've played at a bridal shower that was better than the rest was a form of The Price is Right. The hosts bought a few household items (think cleaning products, tp, tea towels, tissues) that people would need starting out and put them in a wash basket. I think there were 8-10 items? The people at the shower had to guess how much each item cost and then add up the costs. The guest who was closest to the actual cost of the items without going over won a prize. The bride-to-be was given the household items. It was quick, somewhat fun and the bride to be got something useful to use after the shower.

As far as prizes consumable type ones are best - food/chocolate/candy, candles that can be burnt, potted flower or hand sanitizer. Anything that doesn't have to suit a person's taste and won't clutter up their house/get donated.

I'm having a bridal shower for my sister the beginning of June and this one sounds great. I've never played Price is Right at a shower. Thanks for the idea.

 

[nkereina]

I'm not big on games so for my bridal shower, my hosts did the purse game. Everyone received a sheet and a pen and had to check off the items on the list that they had in their purse, each item worth different points. Whoever had the most points at the end won a prize. As I was opening gifts, we would pause sporadically and they would draw a name out of a hat of those present to win a prize. Prizes were just several $10 gift cards which I thought was practical and useful (Starbucks, Target, etc. Winner got to pick.)

When they were planning my shower, my initial inclination was no games but I'm glad they did one because I don't know what people would have done otherwise between the time my shower started and the time the food came out. People were chatting, but it was a small group (about 25) and most people didn't know each other.

I just attended a bridal shower a few weeks ago and they did 4 games which felt like too much because the shower was on a time crunch at 2.5 hours long. They had to be out by a certain time. They also did the purse game which was well received, and Bridal Bingo which I thought was fun because it kept everyone engaged as the bride was opening gifts which normally can be boring for the guests and awkward for the bride. Bridal Mad Libs and Couple Trivia were flops. Prizes were gift baskets that they clearly put a lot of effort into, but not every basket worked for every person (like a pet basket). I won a snack basket that had things in it I don't eat, so I gave it away.

 

[cabanafrau]

One game I've played at a bridal shower that was better than the rest was a form of The Price is Right. The hosts bought a few household items (think cleaning products, tp, tea towels, tissues) that people would need starting out and put them in a wash basket. I think there were 8-10 items? The people at the shower had to guess how much each item cost and then add up the costs. The guest who was closest to the actual cost of the items without going over won a prize. The bride-to-be was given the household items. It was quick, somewhat fun and the bride to be got something useful to use after the shower.

As far as prizes consumable type ones are best - food/chocolate/candy, candles that can be burnt, potted flower or hand sanitizer. Anything that doesn't have to suit a person's taste and won't clutter up their house/get donated.

I'm not a fan of shower games, or even showers actually, but if I'm stuck there and games must be on the agenda I won't want to be put out of my misery with this one.