Bridal showers are a way of saying goodbye to single hood as the bride prepares for her wedding. Since brides are usually preoccupied with wedding arrangements, it is usually up to family and friends to come up with a good bridal shower idea and memorable bridal shower activities.

The bride’s tastes and personality are certainly factors you should take into account as you begin to plan your bridal shower activities. It’s important to understand the bride’s preferences and point of view on her shower as these will influence many of your decisions. Staying true to the bride’s personality will also help you make the bridal shower memorable and unique. From the start, think about how you can break free from “traditional” activities, like making a tissue paper wedding dress or playing pin-the-tail on the bridegroom. Instead, create a set of bridal shower activities completely centered on the bride that will engage both her and your guests.

For example, go to a classy hotel and spend the day having the bride (and guests) completely pampered and catered to. Imagine how nice it would be to have aroma therapy, massages, hot saunas, or a dip in the hotel Jacuzzi. Follow that with time together in a comfortable room where you can all reminisce about the times you’ve spent with the bride.

For the more down-to-earth bride, a good idea is holding a bridal shower at the local mall, which usually has the potential for generating loads of fun bridal shower activities. Take the bride on a shopping spree, but please make sure you have a budget, you don’t want to max out your credit cards. Later take the bride to the mall caf and let her sweet tooth indulge in chocolate, ice cream or whatever she feels like having. It’s a one day activity so, no holds barred. Pass by the lingerie shop and have the bride flaunt some of that elegant attire to her guests.

Alternatively, for the outdoor, nature loving bride, having a bridal shower at the country side is not such a bad idea. Fun bridal shower activities such as wine tasting, bungee jumping, canoeing, hiking and planting some trees for remembrance of that day are just some of the few activities you can engage in. Better yet, you can head out to the beach and carry along a full picnic basket and a few bottles of wine. Hire a performer to keep you entertained through out the day, just make sure you and the bride have fun. In the evening you could light a bonfire and let your hair down. On the other hand, you can have a party at the bride’s house in the evening and invite all her friends, family and neighbors.

There are a lot of fun-filled shower activities for the bride out there. So the next time you find yourself organizing one, you know what to do.

Get more bridal shower activities ideas and other planning and decorating tips for your bridal shower. Join Ellen Glover and our other blog writers at BridalShowerMoments.com.

Bridal shower bingo is essentially a fun and simple game to play just like the traditional bingo, the only variation being the entries on the cards. Instead of using numbers, bridal shower bingo uses the gift registry of the bride as the blocks. It’s quite simple to set up bridal shower bingo cards using any word editor, just draw a grid with five rows and five columns.

Next, take random items from the gift registry and put them in each box of the bingo card. Or, leave some of the boxes open and let each guest predict what items should go there based on what they think the bride may have selected. Take the time to add borders, a few design touches, and maybe even some bridal clip art to make the card appealing, attractive and fun.

Print out the cards on colorful paper or you can source paper matching the decoration and color theme of the bridal shower. Customize the card by writing some memorable or funny quotes at the back or just draw a plain old cartoon. If time is not available for designing and printing out your own custom made bridal shower bingo cards, many online and offline outlets sell custom made cards. Bear in mind the number of guests you are expecting to control your costs, and give yourself plenty of time to plan your bridal shower bingo game.

Before starting bridal shower bingo make sure the guests know what prizes are at stake. This will make it a little more fun and interesting as the game unfolds. The party host should be the bingo “caller” and make sure all guests know how to play and what rules are involved. The bride then starts the game by opening her gifts, while the guests mark the items announced on their bingo cards. The first person to cover all the items up and down, across or diagonally, just as in traditional bingo, gets to call “bingo!”

Not all bridal shower bingo games necessarily rely on the bride’s gift registry. If you prefer, consider using word terms that refer to the bride’s upcoming wedding day, her wedding dress, names of the bridal party (including the bride and groom), family names, church location and more. In this approach, you duplicate these words on slips of paper that are drawn and announced just like the traditional bingo numbers. Prizes awarded can be anything, but are usually items like candles, a small cake, gift cards, photos of the bride and groom, gourmet candies or something similar.

There’s a lot more than tips on bridal shower bingo ideas at BridalShowerMoments.com. Join Ellen Gover and our other writers for ideas on bridal shower planning, decorating, centerpieces, activites and more.

A bridal shower brunch usually takes place between 10 a.m. and noon, 2-3 days before the wedding. It’s an inexpensive and fun way to allow close family members to bond with the bride and feel like they’re sharing in and contributing to her wedding planning efforts.

