Before the wedding day, the bride-to-be typically has a bridal shower. A bridal shower is a chance to celebrate with your closest friends and family. Opening gifts is the main focus of the bridal shower, but providing interactive games to break up the gift opening is a fun way to spend the day together.
As the bride opens her gifts, the guests can play a game like bridal shower bingo to liven things up. This way the guests can interact with each other and be a part of the process.
There are a lot of variations of bridal shower bingo. Below, we will provide instructions to a few. Printing the cards should be simple, as you can print them at home or at a local print shop.
Bridal bingo cards, gifts and games should be as simple as possible. Are you looking for gift ideas for prizes? Simple yellow bags filled with chocolates are incredible. Bridal showers should be fun and low-maintenance.
So where should you start for bridal shower games? While we suggest bridal shower bingo, there are some other games that you can play.
In addition to bridal shower bingo, there are several other entertaining games that can be incorporated into a memorable bridal shower. From the classic trivia game to the interactive activity, these games provide opportunities for laughter, bonding, and creating lasting memories.
How Many Games Should Be Played at a Bridal Shower?
A bridal wedding usually runs three games in a single hour. If you have any concerns, you should speak to the groom and decide based on their suggestions.
How To Play Classic Bridal Shower Bingo
- At the start of the bridal shower, distribute bingo cards and pens to each guest.
- Guide guests to fill each box of their cards with possible bridal shower presents the bride may acquire. Even if guests share or overhear statements, each card will vary based on the gifts’ placement on the bingo card.
- When it is time to open presents, have the guests congregate around the designated gift-opening location and concentrate on the bride.
- As the bride opens a gift, guests scratch the gift off their card if it matches. The first guest to get five accurate answers in a row will call out “Bingo!” and win a prize.
Bridal Shower Bingo Variants
In some versions of bridal bingo, the squares are bridal/wedding-related words and themes. For example:
- honeymoon destinations
- wedding ring styles and
- kinds of bridal flowers
Someone can call out answers between gifts. You can have guests fill out their cards or print them prefilled — just make sure everyone’s card is different! A popular option is to prefill the squares with items from the bride’s registry.
Another interesting variant of bingo for wedding parties is Find Guests. Create custom descriptions of the guests and have the guests try to guess who is who. Once they have five correct guesses in a row, it’s a bingo!
Bridal Shower Bingo Cards
Most importantly, you must have bingo cards to pass out to guests. These can be handed out at the beginning of the bridal shower. Whether you are hosting a classy mimosa brunch or with your besting backyard bohemian bash, choose the design that work best for you! You can download them free or buy them online.
Six More Games to Play at Your Bridal Shower
Don’t miss out on these other popular posts for a fun and exciting bridal party:
1. Bridal Jeopardy
What do guests know about the bride? Type up questions about the bride and groom. Here are some examples:
- How did they meet?
- What are their favorite television shows?
- What are their favorite activities?
You can print out the questions on cute, colorful paper. The guest who gets the most correct answers wins. Can’t ask the bride for the right answers in advance because the shower is a surprise? Get the bride’s mother, sister or BFF to help.
2. Who Am I?
Guests are given cards or slips of paper and a pen. Each writes a memory of something the guest and bride experienced together. The memories are given to the bride to read out loud and she gets to guess who wrote the memory.
3. The Apron Game
Order a big apron for the bride. Before the shower, pin and string a variety of kitchen utensils to the apron. At the shower, ask the bride to put the apron on and then distribute paper and pens to the guests. Have the bride saunter through the room so the guests can view the apron. After the bride has exited the room, ask the guests to write down as many of the utensils as they can remember. Whoever remembers the most utensils wins.
4. Wedding Movie Charades
Put together a list of wedding movie titles, print them on slips of paper and enjoy a game of wedding movie charades. Set a time limit (3 minutes, max) to keep the game moving.
5. Guess Their Ages
Collect at least five photographs of the bride and groom at different stages of their lives (i.e., high school, college, mid-twenties, etc.). Get two large pieces of poster board and post the bride’s photos on one and the grooms on the other. Number the photos and then invite guests to guess the bride and groom’s ages in each picture. The person who comes the closest wins a prize.
6. Ring Hunt
Head to the party store and pick up a bunch of plastic wedding bands used to make favors. Hide them around the party room and tell guests to hunt for the rings during the shower. The attendee who finds the most rings wins a prize.
Prize For the Bingo Winner
Of course, the winner of the game needs a prize! These can range from an orchid pot to a canvas pouch for necessities. Decorate wine bottle stoppers if you are crafty. When possible, stick with the bridal shower theme!
