Who Should Throw A Bridal Shower For The Bride?

Bridal showers, also known as wedding showers, are a longstanding tradition that dates back to the 16th century. The host typically pays for the bridal shower, but other family members can contribute if they wish. The bride can ask someone to host her shower if no one has offered to do so, but she should consider several factors before doing so.

The maid of honor is typically the host, but couples can also pitch in to cover the cost. In this situation, it is recommended to put one person in charge of the shower. The bridal party should be consulted for help, and if the bride is a sibling or family member, bring in other family members to help.

Invitation etiquette for a bridal shower requires everyone invited to the wedding, including out-of-town guests. However, there are exceptions, such as the bride having been married before and not including people who attended a shower for her first wedding. If friends plan to invite people who have already shownered the honoree, a luncheon, tea, or cocktail party without gifts is a better option.

The mother of the groom can co-host the bridal shower, but she is not a one-woman show and relies on the bridesmaids to help with planning logistics. The traditional bridal shower host is usually the maid of honor, but the entire bridal party may split costs.

A shower should be an intimate party, not a gathering that rivals the wedding, and the guest list should consist of the couple’s close friends, family, and other relatives.

Should the guy be at the bridal shower?

Should my fiancé attend the bridal shower?. Its totally up to you and your fiancé to decide whether he will attend the bridal shower. Modern etiquette suggests that he show up toward the end of the shower to say hello and help stock up the car full of gifts. Some men even drop in for a few fun games. Older tradition suggests that he arrive with a bouquet of flowers for his bride. If your fiancé feels timid or uncomfortable joining the party at the end, its absolutely not a requirement or an expectation. Besides, he may want to take the opportunity to spend some quality time with his friends.

Should my fiancé attend the entire bridal shower?. If youre hosting a couples shower, you should both be in attendance throughout the event. Otherwise, its expected that if your fiancé shows up, itll be toward the end of the event. Thirty minutes to an hour is usually considered a good amount of time, as most showers run for two to three hours.

If my fiancé attends the bridal shower, what should he do?. The whole purpose of a bridal shower, or couples shower, is to celebrate the joining of you and your fiancé. Its a time for the people you love to spend quality time together, showering you with gifts, well wishes, and a lot of love. Your only job (besides maybe opening gifts and playing games) is to relax, enjoy the party, and chat with loved ones who went out of their way to spend the day with you. Same goes for your fiancé.

Should the husband be at the bridal shower?

Should my fiancé attend the bridal shower?. Its totally up to you and your fiancé to decide whether he will attend the bridal shower. Modern etiquette suggests that he show up toward the end of the shower to say hello and help stock up the car full of gifts. Some men even drop in for a few fun games. Older tradition suggests that he arrive with a bouquet of flowers for his bride. If your fiancé feels timid or uncomfortable joining the party at the end, its absolutely not a requirement or an expectation. Besides, he may want to take the opportunity to spend some quality time with his friends.

Should my fiancé attend the entire bridal shower?. If youre hosting a couples shower, you should both be in attendance throughout the event. Otherwise, its expected that if your fiancé shows up, itll be toward the end of the event. Thirty minutes to an hour is usually considered a good amount of time, as most showers run for two to three hours.

If my fiancé attends the bridal shower, what should he do?. The whole purpose of a bridal shower, or couples shower, is to celebrate the joining of you and your fiancé. Its a time for the people you love to spend quality time together, showering you with gifts, well wishes, and a lot of love. Your only job (besides maybe opening gifts and playing games) is to relax, enjoy the party, and chat with loved ones who went out of their way to spend the day with you. Same goes for your fiancé.

Who is supposed to give a bride a bridal shower?

The maid of honor Traditional etiquette dictates that the maid of honor—not the mother of the bride—should host the shower. Nancy is a freelance writer for MarthaStewart.com. Some etiquette rules were meant to fade away into oblivion, like the one about family members of the bride not hosting her bridal shower.