First thing in hosting a bridal shower brunch is selecting a serene ambience for the brunch. This could be a banquet hall or a private section of a restaurant. Traditionally though, a bridal shower brunch is normally held at the bride’s home but any calm surrounding will normally do the trick. Decorations for the brunch should be stylish and preferably match to the color theme of the wedding, while reflecting the class and maturity of the bride.

It’s never a bad idea to get ideas from the bridal party, but overall the dcor, theme and colors selected should approach that of a wedding atmosphere. At the same time, the dress code can be set to semi-casual (with a touch of sophistication) to allow for a fun, relaxed atmosphere.

The theme of the bridal shower brunch and wedding should also be taken into consideration when planning the day’s menu. If the couple will have a traditional white wedding, items such as chicken salad, white pizza, mini bagels with cream cheese, and the use of white serving dishes would make perfect sense. But don’t feel as though you can’t prepare a bride’s favorite family recipe, one from a friend, or unique and creative entrees from a contemporary cookbook, especially if that’s what the bride would prefer.

For exotic themed weddings, you might want to hire a chef who specializes in the exotic meals the wedding is based on. The trick, though, is to keep the meals light, so cheeses, salads and soups are best for such an occasion. Others include croissants and brioches, fruits like grapes and strawberries, vegetables like tomatoes and gourmet, among others.

When planning drinks, be sure to include non-alcoholic options (if alcohol will be used) and keep the offerings connected to the overall wedding theme. You really can’t go wrong with fruit punch, coffee, tea and soft drinks in terms of the non-alcoholic options, even if the brunch event is very formal or exotic.

It’s also a common tradition for the bride to treat her guests to some type of gift. This does not have to be overly expensive, and can even be something home-made, a bottle of wine, gift cards, gourmet chocolates or candy, flowers or other items. The overall goal is for the bridal shower brunch to be a wonderful time spent with family and friends without being a financial or planning burden for the bride and her helpers.

Bridal shower brunch ideas are just the beginning at the BridalShowerMoments blog. Join Janine Moore and our other writers for more on bridal shower decorating, centerpieces, activities and more.

Bridal shower centerpieces are the jewel of any bridal shower. They should reflect the true personality, interests and tastes of the bride and give the bridal shower the ambience that is required. It is therefore imperative to come up with bridal shower centerpieces that are dominant and attractive to make them memorable.

Ensuring that your bridal shower centerpieces revolve around the theme of the wedding and the bride may take time and a bit of creativity. It is important to have in mind, or possibly even on paper, exactly what your overall bridal shower centerpieces design will be. Once you have that, start thinking of colors for the centerpieces that will match the color theme of the wedding. So if the wedding has a pink and white theme, design the bridal shower centerpieces in a way that attractively incorporates those colors. Consider also whether the overall theme of the centerpieces should be traditional or contemporary, and keep the bridal shower centerpieces as feminine as possible.

The vase or flower bowl design, where vases or flower bowls form the foundation of the centerpieces is a popular and easy approach. The vases or bowls, which should hold the bride’s favorite flowers, can be decorated in many different ways. They can be painted or wrapped in ribbons based on the wedding theme and the bride’s favorite colors. The vases or bowls can be placed on tables, stands or other furniture to bring color and ambience to the bridal shower area.

You can also place scented candles placed in jars, jewelry, cake or chocolate around your flower bowl or vase designs. The centerpieces can even incorporate a “piece” of the bride, like her favorite t-shirt, doll or CD. You can also place small pieces of paper with short definitions of the bride like ‘smart’ and ‘ambitious’ among others around the centerpieces and later use those pieces to play games like bridal shower bingo.

There’s a lot more than tips on bridal shower centerpieces at BridalShowerMoments.com. Join Lindsay and our other writers for ideas on bridal shower planning, decorating, brunch, cake and more.

Even though a bride may only enjoy it once in her life, the number of bridal showers you can help plan can be as many as the number of relatives and friends you have that eventually get married. And one thing all bridal showers have in common is fun activities, gifts for the bride, great food and of course the bridal shower cake. The cake is usually the centerpiece of the occasion and highlight of the day.

Since it is meant to offer well wishes to the engaged couple, a bridal shower cake should be lively, innovative in design and should match the theme colors of the bridal shower. You can go about presenting the perfect bridal shower cake in two ways.

The first option to consider is baking the cake at home. After it’s out of the oven, apply your base frosting with a butter knife. Although white is usually considered the traditional bridal shower cake color feel free to experiment with other colors as long as they will fit in with the overall color and mood theme of the shower. Simply use an applicator to ice the different colors out to the edges of the cake while creating original and interesting designs.

