No matter if you call it a bridal or a wedding shower, it's a one time event for a very special person and as a person in charge, you want to make it as personalized as possible. Customization of events is not only a trend of recent years, it's definitely the only right way to go, because each person is unique and deserves a celebration in his or her honor tailored to him or her personality as much as possible.
Custom bridal shower invites are a good start and after a well done research, we careful made a selection of best wedding shower invitation cards on the market. All are top notch products made by print on demand company which constantly meets and surpasses highest standards in print of demand technology.
Here you can check from always growing number of already made designs by dedicated artists, arranged by popular themes, where a complete setting is already done, just waiting for your info about people, place and time to be entered and ordered on line in quantity of your choice (no minimum order). While this may already sound great (and it is!), it's just a beginning.
All featured designs, vintage inspired or modern, can be personalized on several levels - by selecting type of paper or format of the card, by addition of an envelope (again with many possibilities to choose from), or by your own wording or even a photo of the bride to be.
Who Should Be Invited
Just to make it clear - a bridal shower is not a bachelorette party. While both events share several similarities, there are several differences as well (explained in details in a dedicated article). The main reason for a bridal shower is gift giving and the main concern of organizer is making a best possible guest list.
So who should be invited to the bridal shower? In general this is much more intimate happening than a wedding, so only closest friends of the bride should participate. Only people a bride feels most comfortable in their company. Asking her about her preferences should be a good idea, but considering the fact many bridal showers are thrown as surprise parties, this may not be always an easy task.
Feel free to ask around and try to do your best. Traditionally only ladies are invited on bridal showers, unless we are dealing with one of so called co-ed or Jack and Jill showers. According to that part the program should be adapted, so every guest could feel welcomed and included. Each one of them gets an invite with an exception of the bride to be, who is should, surprised or not, get wherever the shower will happen with organizer's help. Well, she can later get an invitation as a keepsake too.
Connection between wedding invitations and bridal shower invites is easy. Everybody, who gets an invite to wedding shower, gets an invitation to the wedding too. No exception. On the other hand an invitation to the wedding doesn't necessary mean an invite to the bridal shower, which is essentially much smaller and even intimate event.
And one more thing: if we want to invite somebody who, for whatever reason, can't attend a bridal shower, we should send an invitation card anyway. Because it's a nice gesture, not because we are fishing for a gift. The invitee has completely free hands in this case. He or she can send a wedding shower gift or not, according to the etiquette this is absolutely non-obligatory.
What About The Bridal Shower Gifts?
Yes, they are the essential part of wedding showers and many things changed in recent decades. A modern bride is on average several years older than she used to be, so it is very likely she already has a job, some kind of regular income and some kind of home with essential equipment. Instead of plates or towels she would be probably more happy with more extravagant or luxurious items.
Or, if you really know what she needs, you can organize a bridal shower registry with a detailed list of items she would make use of. Another option is a so called experience gift, like a coupon for spa treatment or tickets for the concert of her favorite music group. Gift card giving themes are also popular for wedding shower parties and with co-ed showers the list of possible gifts is further enriched with power tools, tech gadgets and other testosteron driven ideas.
Don't forget donations to charities as another interesting alternative to classic bridal shower gifts. Contemporary etiquette allows to include info on expected gifts on invitations an this is another area, where custom bridal shower invites come very handy. But we are sure you can find your own way for throwing a unique and personalized party and create a memorable event for the bride and invitees. Have a great time!
