If you're planning to have a beautiful Bridal Shower decorated down to the last perfect detail but clinging to a budget you're in the right place! Times are different these days. A Bridal Shower back in the day was an option to gift the bride with household items instead of a dowry. Wow, we have come a long way. Ha! So who's to say you can't throw your own Bridal Shower? I love planning, I'm a little "type-A" .. okay a lot "type-A." Plus I had the help of my sister who has an eye for design and can throw the best parties! This was a first for us both, and boy was it fun! Here are four tips to use when planning a Bridal Shower of your own!
1. Theme / Inspiration
Don't let the concept of DIY make you feel like you can't have a beautiful day. Sometimes you just need to think outside of the box. The first step is to imagine what you want your day to be like, or a theme that you love. For example, the pictures you see in this blog post are from my DIY Bridal Shower. I have always loved Alice in Wonderland and when my sister suggested the theme I wanted to say yes but I didn't want it to be the traditional pastel tea party. I liked the more garden style feel ( I guess the villain side of things lol). Once I explained that to my sister we pulled out our phones on your lunch date and started searching Pinterest. We didn't see much but just enough to see the vision come together.
Other really fun themes I considered were Derby themed with big hats and "horse race" inspired games and masquerade with fun masks and a dressing theme. A Bridal Shower is one of very few times you get to plan a completely on theme event for all of your closest girls. It's worth it to pay attention to the details!
2. Amazon / Thrift Stores
Once you have the perfect theme, do not sleep on Amazon for decorations. I mean we all know they have everything. There were times where I was trying to explain something to my sister to see if it was even a thing, I typed my description into Amazon and wow I found something every time! From paper wraps around cupcakes to vintage style plastic plates. I even bought vines and table runners from there to jazz up the center pieces. Real flowers and greens cost a fortune, not to mention they are either dead by the end of the day or you are left juggling real flowers for days. We used some real flowers that we bought from grocery stores! All of our greens were fake from either Amazon or Home Goods. Not to mention these AMAZING fake candles. They are the perfect way to make a space feel warm and not have to worry about live flames! In the pictures they blend in just like real candles. I found Amazon helped get the juices flowing on ideas. There were times I found a product through Amazon but found it cheaper elsewhere. I think I bought almost everything from Amazon since their returns and exchanges are so easy. Such a great way to collect details quickly and on a budget. Anything I bought that wasn't from Amazon was from Walmart or Party City.
Do not forget to head to your local thrift store, especially if you're doing a tea style or antiqued inspired event. You'll find all sorts of things from tea cups to candle stick holders. Fabric for details, mirrors and even picture frames!
3. Cricut / Etsy
If you are a true DIY-er like myself you are probably considering all the projects you can drown yourself in these days. ha! From place cards to board games there's almost no limit to what your creativity can come with. If you are savvy with your Cricut machine check out this link to all the Cricut designs I did for my Bridal Shower! If you have the vision but aren't quite as crafty remember to check out Etsy! That's where I go if I'm pressed for time on a project and I have always been happy with my purchases there. Either of these options have the opportunity to add customization to make sure they really fit into your theme. There's no reason DIY has to feel cheap or rushed. If you make all of your elements to support each other you can't go wrong. We chose keys to be one of our symbols throughout the party. When I went to DIY something, if I needed an extra element my first thought was keys. Make a list of details you want to DIY and stick to them. The trick to a beautifully DIY-ed event is to go big on small details that you can really bring to life!
DIY Bridal Shower
Side Note:
Bridal Jeopardy was a blast! I had fun coming up with the questions and I was surprised by the people who knew the answers! I made a card online at Canva that matched the feel of the board and had them printed at staples. Each guest got a board. I set up my tables in a U-shape since I had a smaller group. We went around the U and everyone got to pick a category, and points amount. I would read the question out loud and everyone would have a chance to write down their answer on their cards. The person who picked the question then answered out loud or "phoned a friend." (The only people you could phone in were the moms of the couple and bridesmaids) The person at the end who got the most right got a prize! I had a ton of fun coming up with the questions and tried to make them easy(100) to hard(500) based on the amount of points. Word Scramble section I chose wedding related words. Bride was questions about me. Movies was questions about popular wedding movies. Groom was questions about the groom and Love Story was questions about our relationship, like who ask who out first etc. You could change these categories to be more relatable to you and your fiance or the bride to be. Having options not about the couple helped for the guests that maybe weren't as familiar as other guests. If you have a bigger guest list with traditional tables you could make each table a team, have a spokesperson, rotate etc. The options are endless! I got a lot of compliments on how much fun people had being at the shower and I think that Jeopardy was a big component of that!
