25 Jul
A Delightful (Really!) Bridal Shower Game
I feel kind of ambivalent about showers. As the guest of honor, it’s overwhelming to have so much attention lavished on you (and I’m obviously someone who likes attention.) The games are usually cheesy, although I always like the food.
Last week I attended the shower of this lovely friend of mine (the girl planning a grey and yellow wedding in a month!) and my mom was asked to organize the game portion of the evening. My mom asked me to do a little brainstorming, and so I turned to my Weddingbee friends to ask what shower games they had experienced and loved.
I decided to try out a game that incorporated the story of the couple.
I emailed the bride and asked her to write up their story as a couple. I then rewrote it, adding in as many “rights” and “lefts” as possible. If I was writing out my own story with That Husband, I would write something like this:
That Wife was starting to think that marrying That Husband would be the right thing. Unfortunately he had already left for Dallas! She made a decision right away that she wanted to fly down and visit him as soon as possible. That Wife wondered how long it would take them to get married, because she had right around 30 credits left during her time at BYU.
My mom wrapped up 5 different prizes, and we passed them out to different people in the circle. We directed those holding a present to pass it right or left every time they heard the word “right” or “left”. I stood in the middle to read the story, and just before I started we decided that any time I said the name of the couple, the gifts had be tossed across the room to the person opposite.
This was the winning element to the game! As you can see, the gifts were flying, everyone was laughing, and those present learned a few things they didn’t know about the couple when they walked in the door.
When I finished the story, the person holding the gift unwrapped it and kept whatever they found inside.
I plan to use this for any and all showers I host/come up with games for in the future. And I think I’ll brainstorm a way to tweak it for baby showers as well.
Are there any other shower games I should consider adding to my arsenal?
Also:
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
This is one I might actually use! I generally HATE shower games. Do not make me smell candy bars in a diaper or write poems.
Hailey Reply:
July 26th, 2011 at 7:22 am
hahahahahha ain’t that the truth!
Maybe I missed something, but I’m confused about the necessity of re-writing the story with “lefts” and “rights” if you’re just tossing the gifts from one side of the circle to the other based on hearing the name of the couple. Can you explain?
Jenna Reply:
July 25th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
Whooops! I fixed the post to better clarify.
Becs Reply:
July 25th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
Thanks for clarifying! I really love this game and I am totally going to try it. I agree with Janssen in that the candy bar diapers are the worst!
Megan Reply:
July 25th, 2011 at 3:37 pm
Thank you so much for clarifying! That DOES sound fun! I’ll have to put this one in my back-pocket for whenever my best friend gets married!
I don’t see where the right and left come in. Please explain.
Jenna Reply:
July 25th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
Pass right or left whenever the person reading the story says right or left.
I’m a little confused by where the “left” and “right” comes into play. Do the people holding the presents pass them in that direction when you say it? Also, do you only play with one gift at a time or do you hand out all 5 gifts before you read the story?
Sorry, to be a pain. I just think this is really cute and I would love to use it. I want to make sure I know what I’m doing first!
Jenna Reply:
July 25th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
Yes, duh, I should have been more clear. Pass right or left whenever I use those words.
We used 5 gifts because with the number of people there, we wanted to make sure everyone ended up with one at the end.
Becs Reply:
July 25th, 2011 at 3:37 pm
Thanks girl! I figured that was the case.
I’m assuming that you pass the present to the left and to the right when it comes up in the story? What a great game! I was actually just brainstorming some game ideas for my son’s 2nd birthday. I might be able to do this for his birthday if I write a story about him and read it aloud. Hmm, thanks for the idea!
Jenna Reply:
July 25th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
Yes, another way to use this at a party!
My aunt was sneaky and had my uncle ask my then fiance 15-20 questions about his favorites, which I had to guess during the shower. For each question I answered incorrectly, a large bubble gum ball went into my mouth. Turns out, I didn’t know as much as I thought!
6This is similar to Cara’s suggestion. My sister videotaped my fiance answering about 20 questions regarding his favorites, our relationship, and our pasts. At the shower, she read the question, and guests had to guess whether I would get it correct or not. Then she played the clip of my fiance answering the question. The guest with the most correct guesses won!
It was a lot of fun, and I was able to explain answers about our relationship (first date, important moments, etc) to those friends and family I don’t get to often see. It was also a nice way for my side of the family to get to know more about my fiance’s likes/dislikes/personality without him being bombarded by questions from everyone. It was a fun way to have my fiance incorporated into my shower without him having to physically be there (which would have taken nothing short of a miracle
), and lots of people commented that they enjoyed that part of the shower.
Your game sounds fun, too - I like that it tells the story of the couple. Great last minute addition of tossing across the circle!
7Such a great idea! Love it!
8Great idea Jenna!
9We did this at a baby shower for a coworker! They’d tried for a while, and finally had twin girls, so it was all about how they met, and then tried for a baby, and finally it was the “right” time, etc. I think the host got it off the internet, so I’m sure it’s there somewhere?? It was a blast, we all liked it!
10Oh, another shower game: gift bingo. Everyone gets a blank bingo sheet, and each person filled in the sheet with gifts they thought the bride/mom to be would get, with their gift as the “free space” in the middle. Then as the person opened gifts, you mark it off, and first two people (or however many you want) to get bingo win a prize. It makes the gift process more interesting for everyone watching.
crystal Reply:
July 25th, 2011 at 9:01 pm
I love this game! Every shower I go to that people play it gets intense. It’s pretty funny to hear a 68 year old lady yell ” Did no one get the girl sheets, I need some sheets here!”.
My family actually plays this at Christmas with the “Wright Family Christmas”. We’ve probably done it for 5 years with 15-20 people. My grandma wraps a present for everyone. The presents range from stuff she is getting rid of to candy bars, old Christmas ornaments, Ect. It is especially fun when everyone has a present - it gets a bit crazy.
12Baby Shower Game:
Each guest is given an index card when they arrive and asked to write a question a new mother would ask (e.g. How can I stop my baby from waking every 2 hours?) Then during the baby shower party, pass all the cards out face down. The guests write the answer to their question on the back of the different card. Then read the non-matching questions and answers for some strange tips.
How do I change a baby’s diaper?
“Don’t feed them solid foods until 6 months”
Teehee
13This is adorable! Can’t wait to hear how you tweak it for a baby shower! Thanks for posting.
14I love this game. My extended family has gotten far too large for traditional Christmas gift giving so for the past several years we all bring a fun small gift to contribute to the prize table (like a blanket or a cook book or candle) and we play games to win them. One game we play is the left-right passing game read to Twas the night before Christmas. So fun.
15This game sounds perfect. Fun, not annoying, and gifts are involved!
16LOVE this idea!
17How long was your story? Our bride typed up her story and currently it is 4 pages long (they’ve dated for 5 years so understandable), but I am thinking that is too long?
Jenna Reply:
May 18th, 2012 at 5:23 am
Too long! Ours was only a page (I think we had like 10 switches or something?) I took the story from the bride and edited it down.
My best friend did this at my bridal shower and used 2 shower loofas (blue and pink)! They were easier to toss, I got to keep the loofas, the winners picked their own prize, and it was a cute pun for a bridal ‘shower’! Just another suggestion depending on what your prizes are!
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