Bridal shower/bachelorette party ideas...

[Jann in TX]

My middle dd is in a wedding this weekend. The bride "Bernie" is the first of the group to get married. Bride and Groom are both 19-- groom was homeschooled!

 

My dd is hosting a party/shower for the bridesmaids/bride. I've been informed that I'm cooking dinner (no big deal).

 

The girls want to know what to do! ALL of them are a bit naive... I've suggested that they purchase Bernie some lingerie-- my dd blushed!

 

I don't think I've ever seen the bride in a dress-- other than their concert band uniform from high school... this is why I thought lingerie would be appropriate.

 

Any creative ideas?

 

There was one wedding shower--but the bridesmaids (including my dd) were unable to make it because they were away at college. So this is the 'big' one for the girls.

 

Our house was always the weekend hangout-- so I'm the 'adult' and even I don't know what to do (well it would be different if the bride/attendants were a bit older and more , uh, 'worldly'...:lol:

 

At 19 the bride is practically a baby in diapers-- I know this for a fact because I was a 19 yr old bride once...

 

HELP!

tia

Jann

[AndyJoy]

My best friend was a very fun, quirky, innocent young lady and her teenage sisters were attending as well so I wanted to do something silly and fun that we would all enjoy. So for her shower/bachelorette party I surprised her with going from place to place just doing fun quirky things. We made her wear a sash and a tiara that said "Bride to Be" and did:

 

1. Pizza for dinner

2. Swinging/sliding at the playground (until it started raining!)

3. Showed up at Baskin-Robbins where a personalized ice cream cake was waiting. We brought our own knife, plates, and forks and ate it there and tossed what the 8 of us couldn't eat.

4. Rode the carousel in the mall.

5. Picked out lingerie (while she blushed scarlet) and bought it for her.

[Mama Geek]

Not that I am recommending this, but I had just turned 20 when I got married. I had a friend that could get alcohol. If I remember right we made screw drivers and ate pizza. We were a pretty naive group and it wasn't something that we normally did.

 

I would suggest going to Spensers in the mall and looking for ideas there.

[Cinder]

I remember on party from my college days. The bride-to-be was a notoriously bad cook so all her gifts were kitchen items. :D That's the only part that stands out for me. I think the rest of the time must have been just eating dinner and chatting.

[Stacy in NJ]

10 games for a bridal shower:

 

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/weddings/10-bridal-shower-games.htm

[Hannah C.]

My bachelorette party was the night before my wedding and was attended by close friends. We played a couple of funny games, I had some sort of sash, and they bought me lingerie and I opened it. I was 20 at the time and there was only one married lady at the party! (..I think we had alcohol as well, but not very much and drunk in moderation.)

 

I like the lingerie idea...is there a way that you could help them with shopping for that, or otherwise explain that it's perfectly okay in that context - in fact, it's a good thing? :) Or you could shop for pretty pajamas that are attractive while not being lingerie. Those might get more use!

 

I love what AndyJoy described - pizza, fun things like a carousel, and then shopping for lingerie. Hehehehe. Going to a park might be fun too - that was one of our favorite things to do at that age.

[KatieJ]

when my kiddoes were all getting married, the bachelorette party was the night all the bridesmaids hit town before the wedding. They were usually at one of the bridesmaids hotel rooms.

One of the parties was out to dinner and then a scavenger hunt around town. Eventually they would end up at someone's house, or hotel room to open gifts. Yes, it was lingerie. I didn't go, but did some some of the gifts the next day, and they were tasteful gifts.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

I got married at 20yo and we went to a spa two days before the wedding. We hung out in a hot tub and we each got to choose two things to do (manicure, pedicure, massage, facial, can't remember what else). Then we spent the night at the maid of honor's (parents') house.

Edited May 15, 2012 by Lisa in the UP of MI

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[ChristusG]

I was a 19 year old bride as well.....that was nearly 12 years ago though. :D

 

I just threw my sisters a bachelorette party this past weekend (they are 18 and 27 and having a double wedding). It was the first I've ever planned. We are not drinkers, nor very "crude", so most of the ideas on the internet were not for us.

 

I kept it a surprise from the other bridesmaids, as well as the brides. I printed out a "schedule of events" that I gave to the two brides when we all met at a neutral location (where the others left their vehicles). I gave the brides sashes to wear that said "Bride To Be." And the bridesmaids and mothers (of the brides and groom) got buttons that said who they were....such as BRIDESMAID, MAID OF HONOR, MOTHER OF THE GROOM, etc.

 

The first stop was a place to paint on pottery. I liked this because it gave everyone a chance to sit at a table and talk together. Plus, they could choose how expensive to make it....a person could choose a $7 piece of pottery or a $30 piece of pottery.

 

From there, I had dinner reservations at a "unique" restaurant. Not your every day Applebee's or something like that, but this place is decorated with wild animals, a live alligator tank, etc. Again, they could choose how expensive to make it....they could choose a $8 basket or a $20 platter.

 

After that, I had pre-arranged for everyone to go over to my grandmother's house for an "after-party." The day before I went over there and decorated, set out the games, brought over the food, etc. We went back there and played games, laughed, ate dessert, took lots of photos, etc.

 

It all went over really well!