DIY Bridal Shower
4. Personal Touch
This might seem obvious but I see this element missed all the time. A great way to add to the environment and tie back to the reason you're there is adding a piece of you and your fiance. This could be pictures from when you were young, or pictures while you've been dating, even your engagement pictures! I was going to get cheap prints done at CVS but them my mom offered to print the pictures on her handy little picture printer. The cost was that of a pack of picture paper and it added so much character to the space. This also helped by adding a conversation starter since most people haven't seen all of your pictures laid out. You could even make it a part of the games for the day to make things a little more interesting! Another thing is to do your favorite mixed drinks, snacks or food. Let people know or type out a little card that says whose favorite it is. Remember you'e supposed to have fun too, pick your favorite colors or games to play and your guests will feed off of your authentic energy. Adding personal touches of both you and your fiance will create a comfortable environment, bring your guests together, create conversation and make for an all around better feel for the shower!
DIY Bridal Shower
Other Things to Consider When Planning:
Picking a space to host the shower is also crucial. Consider picking a space with JUST enough room for everyone. The bigger the space the more you have to fill it with decorations and that's where your cost starts to add up. Get creative, don't go to big fancy venues. Check out your favorite local club houses or small business restaurants.
My mom and sister also went above and beyond with furniture rentals. We made our own photo backdrop but they rented a chair and couch for pictures and for me to sit in. It made a huge difference in the feel of the space!
Think about your details! Start broad and work your way down each piece. For example at a bridal shower people expect 4 things every time - the bride, games, gifts and food. If you are the bride doing the planning remember people are coming for you! Do your best to keep your smile on throughout the day! Games might seem tacky or silly but they help keep your guests entertained (whether they hate them or not!) Something to keep them occupied , mingled and break the ice a bit! Remember not all of these people will know each other but the one commonality is that they know the happy couple! Gifts can get overwhelming especially if you are having a large crowd. If you already have a home, ask that people make donations to your honeymoon fund or a special appliance you're saving up for etc. If you still need to fill a house make a registry and let people have access to it online! On your invitations give your guests all the instructions about registry, rsvp and gifts. The BEST thing I did was ask people to not wrap their gifts. I know, crazy right!? I mailed them tags with their invitation that matched our them. I asked that they sign the tag with their name and attach it to their gift. Then when the girls handed me gifts I could really just enjoy it instead of struggling with ribbon for ten minutes. Then when it came time to thank you's everyones names were right on the gifts and I could run through the list twice as fast! PLUS, It made clean up easier the day of the bridal shower. Seriously 10/10 would recommend this idea! Here's a picture of the tag that I sent with my invites:
Consider a way to take pictures at your bridal shower or document the event. I had my camera at the ready for my girls to help me take photos but also a fun polaroid camera for people to use while they walked around , mingled or waited for what was next! It's a great way to fill time and get everyone involved! We knew pictures would be an important part of the day so we made a backdrop out of house curtains, fake ivy, hanging keys and a backdrop stand. It came out beautifully, made the space feel really cozy and excited the guests! Such a great way to add detail, and no it doesn't always have to be a balloon arch! haha
Below is a picture of how the test run I did at home to make sure all of the details were coming together like they were in my head! The ivy, curtains, candle sticks, backdrop stand and runner are from amazon. The small tree was the dollar section at Target, the cup and teapot were from Etsy and the clock was from Hobby Lobby! Everything I have links for is below.
Overall the cost of the day was under two thousand including a dress I bought for the day. (I hate wearing white so I went with Alice blue.) I'll link the food and dessert for any of my local Northern, New Jersey Brides. Nothing in this post is sponsored or an affiliate, just how it went from one bride to another! I hoped this helped you visualize a day filled with gorgeous DIY details to remember for a lifetime! Don't forget to hire a photographer to capture it all, it will be so worth it even if it's just for the details and some group shots! Whatever you do, remember to have fun with it. Really embrace the opportunity to make it your own. With that type of DIY, you can't go wrong.
Here are the DETs in case you want to try and recreate the vision!
Pinterest: My Pinterest Board
Dress: Baltic Born Dress
Jeopardy Game Board: I made it with presentation poster board and vinyl I cut out on my Cricut. Here's the link to buy the graphic as an svg to cut yourself. I used velcro for the envelopes to stick on the board. Board Design Download File /
Jeopardy Game Card: Here's the link to the graphic to print! Jeopardy Game Board
Mirror Graphics: Permanent Vinyl - I used this vinyl to make the cuts myself on my Cricut. Here is the link to buy the graphic svg to cut yourself.
Food: If you are local to Northern New Jersey the food was amazing! Taste of Reality
Dessert: Local Dessert to Northern New Jersey AMAZING Cupcakes / Incredible Cookies - I get these for almost every party or occasion! Her work is amazing and so delicious! / Pastries
Thrift Store: Faithful Mission Thrift Store / GoodWill
Amazon Buys: Food Trays - these were as bad as the reviews say lol I ended up returning them but they got me through the shower. Make sure to assemble these things a few days in advance so you know with enough time if they will work or not. / Perfect Table Runners / The BEST Flameless Candles / Pretty Plastic Plates / Cupcake Paper Sleeve / Plastic Assorted Keys / Assorted Candlestick Holders / Green Vines /Backdrop Curtains / Table Cloths / Food Picks / Wax Seal Stamp Kit / Glue Gun Sealing Sticks / Two Temp Hot Glue Gun
If there's anything missing that you'd like more info on, leave me a message in the comments!
