Planning a wedding shower for a special bride this year? Want to be the hostess with the most fabulous turnout? Looking for the best in bridal shower gift ideas? Then look no further than these guidelines for turning your event into a great success:

Thank Your Hostess

It is a long standing tradition for the maid of honor or the bridesmaids to host the wedding shower, but in modern times showers can be hosted by co-workers or friends of the bride's mother. Make sure to thank the hostess in style with a gesture of thanks and nothing says thank you quite like a monogrammed hostess gift. An old school option and easy go-to gift are linen hand towels or a serving tray featuring the family name or initials.

Multiple Showers

It is often common for a bride to have more than one shower.  If this is the case, the two shower hosts should consult one another about whom to invite to each to avoid anyone receiving a duplicate invitation and feeling obligated to purchase more than one shower gift. Bridal showers are generally held from a couple of months to a couple of weeks before the wedding. Regardless of who hosts the shower, the hostess should be on hand along with the bride , to meet guests as they enter the party.


Size of the Gathering

Whether your get together is  small gathering or a large party for upwards of 50 guests, the invitations should be mailed four to six weeks in advance. As for who to include, since showers are intended for the bride's nearest and dearest friends and relatives, it is imperative that every shower guest must already be on the wedding guest list.

Shower Invitations

Wedding shower invitations and stationery trends run the gamut from sweet and simple to super sophisticated. The options are truly limitless from chic and simple to extravagant and high end.  Whatever your style, there is a choice to suit all budgets. While there are no necessary confines when it comes to selecting the stationery, a preppy bride will most often opt for a monogram. The mailing part is imperative - snail mail only.  In this digital age it can be tempting to select an electronic invitation method for events, but this should be strictly avoided when planning an elegant wedding shower.

Wedding Shower Traditions

A new tradition has become very popular for the groom to show up with flowers just before his fiancee opens the gifts. Guests who haven't met the groom before often look forward to this part of the shower so they feel nicely included in the couples union on the big wedding day. Rituals that have been passed down from older generations are quite popular including making a bouquet out of the shower gifts' ribbons and using it as a bouquet for the wedding rehearsal. Other fashioned traditions, such as having something old, something new,  something borrowed, and definitely something blue, are still popular with brides today. Creating new wedding shower traditions can add a bit of beauty and sentiment. Sharing photos from the shower of the mother-of-the bride, or taking a picture of the new and old female members of the bride's family is a classic tradition that can be shared for years to come.


Unique Bridal Shower Gifts


Because it is tradition that guests should bring a present to a shower, it is not appropriate to invite people who will not be included in the wedding guest list. One exception to this rule is an office shower so that co-workers can celebrate the bride. While it is not usually possible to invite all fellow office friends to the wedding,  they may want to help you celebrate the bride regardless. By the time the shower invitations are mailed out,  the bride should have already registered for gifts. It is perfectly acceptable for hosts to include registry information in with the shower invites.


The Pink Giraffe offers an excellent selection of monogrammed bridal shower gifts and registry. Brides can register with us and let their guests know they can buy with confidence for a fantastic personalized wedding gift that is sure to be a hit.

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