Traditional etiquette dictates that the maid of honor—not the mother of the bride—should host the shower.

Some etiquette rules were meant to fade away into oblivion, like the one about family members of the bride not hosting her bridal shower. Thats right: Every shower youve attended that was hosted by the mother of the bride actually broke with traditional etiquette—who knew? The concern with having a familial host was that, since the party is all about people bringing, or showering, the bride with gifts, it was considered tacky for her family to be asking for presents.

In modern times, however, many people other than the maid of honor have taken on the role of bridal party host. And were here to tell you theres nothing tacky about loved ones hosting a shower. Anyone whos close to the bride, including her mother, sister, aunt, cousin, even her grandma, can host. Here, we explore the choices.

What is etiquette for a bridal shower?

Hosts: Dont Invite Guests That Arent Also Invited to the Wedding. Perhaps the number one etiquette rule, says etiquette expert, Lisa Mirza Grotts—also known as The Golden Rules Gal—is to only invite people to your shower who are also on your wedding guest list. Including friends and family in the pre-nuptial celebration—who arent also invited to be part of the big day—implies that theyre only welcome when they have a gift in hand.

Hosts: Dont Forget to Mingle. Whether your guests drove five or 50 minutes to the venue, everyone in attendance should feel welcome at your bridal shower. As the host, an easy way to do so is to make your rounds when mingling, rather than sticking with a specific group. You should be mingling with all the guests, making everyone feel comfortable and cared for, says Chanda Daniels of Chanda Daniels Planning & Design.

Hosts: Dont Let Game Time Dominate the Shower. Typically, bridal showers have a set schedule that accounts for opening presents, eating, photos, and more. When setting up the itinerary, Daniels cautions hosts against setting aside too much time for games. Know the guests and plan accordingly, she says. Theres nothing worse than planning lots of games and your guests are ready to do something else. She also says to skip games that will embarrass the guest of honor or make mothers and grandmothers feel out of place.

Should a mother-in-law give a bridal shower?

First things first: who should host the party? According to tradition, a shower shouldnt be thrown by the brides immediate relatives, such as her mother, future mother-in-law, or sister, since it may leave an impression that theyre asking for gifts. But this is changing and its perfectly acceptable for a family member to host a shower these days. Quite often the maid of honor or another good friend hosts, or several people—often bridesmaids—share the responsibility. Splitting the duty is especially appealing, as it also means splitting the cost.

Regardless of who throws the shower, the host should be on hand—alongside the bride—to meet guests as they enter the party.

Bridal showers can be held almost anywhere. For a low-key event, throw it at someones (most likely the hosts) home. If you want to go out, book a restaurant or another venue. If you all have the means to do so (be considerate of your guests budgets), you can even have a destination bridal shower.

Are bridesmaids supposed to throw a bridal shower?

Another shower trend is several people sharing the responsibility for the party. Often the maid of honor will throw a shower in conjunction with the bridesmaids, or a group of the brides mothers friends will get together to share the cost and tasks. Regardless of who throws the shower, the host(s) and the bride should greet guests as they arrive.

These days brides will often have more than one shower. If this is the case, the hosts should consult each other to avoid inviting guests to more than one shower (the obvious exceptions to this are the bridesmaids, who should be invited to all of the showers, but not expected to attend).

As with almost everything about throwing showers, for every rule there is an exception, and while you should only invite people to the shower who are on your wedding guest list, the exception to this rule is the office shower. Though it isnt usually possible to invite all of your colleagues to your wedding, they will most likely want to help you celebrate regardless.

Who should not throw a bridal shower?

Who Throws a Bridal Shower?. Traditionally, the bridal shower was hosted by the maid of honor and bridesmaids, not the mother of the bride or her future mother-in-law. Why? Because an event being hosted by a brides mother, mother-in-law, or any relatives made it appear as if the woman of honor and her family members were asking for gifts. Luckily, times have changed. Today, its extremely common and perfectly acceptable for anyone—including the brides mom—to host this celebration. Ultimately, anyone who is close to the bride and feels up to the task should feel empowered to organize this event; just be sure to communicate your plans to the bride and any other key players early on to ensure that two events arent being planned.

