Congratulations, you’re getting married! For the bride-to-be, the wedding planning stage will be one of the most exciting preparations in your life. Planning for the ceremony, reception, favors, music, flowers, cakes, attires, and so forth will be a most enjoyable and meaningful one.

There will also be several different parties and showers that you and your groom will be celebrating with families and friends for the upcoming wedding. For the bride, bridal showers given by close friends and relatives will be among the most memorable and fun celebrations before the wedding day.

The Beginning

A bridal shower has long been a tradition for soon-to-be brides, which is said to have originated in the Netherlands. Its origin tells of a beautiful and romantic love story of a young Amsterdam girl who fell in love with a poor mill operator. Their love was challenged when the father of the girl refused to give his daughter her dowry as he didn’t want her to marry a poor man.

Against all odds, the young girl and the boy did not allow poverty to hinder their love. When their friends learned about this, they “showered” them with presents before their wedding, in an effort to help them have the necessary household things they would need as they began their life together.

From this wonderful love story, the tradition of bridal showers was created, and the symbolism of presents and guidance coming from the bride’s group of friends and family has endured the ordeals of time.

Today’s Bridal Shower

Today, bridal showers range from the simplest to some of the most extravagant bridal showers that friends and relatives of the bride can tender. It has evolved from simple gift giving and advices, to more sophisticated celebrations with “bits and pieces” that make it among the most unforgettable events for a bride-to-be.

Planning bridal showers are typically made by close female friends and relatives of the bride. These days, a number of “extra special” bridal showers may include bridal shower themes with which everything about the celebration will be based on. Take for instance, a “bedroom bridal shower” theme; this would mean that everything, from the setting or venue, decorations, gifts, food and drinks, and others, will mainly be in and for the bedroom.

Bridal Shower “Bits And Pieces”

For the bridal shower “planner”, there will be several things needed for the bridal shower that you may want to add aside from the typical gifts, advices, and food. Small bridal showers are easier to manage, but it is important to look into even the tiniest details to make the occasion perfect.

For big bridal showers, one of the best ways to “keep track” of every guest is to provide a guestbook where every person can sign upon arrival. It’s essential that the guestbook includes not only names of the guests but their phone number and addresses as well. In this fashion, you would be able to send thank you notes when you receive gifts.

It is also important for large showers to provide their guests with name tags, especially if they will be coming from both the bride’s and the groom’s side of close friends and family; the name tag may include how they are related to the couple.

On top of giving presents, bridal showers are also a time for close friends and family to gather and rejoice the union of two persons they love. It is also this time that wonderful games, drinks, and food will be served. Most importantly, bridal showers are occasions to share in the happiness of the bride-to-be as she moves on from one stage in her life to the next.

Bridal showers are wonderful and meaningful traditions that deserve to be upheld. If you’re the next bridal shower planner for a close friend, relative, or sister, preserve the significance of bridal showers by making it one of the most evocative moments for the bride-to-be. She’ll always remember it for the rest of her life.