And the winner is........

I want to thank all of you who stop by and entered Inspired's giveaway. I was pleased by all the comments and love that you were all inspired to add something new to your wedding day.

The winner of the Couple shower cards is Ashlee W.

The winner of the Wedding Receptions Cards is Making it in Madison.

Congratulations!!!
If you are the winner please contact me at aleximanievents@yahoo.com.


Thank you Write on Riot for your sponsorship of this great giveaway.

Bridal Showers: A- Z

A Bridal shower is a pre-wedding party where the bride-to-be is "showered" with love, good wishes, and gifts. Traditionally, is a party with the closest female relatives and friends, but today including the groom and his friends is very popular.


Traditionally, the maid of honor would be responsible for planning and hosting the shower. Today, the whole bridal party and even the bride’s mom are involved in the planning process. With hectic schedules everyone and anyone with the time and energy should be enlisted.

Select a date

Showers can take place from six months to a week before the wedding. It is up to you whether you want to make it a surprise or not, some brides-to-be may actually request that it not be a surprise. Keep in mind where most of the guests live and where the shower is being held; out of town guests should be given enough time to make their travel plans. If most people are local, you'll have more options. After setting the date it is important to make a planning schedule include time to meet up and brainstorm. Selecting special themes often make planning easier -- and more fun; it will be your starting point for many of the ideas to come.

Budget

After or in conjunction with the party plan you should set a budget, determine who is paying for the overall event or how you can divide the cost amongst the co-hosts. Make sure if you divide the costs make sure to get money before booking or ordering so that you are not left “holding the bag” or the bill in this case.

The Planning

Don’t get so excited planning the shower that you forget to think about the bride’s likes and dislikes. Is she a traditional or contemporary girl? Would your location choice be something she would like? Does she have any special interest, favorite colors or places she likes to travel to?

Guests

Everyone invited to the shower should also be invited to the wedding. If you are going with a “just girls” invitation list, make sure the bride's and groom's close female relatives are invited, as well as all the women in the wedding party and the bride's close girlfriends. If it's a couple shower, make it a coed guest list.
Suggest that the bride and groom register for gifts prior to the shower. Include registry information in shower invitations; include any special instructions in keeping with any theme you might have selected.

Food

Consider having the shower catered if it will be done in someone’s home. The philosophy of value over economy will play a big part in the success of your shower. It might be cheaper to have everyone involved in the planning chip in and cook a dish; however if for any reason one person is unable to fulfill their responsibility and does not let you know ahead of time, it will leave a major deficit in your showers. You can also consider asking a special person in the brides life to contribute one of their most popular dishes, for instance if the bride-to-be’s grandmother makes an excellent apple pie or dessert consider asking them to make it for the special occasion, they will be honored.

The favors




There are many fun items you can get as favors for the bridal shower. You can get them based on the theme (fall theme, beach theme) or a general favor like a cookie favor, edible favors are always a hit. Cookies can be decorated in bridal colors and presented in cellophane paper with coordinating ribbons, such as the ones below by Two Sisters Bakery

Bridal Shower

Among pre-wedding parties is the bridal shower. A bridal shower is an opportunity for a bride's loved ones to help her stock her new household with the essentials she might need. It's also a time for her to celebrate her happiness with the women she loves.

History of bridal shower

It is always nice to hear stories behind the things that we do. Here is what I found.

Years ago, as the story goes, there lived a young Dutch girl who loved a young Dutch miller. The miller was so generous to the poor that he could never save a fortune for himself. Because the young man was not rich, the maiden's father disapproved of the match and refused to give her a dowry. But the village folks, and the young people, had desired their marriage. To make up the girl's dowry, each villager brought some treasured possession of his own until a chest had been filled with all household goods that a bride should bring to her new home. With these contributions, they 'showered' the maiden until even her father was won over. From that day to this, it has been the custom for the bride's friends and family to present her with gifts for her new life. Don't despair over a bad turn in the weather. An old Roman proverb states, "Rain falls in the lap of the happy bride
Years ago, the rules of etiquette were practically written in stone. Today, this is not the case. While the rules of etiquette can serve as a guide, the wisest course often is to follow your heart – inside, most of us know what the right thing to do. Let the following "rules" serve as suggestions when you are in doubt.

Who host a bridal shower?

Traditionally, the maid/matron of honor or bridesmaids host the bridal shower. But like anything else that was once written in stone, this rule is flexible. Couples are living in cities other than the ones they grew up in. They have built new lives and added a host of friends and colleagues to their lives. So nowadays it is perfectly acceptable to have a shower thrown by aunts, grooms family, college pals or other close family friends. Bridal showers take place two months or less before the wedding date, though usually at least two weeks in advance.





You will probably want to get the invitations out about 4 weeks in advance of the shower date, paper or printed invitations are the norm. However, today you could us sites like Evites for sending invitations. All those invited to the shower should be on the wedding guest list. It is poor etiquette to invite someone to the shower and that is not invited to the wedding itself. I have seen situations where the prospective guest understood why they could not be invited to the wedding and wanted to share with the bride at her shower, in a case like this you should send the invitation since it was initiated by the other party. However, not every woman invited to the wedding needs to be invited to the bridal shower. Even if a guest lives too far to make attending the bridal shower practical, it is still good etiquette to send her an invitation anyway

These are the people that should definitely receive an invitation:

· Mothers of the bride and groom
· Grandmothers/great grandmothers of the bride and groom
· Aunts
· Female Cousins
· Bridesmaids/female attendants
· Close friends of the bride and her family
· Close female business associates of the bride

Formality

You definitely should determine the level of formality when planning the bridal shower. That will determine, the invitaions, the decor and many items for the shower. Think about the bride first and foremost and the location where you wish to hosts the bridal shower .