A bridal shower is all about honoring the bride-to-be, so try to make the planning process as stress free as possible! Bridal shower bingo is one way to add a fun twist to the gift-opening part of the event. Guests will enjoy being involved and you will remember it for years to come.
What Can You Do Instead of Games at a Bridal Shower?
A wedding takes many months to prepare, especially when friends, family and loved ones want to spoil the bride-to-be. The bridal shower is a popular tradition to pamper the bride.
The day of a bridal shower is a time to play games, give gifts and have plenty of toasts with champagne and cocktails and give gifts. Of course, then there is all the helpful advice to be shared!
Keep a good flow of things to do during the bridal shower. The activities can range in complexity and participation, but make sure to pay special tribute to the bride as things progress through the day.
Don’t sweat it if you need inspiration for other activities beyond the games. Here are some other fun bridal shower activities to incorporate.
Construct a Signature Cocktail During the Bridal Shower
If your bridal shower team is on team booze, you should consider a DIY activity where guests create a signature cocktail to represent the couple or the bride. It’s a trend that can add a lot of flavor to the bridal shower.
How could this activity work?
Ask each guest to select ingredients from what they believe best represents the bride or the couple. Then have them explain why.
Depending on the party, they can create the concoction themselves. If you have a bartender, they can be your on-site mixologist. After naming the clever cocktail, everyone gets a sip and you can vote on the winner.
If the bride does not drink, don’t sweat. Many modern parties are having just as much fun without the alcohol. You can create non-alcoholic beverages for her or guests who do not drink.
Produce a Sweet Memory Book for the Bride-to-Be
A wedding is a sentimental and meaningful moment in time. Everyone you love is gathered to celebrate the beginning of your marriage. The love between the couple radiates throughout the process.
Savor and record some of that specialness with a photo area at the bridal shower. You can use a Polaroid instant camera for selfies and each guest can fill out a card to insert into the book. You can let them fill out their prompts, create a more nuanced theme or guide the writing experience.
The guests can then furnish guidance for the soon-to-be-newlyweds or communicate a favorite memory of the couple. The hostess can maintain the printed photos and add them to the book after the shower.
Collect Date Night Concepts
First comes love, then comes an engagement. Then the bachelorette party, then the bridal shower. Next? The wedding and honeymoon. But most important of all? The marriage!
There is plenty of unrest around weddings, but couples are preparing for a lifelong commitment, which will have its ups and downs. As therapists agree, regular phone and kid-free date nights will strengthen couples’ connection. Having a go-to list of ideas to pick from? That’s ideal for all duos.
If you want interactive and practical bridal shower game concepts, pass around a card for date night thoughts. Print out one large card for all attendees to convey their date night vision and present it to the others.
Consider a different color pen for each individual to write. The newlyweds will thoroughly enjoy the options their friends and family provide. Or you can also find personalized printable date night cards, so the advice and wisdom can be for the couples eyes only.
Get Creative With the Invite
You have likely heard of or received parenting advice instead of a card for a baby shower. You can do something similar as the maid of honor or the bridal shower hostess. When you send out the shower invitations, include a recipe card.
Then, each person can write down a recipe they love and bring it to the shower. The cards can be used to create a recipe catalog for the couple.
Build a Wedding Dress Out of Toilet Paper
It may be silly and unnecessary, but why not let your hair down and have some ridiculous fun?
There is a reason this silly activity is a favorite among bridal shower parties. It’s fun! Plus, it makes for great photos and Tik Toks.
All you need is ribbons, markers, bows, colored tissue paper and some toilet paper.
Divide groups into teams of three to four people. On each team, there will be one member that will be the model. The other team members will use the model as their template. They will place the wedding dress materials on the individual to make the toilet paper wedding dress. Then, set a 15-minute time limit and the bride-to-be can choose the winner.
Ask the Bride-to-Be What She Needs
Of course, for the bridal shower, you can’t forget gifts! But narrowing down a gift can be tricky.
After the bride-to-be says, “I do,” she may need a kitchen full of items. She may have been with her partner for years and they’ve already decked their home together.
So ask what she needs instead of requesting she build a repeat registry for the shower. She could even a charity for guests to put donations toward or start collecting for a honeymoon fund. Whatever she wants should be the final decision.
We hope this list has helped give you some ideas for a great bridal shower!
As a multi-passionate creative and a self-proclaimed frequent flyer of weddings, Kiara combines her love for the wedding industry and experience as a professional wedding photographer with her writing abilities to share tips, tricks, and helpful information with couples. She is the owner of Switech Studios a popular wedding photography business. With tons of insider information from behind her camera lens on how to have the best wedding possible, Kiara’s in-depth knowledge is sure to put you on the road to wedding planning success.
