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Have you ever considered that your bride-to-be may not be too comfortable about the typical bridal shower? It’s one of the most revered pre-wedding traditions, but if the bride isn’t too thrilled about the idea, where’s the fun in it?
Carefully consider your girl’s likes and preferences before you plan her bridal shower. Steal some of these alternative bridal shower ideas for inspiration.
Outdoor Movie Night
Some brides just want to hang out with their friends and revisit their sleepover days as little girls. That’s how food writer and photographer Claire Thomas celebrated her remaining days as a single gal. Her mom and sisters invited a few of her close friends for an outdoor movie screening of Viva Las Vegas because Thomas is a huge Elvis Fan.
Photo via Martha Stewart Weddings
The dreamy outdoor den is conducive for long talks with the girls. The tapestries and seating look picture-perfect, yet effortless.
Photo by Yayo Ahumada via Martha Stewart Weddings
Thomas and her bride tribe elevated their sleepover to new heights. She told Martha Stewart Weddings that for the outdoor movie night, she wore a “high-waisted Madewell black jeans, a butter yellow Topshop sweater, and a heavy dose of eyeliner to mimic the actress’s (Ann-Margret) iconic look on the Viva Las Vegas cover.”
The highlight of the night was the surprise Elvis impersonator who danced with the bride-to-be, much to her delight. Bridal showers don’t need to be gimmicky. Just find one normal thing that the bride-to-be loves doing and make it a little extra special for the shower.
Go On a Weekend Trip
If the bride doesn’t embrace parties, whisk her away on a weekend trip with a small bridal party. It may take a while for the bride to go out with her friends as she transitions to her new life as a married woman, so this is one bridal shower alternative she’ll appreciate.
Organizing a trip is different from putting together a party, and the former may be more demanding in terms of putting everyone on the same page for the schedule and itinerary. However, a trip is more intimate and relaxing, and almost anything goes. Go to Las Vegas for a casino weekend, a spa retreat to Vermont, or a fun-filled adventure in Disneyland, or a hiking trip to Grand Canyon.
Photo via Seoul Searching
Charming Lexi of Seoul Searching had a wonderful time with her mom and sisters in Disneyland for her bridal shower. It was a shower of four, but it was certainly memorable.
Take Lessons
Maybe one of the items in the bride-to-be’s bucket list before getting hitched is to learn a particular skill. If she fits this category, show her your support and turn the bridal shower into a learning experience for everyone.
Photo by Hallie Duesenberg Photography via Style Me Pretty
This beautiful bride’s mother managed to warm her up to the idea of a bridal shower before her short-notice wedding. The result was a fun and intimate cooking class with the bridesmaids and the bride’s friends.
Learning something new together is a great way to strengthen bonds, so consider short lessons that the bride would love to take up as an alternative bridal shower idea.
Some Active Fun
The bride will need an occasional dose of endorphins to keep up with the wedding planning, so take her out for a sweat session by tapping into her favorite sport. Or just draw up some physical activities that will get everyone moving.
Photo via Weddings by Lilly
Weddings by Lilly featured a bachelorette paintball party with some ideas you could get inspiration from. The bride-to-be dressed up in an old wedding gown while her bridesmaids wore “hideous bridesmaid dresses”. The result? A bridal shower that set the benchmark for all bridal showers to come!
Everyone Must Have Fun, and We Mean Everyone
The bride and the group’s personalities need to be the biggest deciding factor for the type of bridal shower you will host. What’s the point of the activity if the bride doesn’t enjoy what she’s doing? Similarly, it can’t be just the bride who enjoys her own shower.
However you decide to celebrate it, the important thing is that the bride and her tribe leave with fond memories of the bridal shower. Add these non-floating bride letter balloons to your walls to add a subtle touch of "wedding" to your alternative bridal shower.