Next, put a special message for the bride and groom on top of the bridal shower cake using gel icing, creating neat and nicely design artwork. For a personal touch, consider also using monograms of the couple’s names and press in some hard or soft chocolate for additional texture. As a finishing touch, accentuate your presentation by tying a colorful ribbon around the cake.

If baking at home isn’t a good option for you, simply arrange to purchase a custom-made cake from a bakery. With this approach, you should still design the bridal shower cake, choose the ingredients, and review your ideas and concepts with the bakery. Your concepts should follow the bride’s color preferences and/or decorating theme of the shower. Working with a bakery may also allow you to get a little more intricate and unique with the shape of your cake, such as shaping it like a pair of high heels or classy handbag if the bride loves shopping (as long as the cake remains feminine and appropriate in feel). Your baker may also be able to create more intricate icing designs to give the cake an elegant, dynamic feel and help make your bridal shower cake even more of a highlight and centerpiece of the bridal shower area.

There’s a lot more than tips on bridal shower cake ideas at BridalShowerMoments.com. Join Lindsay Maxwell and our other writers for ideas on bridal shower planning, decorating, brunch and more.

There is no shortage of free bridal shower clip art on the internet, which can be found and downloaded easily through searches. If you’re really creative, refer to the bridal shower clip art you find online as idea generators and then use you computer paint or drawing program to design your own custom clip art.

In order to select the best bridal shower clip art, you must first be familiar with the theme of the bridal shower. Find out about the theme of the bridal shower from the bride or through other sources like family and friends, and observe the brides preferences in terms of art and leisure. This information will be useful when it comes to determining the exact colors for the clip art and the images that will be used for the clip art.

Start with a blank template and first select a color for the bridal shower invitations that will complement the theme of the shower. Using your computer drawing program, write the bride’s name at the top of the card and include a wedding-related clip art image. The date, time and place of the bridal shower come next. Then, write a short invitational message to your guests, which might also include some of the activities that will take place during the shower. A bridal shower clip art item can also then be placed on the back of the card, along with the bride’s name. Print out the cards and your invitations are ready to send to your guests.

Some of the bridal shower clip art may include, wedding rings, a bride, two wine glasses, a wedding cake, a wedding dress, a bottle of champagne, balloons, cupid, hearts, a glass slipper and words related to weddings like love and happiness. Apart from invitation cards, bridal shower clip art are limitless in their application. They can also be used to design banners, bridal shower centerpieces, bridal shower bingo cards, gifts and thank you cards. So maximize bridal shower clip art in the decoration but remember not to overdo it.

Now that you have tips on bridal shower clip art, check out the other bridal shower ideas Ellen and our writers have for you today at BridalShowerMoments.com.

One of the things that will make the day memorable for the bride is where the shower takes place and the bridal shower decorating approach. Often, colors like white or pink are used because they convey elegance, but it is also important to take into account the tastes of the bride before selecting a color scheme. After all, if she prefers bright colors and objects like imitation palm tree leaves, stained glass, flowers or even exotic fruits, it’s her day so consider that when forming your plan.

Try pasting colored ribbons along the ceiling, on door frames or windows, and even covering light bulbs to create a dim colored illumination. You can even use ribbons creatively outside. Try covering hedges and fences, hang them from trees, attach them to ceilings or wrap them around pillars.

Use your bridal shower decorating theme to select table cloths that can add beauty and color to the room. One of the first things your guests will see when arriving is the tables, so make sure your tables are catchy, colorful and attractive.

Remember to consider the age and maturity of the guests before setting up the decorations since some suggestive decorations may be offensive to an older crowd. To be on the safe side, use simpler decorations like fruits, flowers and bowls. Another great idea is to have photo albums of the bride on the table so that guests can have a chance to view them as they settle. This can also be an effective ice breaker that will give the guests a chance to engage in conversation if they are not already acquainted.

You can also never go wrong decorating with balloons. They’re a perfect decoration both inside and outside. Select balloon colors that match your decorating theme, and even consider placing special messages from your guests on a few balloons.

Your bridal shower centerpiece should also connect with the theme of the shower and reflect the bride’s tastes and personality. If necessary, the bridal shower cake can be used as a centerpiece, or smaller versions can be set as centerpieces on tables throughout the room. With some creativity and planning your bridal shower decorating can produce great, memorable results – and a lot of fun.

Planning a bridal shower soon? Get more tips from Ellen and our other blog writers (like the bridal shower decorating tips here) at bridalshowermoments.com.