By Elizabeth Zachry

Last weekend I attended a bridal shower.  I, like most people, dread bridal showers because they usually involve playing silly games that make the bride and/or guests look ridiculous and sitting around for hours watching the bride open her presents.  At one shower I went to the bride spent three hours opening presents.  Three hours!!

I have a friend who believes that low expectations breed positive results, and in this particular case he was dead on.  The Disney themed shower I went to last weekend wildly surpassed any expectations I had for bridal showers by providing us with good food, entertaining games, and quick present opening.  Here are some of the things I liked the best about the shower:

The Theme

I think that picking a fun theme is a great idea.  The Disney theme brought a different and fun atmosphere to the shower because it made the shower feel more casual and fun. The decorations were very cute and included Mickey Mouse centerpieces for the table, nametags with a Mickey Mouse outline, and a Mickey and Minnie topper on the cake.

Not every bride is a Disney nut, but when throwing a shower you can think about the bride and some of her favorite things and choose a theme that way.  Some ideas I have come up with include: the beach, Napa (wine and cheese), or old movies.

Games

This shower had some of the most fun bridal shower games I have ever participated in.  My favorite was the “Price Is Right” game.  The groom went to The Home Depot and took pictures with the items he needed for his “honey-do list.”  These photos included him holding a hammer, sitting inside a trash can,  and with a toilet seat around his neck.  Everyone had to guess how much the items cost individually and the person closest to the actual cost, but not over, got a point.  The person with the most right at the end was the winner.  The game was really hard, but that, along with the great pictures of the groom, made it super fun.  My other favorite game was gift BINGO.  We were given blank BINGO cards that we had to fill with items we thought the bride was going to open.  It was awesome because it made the gift-opening more engaging for all the guests.  (Does it count as cheating to have your sister pull up the gift registry on her blackberry and see what items were purchased??)

Party Favor

I love getting favors that I will actually use and appreciate, and this one did not let me down…everyone got a small bottle of wine.  What can be any better than that? They added stickers to the back of each bottle to make them more personalized.  They also found some great ribbon that says “Eat Drink & Be Married!” and wrapped it around the neck of each bottle.  Overall, it was a low cost and personalized favor that everyone loved.

Do you have any other tips you would like to share?  Any horrible, or awesome, shower stories?  I would love to hear them!