Bridal Shower Etiquette - the Do's and Don'ts for Bridal Showers

Entertaining

Girls Mud Fight If you are throwing a bridal shower, you want to make sure you know the bridal shower etiquette. There are things you should and should not do at a bridal shower, and making a mistake and crossing a line will put you in danger of offending someone. Thus, take a moment to learn bridal shower etiquette.

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Invitations

First, you have to know who to invite. Invite friends and family, but make sure they are on the wedding list. If they are not on the wedding list, do not invite them to the shower.

The one exception to this is if someone is invited to the reception but not the wedding itself, or if the bride and group are eloping. When that is the case, people who are not attending the wedding can attend the shower.

Setting the Date

Have the shower at least a month prior to the wedding. If you put it too close to the wedding, it will be a stressful event instead of a fun one. Weekends are full around wedding time, so you do not want to push it.

Paying for the Shower

The hosts need to pay for the shower. The hosts are typically the maid of honor and the bridesmaids. However, the hosts can also be people who are close to the bride. Those who are hosting need to foot the bill, but it needs to be affordable. The amount needs to be agreed on in order for proper etiquette to prevail.

Do not ask people who are not hosting the event to chip in. This is poor etiquette and some guests simply will not attend.

Gifts

As nice as cash may be, never suggest guests bring money to fund a honeymoon, wedding or any other event. If people want to give cash, that is great, but it should never be requested. If someone requests cash, they will offend some guests.

Also, you can register for gifts, but you should never tell someone what to bring. A gift registration is merely a suggestion.

Also, do not only register for expensive gifts. There should be affordable, and even cheap, gifts available for people to purchase. People should not feel as though you only want expensive gifts.

Thank Your Guests

Do not buck tradition when it comes to thank you notes. They need to be sent to guests within two weeks of the event. No matter how small a gift was, a thank you note is needed. If a gift was not given, send a note thanking the guest for coming.

Do not send emails in place of thank you notes, and do not type the thank you note out. Send a handwritten note expressing sincere gratitude. This is something very important that should never be ignored.

A bridal shower has etiquette of its own, and the etiquette must be followed. One must make sure they do not bend the etiquette rules. In order for a shower to be a fun event for everyone, etiquette must be followed.