Wedding Gazette

Holiday Bridal Shower Games

By Jennifer Baumann

Get everyone in the holiday spirit with these game ideas - perfect for showers held in the winter months.

Homemade Ornaments

A prerequisite to this game is that every guest coming to the shower has to make the bride-to-be a holiday ornament for the couple's first tree. Include the information in the invitation - be sure to let them know the rules of play and give a few ideas to get them started. Also, make sure the guests know to wrap the ornament, or put it in a box, so the bride-to-be can't see it.

Object

For the bride-to-be to guess the maker of each Holiday ornament she unwraps.

Play

As the bride opens each box, she tries to guess, based on the looks of the ornament, who has made the ornament contained in the box she has opened.

For example, if Grandma loves to crochet, and the bride-to-be pulls out an ornament covered in Battenburg lace, then chances are, the bride-to-be will guess Grandma. If the bride guesses the maker correctly, the ornament maker does not get a prize.

However, if the bride guesses incorrectly, and is completely stumped over who could have possibly made her an ornament covered with number 2 pencil erasers, the ornament maker reveals herself, and gets herself a prize.

This is a great way to get the guests telling stories about the bride- for example, the reason her best friend Anna made her an ornament out of notebook paper is because they used to pass so many notes back and forth in the seventh grade. You get the idea!

Christmas Wish Garland

Object

Guests write wedding wishes for the bride on strips of wrapping paper, present them to her, and then chain them together to make one long garland, strung with hopes, for the couple's first Christmas tree.

Play

Give each guest a pen and one strip of paper 14" long and 1.5" wide, preferably with a pretty print on one side and blank on the other. Give the guests five or ten minutes to come up with a wish to bestow upon the bride-to-be. This may be conventional wisdom, quotes, things they learned along the way, etc. Have them write down the wish on the length of chain they've been given.

Next, have each guest read to the bride the wish for her they have written down. After the first guest has read her wish, she forms a loop with her piece of chain and fastens it with a staple or tape. She passes her loop on to the next guest, who reads her wish to the bride, and links her loop to the previous guest's loop. Each guest follows suit and the game ends when the last guest has read her wish, and presents the completed "garland of wishes" to the bride. It's nice to have a Christmas tree set up so guests can admire the garland during the rest of the party.