If family members arent available to plan, the bridesmaids should step in to take care of some of the arrangements.

Should the Bride Be Involved in the Planning Process?. Unless its a total surprise, the person being showered will generally provide some basics that theyd like at their event. The host will ask about preferred themes, guest list details, date, time, location, activities, and other ideas to get a sense of where to start. Its up to the host or hosts to use that input to bring the shower to life.

Who typically hosts a bridal shower?

The Traditional Bridal Shower Host. The maid of honor traditionally takes on the role of chief shower planner. But she isnt a one-woman show: She relies on the bridesmaids to help her with planning logistics. On the day of, the girls run the party, making sure everything goes smoothly and that guests are taken care of.

The maid of honor isnt the only option, however. Anyone who is close to the bride—including her mother, sister, cousin, grandma, or future mother-in-law—can host.

It used to be that immediate family members were never named as official hosts. Since a shower is all about asking people to bring gifts, it was thought to be gauche if a brides family were essentially bidding for presents. But if they were secretly hosting, meaning they did the planning and the paying, their identities werent revealed–and the bridal party was usually called upon to fake being the hosts. Now, though, its fine for Mom or a sister to plan and host the event.

Who should not host a bridal shower?

Who Throws a Bridal Shower?. Traditionally, the bridal shower was hosted by the maid of honor and bridesmaids, not the mother of the bride or her future mother-in-law. Why? Because an event being hosted by a brides mother, mother-in-law, or any relatives made it appear as if the woman of honor and her family members were asking for gifts. Luckily, times have changed. Today, its extremely common and perfectly acceptable for anyone—including the brides mom—to host this celebration. Ultimately, anyone who is close to the bride and feels up to the task should feel empowered to organize this event; just be sure to communicate your plans to the bride and any other key players early on to ensure that two events arent being planned.

If family members arent available to plan, the bridesmaids should step in to take care of some of the arrangements.

Should the Bride Be Involved in the Planning Process?. Unless its a total surprise, the person being showered will generally provide some basics that theyd like at their event. The host will ask about preferred themes, guest list details, date, time, location, activities, and other ideas to get a sense of where to start. Its up to the host or hosts to use that input to bring the shower to life.

Does the mother of the bride throw the bridal shower?

Traditionally, the mother of the bride doesnt host the bridal shower (the maid of honor typically assumes the chief shower-planning role), however, your daughter will likely want you to be a part of the celebration.

Mother Of The Bride Etiquette & Duties. A step-by-step guide to whats expected of the mother of the bride.

Now that you’ve shared in the joy of your daughter’s engagement, it’s time to start preparing for her big day. Not sure what responsibilities come with being the mother of the bride? This comprehensive guide to mother-of-the-bride duties and etiquette outlines your key role in the wedding, from how to lend your daughter a hand before the wedding, to what you should expect on the wedding day.

Photo credit: @facibenifotografia via @vogueweddings.

Should the mother of the groom host a bridal shower?

These are among the biggest names in either wedding or MOG protocol. Therefore, I think we can definitively say that is IS okay for the mother of the groom to host a shower. So, if this is feasible and something you want to do, go for it. It is a wonderful opportunity to have fun while laying another block in the the foundation for the future.

I was unaware of the evolution of this tradition when my sons wedding was on the horizon. I wish I had known. Parties are one of my familys love languages. Wed have had a blast with this. I hopeto remedy the situation with a housewarming when the kids buy their first home.

One important note: The rules of etiquette still require that anyone you invite to a shower is also invited to the wedding. Even if its a destination wedding and few can attend, even if family and friends live across the continent or globe from the wedding, even if fill in the blank, this is still an official must. Are people breaking this rule? Yes. Should you be one of this people? No. Leave the rule-breaking to people who have less at stake.