Honoring the bride-to-be is at the center of the bridal shower but when the games are planned with care, all guests will have a genuinely enjoyable time. Here, some of our favorite bridal shower games, from icebreakers to kick things off to post-meal festivities that will leave everyone wishing for more.
WHO AM I?
Also known as Celebrity, HedBanz, and Heads Up, this guessing game involves securing an index card with an iconic name to your forehead and receiving hints until you guess who or what you are. For a bridal twist, write the names of famous people, places, or things that have significance to the bride or groom on the backs of escort cards and tape or tie them to the guests’ foreheads as they arrive. No peeking!
BRIDAL SHOWER TRIVIA
Type up multiple-choice quizzes with trivia about the bride and groom. (Ask relatives for anecdotes from their childhood and teen years.) For example, “What is Steve’s all-time favorite cereal?” or “Which famously bad hairdo did Maggie sport at age 6?” Give each guest a quiz and a pencil. Reading the questions and answers aloud makes the game more entertaining. Whoever gets the most answers right wins.
HOW OLD ARE YOU?
Assemble a dozen or so photographs of the bride, showing her at different ages. Mix them up so they’re not in order. Give pencils and paper to everyone, pass the photos around or display them someplace where everyone can see, and have guests write down their guess as to how old the bride was in the picture (she has braces, so that must have been in junior high). A prize goes to the person who gets the most ages right.
FAMOUS COUPLES
In keeping with the theme of “love,” come up with a list of iconic duos. Download, print, and cut out our heart cards. Write one name from each pair on either side of the heart and use decorative scissors to cut through the center to create two cards. Set a card at each seat and instruct the ladies to find their match. For a cute touch, have one of the couples be the bride and groom!
TELEPHONE TOAST
Some things get even better with age, like this whispering game that is a throwback to your elementary school days. Place an instruction card on one guest’s seat, which prompts her to initiate a toast (it could be anything from well wishes for the bride and groom to a funny story about the bride). This toast will travel from ear to ear until it makes its way back to the guest. She then announces her original toast, as well as the group’s mangled version of it. Take turns until each guest’s message is delivered.
FINISH-THAT-THOUGHT GUEST BOOK
This Mad Libs-inspired bridal shower game is a playful way to gather both the names of attendees and their marital advice. Have each lady fill in a blank and write her name on the back of her card. Read the sentences—ranging from silly to serious—aloud and have the bride (or everyone!) guess from whom the words of wisdom came.
BRIDAL SHOWER LOVE BINGO
Learn more about the bride and the groom by playing a round (or two) of bridal shower love bingo.
1. Print grids of 16 squares onto card stock. Number squares randomly, 1 to 16.
2. For paddles, glue a craft stick between two card-stock rectangles; write the bride’s name on one side, the groom’s on the other.
3. Number 16 cards 1 through 16; on the back of each, write something about the bride or groom (“hates bugs” or “Madonna fan”). Each player gets a bingo board, paddle, and candy “chips.” The leader reads the cards; with the paddle, players indicate whom the statement is about. If correct, they place a chip on the square with the card’s number. Whoever gets four in a row first wins.
TRUE OR FALSE?
Hand out pencils and slips of paper, and have guests sit in a circle. Ask each person to think of three facts or anecdotes that describe her relationship with the bride or groom—two true and one not. Have each guest tell her stories (while trying to keep a straight face). The others write down which statements they think are false. The guest who identifies the most tall tales, wins.
Article Courtesy of: Martha Stewart Weddings
