Bridal Shower Games and Ideas

There are tons of bridal shower ideas to please all types of crowds – from the sentimental, to the slightly scandalous, to everything in between. 

Let’s be honest, when it comes to bridal shower games, visions of “pin the tail on the groom” and “toilet paper wedding dress” usually come to mind (with a resounding groan!). Relax, you’re not restricted to these traditional, albeit a tad cliché, wedding shower staples. We’ve listed and categorized our top picks for games to play at bridal showers and modern bridal shower ideas… 

Classic Bridal Shower Games

1) What is the Bride Wearing?
The Gist: Memory/Observation Skills

How to Play: The bride discretely leaves the room about halfway into the party (after everyone has had some time to visit with her).  The host then asks each guest questions about the bride’s outfit: What fabric? High heels or flats? Hair up or down?  Necklace or no necklace? Etc.  Each guest with a perfect score wins a prize.

www.eleGALA.com Tip: To make scoring easier (and to provide the bride with a shower memento), the host can print out a sheet of the bridal shower questions for guests to complete during the shower. 

2) Bridal Shower Bingo
The Gist: Duh, it’s bingo with wedding-related bingo cards

How to Play: This one’s pretty obvious. Create bingo cards, but replace the word BINGO with BRIDE along the top.  Instead of numbers, list items related to weddings or to the bridal couple inside the squares (i.e. where the couple got engaged or the name of the wedding venue).  Play the game like traditional bingo: the first guest to complete a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line wins a prize.

www.eleGALA.com Tip: You can easily create a bawdy version of this classic game by filling the squares with scandalous tid-bits.

3) Spice of Life
The Gist: Tests culinary knowledge

How to Play: Gather a number of spices and place them in unmarked, numbered containers.  Have each guest write down what she thinks each one is.  The guest with the most correct answers wins the collection of spices.

www.eleGALA.com Tip: Don’t forget to include the corresponding list of spice names with the prize!

4) Purse Power
The Gist: Just for fun/getting to know each other game

How to Play: Before the shower, the host prepares a list of objects typically found in a women’s purse.  The list can should start with common items like lip gloss, gum, credit cards and get increasingly random or risqué: dog treats, dental floss, condoms.  The first guest to produce each item gets a prize.

www.eleGALA.com Tip: To make the game last, you may want to split it up and call out items during lulls throughout the shower.

5) Scattergories
The Gist: Vocab/Just for Fun

How to Play: Print pieces of paper with the bride’s name at the top and several categories down the left side (movies, colors, restaurants, flowers, etc.).  Each guest must come up with words that fit in the category AND begin with one of the letters in the bride’s name.  Allow guests five minutes or so to complete their sheets. The host then calls out each category and guests respond aloud with their answers.  Answers that have been chosen by more than one guest are discounted.  The guest who has the most unique words wins a prize.

www.eleGALA.com Tip: The host may have to moderate if a lively debate over the validity of the word “moops” erupts. 

Sentimental Bridal Shower Games – Get

1) Words of Wisdom
The Gist: Guests “shower” the bride with advice.

How to Play: Include blank cards in shower invitations and instruct guests to write a nugget of advice for a happy marriage on the card (you can also request a recipe, cooking tip, words of encouragement, etc.).  Guests will take turns reading their advice aloud at the shower.  The host will gather all the submissions into a scrapbook keepsake for the bride.

www.eleGALA.com Tip: You can alternatively buy a keepsake book or notepad and assign a secretary to record the tips in the book as they’re read allowed.

2) Memory Lane
The Gist: Reminisce shared memories and friendships.

How to Play: Include a blank card and a request to write down a favorite memory of the bride with the shower invitations.  At the shower, each guest reads their memory aloud, and the bride must guess which guest wrote it.  The host can then compile each story into a memory book for the bride. At the end of the day, the bride has a pile of keepsakes representing her life’s milestone moments and the bonds she shares with each guest.

www.eleGALA.com Tip:  Take it one step further and ask guests to bring a photo along with each memory and compile them into a scrapbook the bride will cherish always. 

3) Poetry Reading
The Gist: Treat a bride with a literary passion to a feast of poetry

How to Play: Have all attendees bring a poem containing wisdom or sentiment about love or marriage, and take turns reading.  The day will be intellectually enriching and inspiring. 

www.eleGALA.com Tip: Consider hosting the shower at a beautiful library or old bookstore for the full effect.

4) Happy Wishes
The Gist: The Bridal shower that keeps on giving

How to Play: Give each guest a blank index card and an envelope that has the name of an event, holiday or milestone in the couple’s life together written on the outside (i.e. wedding night, first anniversary, first child, first fight, first home)  Each guest will write a happy thought or useful piece of advice about the occasion on their envelope and place it inside.  The host will present them all to the bride at the shower and instruct her to open each one during the occasion written on the envelope.  The bride can look forward to opening each and remembering her bridal shower throughout her life.

www.eleGALA.com Tip: Find a keepsake box or container for all of the envelopes so the bride can store it in a special place.

Non-Traditional Bridal Shower Games

1) Wedding Night Preview
The Gist: Good for laughs with a racy undertone

How to Play: As the bride opens each gift, a guest will secretly write down everything she says (i.e. – “I’ve always needed one of those” or “What a beautiful piece!”) After all the gifts are opened, that person will read back the bride’s comments as the words she’ll say on her wedding night.

www.eleGALA.com Tip: It may sound embarrassing and inappropriate if moms and grandmothers are in attendance, but this game is usually good for a laugh from everyone. 

2) Honeymoon Scavenger Hunt
The Gist: A sexy take on the traditional scavenger hunt

How to Play: Hide sexy items like lacy lingerie or fuzzy handcuffs throughout the party location (house, backyard, or wherever the party will be).  Divide guests into teams and give them a list of items to find.  The team that finds the most item wins.

www.eleGALA.com Tip: Add a twist by giving guests a list of clues rather than the actual names of the items (i.e. “something the bride will wear on her wedding night”)

3) Never Have I Never
The Gist: Skeletons in the closet

How to Play: Guests take turns completing the phrase “Never have I ever…” with a scandalous deed (i.e. “never have I ever kissed two boys in one night”).  Anyone who has done it takes a drink, and if only one person drinks – that person has to cough up the details to the rest of the group. 

www.eleGALA.com Tip: This game is usually best for a girls’ only shower.

4)Couple’s Roast
The Gist: For couple’s showers: prove how well you know the couple, at the expense of the couple.

How to Play: Cut paper into strips and write different scenarios from the couple’s past – or future – on each one.  (i.e. – “John tells Jane he can’t have dinner with her because he’s playing cards with the boys” or “Jane tells John she wants to name their baby “Pilot Inspector”).  The guests break out into teams of two, draw a strip, then act out the different scenarios for the crowd.  The key is to try to mimic the couple’s mannerisms, quirky tics, and overused phrases (Dude!). The couple gets scorecards (0-10) to rate each performance.  The highest scoring duo wins.

www.eleGALA.com Tip: The host should see to it that the tone remains playful and not mean. You can always change this one up a bit for a girls’ only bridal shower.