Games are the best ice-breakers and will help you keep everyone entertained. It will also create memories that you all can cherish for a lifetime. Bridal shower games can be fun and embarrassing (in a hilarious way) and will have all the guests on the same page. So, if you want to explore these gaming ideas, swipe up!
1. Wedding Word Scramble
Make a list of words with scrambled letters. These words should be typically related to the bride, groom, weddings, dating, or couples. Put the list on a board and supply the guests with papers and pens. Give them a stipulated time to unscramble as many words as possible. The one with the maximum number of unscrambled words and the fastest wins. A small prize would be encouraging too!
2. Pen A Poem
Grab a large sheet of paper and ask a guest to pen down a line of a romantic poem for the couple. The line can be from a famous poem or created as an original. Fold the paper to hide the line and pass it to the next guest who does the same. Once each guest has penned down their lines, hand it to the bride to read aloud. This will raise some good laughs when the disjointed lines are recited dramatically. If you have a sporting person or actor in the crowd, the reading can get even more hilarious.
3. Wedding Charades
This game is good for a relatively big group of guests. Divide them into two teams and ask each team to write a word or phrase related to weddings (you can use wedding movie names, like Mamma Mia, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, or 27 Dresses). Pass the phrase to a representative of the other team, who then enacts it within a stipulated time without speaking a word. Their teammates need to guess the correct word to win the round. The game continues with the roles reversed between the teams.
4. Bridal Makeup
Print out pictures of the bride without any makeup. Hand over cheap makeup like lipstick, eyeliner, blush, and eyeshadow to the players. Each player gets a minute to give the bride’s photo a makeover. You can also make the game exciting by either blindfolding the players or asking them to hold the makeup with their mouths.
5. Cold Feet
This is a very popular game for bridal showers. The phrase ‘cold feet’ refers to the couple’s tension about actually getting hitched. Fill a tub or large serving bowl with ice and water and dump 10 big plastic or metal rings. The players have to get all the rings out of the icy water using their feet. The one to get all out first and fastest wins.
6. Where Were We?
Hang 10-15 pictures of the couple at various places. These can be on dates or trips if they have gone together anywhere. Ask your guests to guess the places the photos were taken.
7. Newlywed Trivia
Make a list of hilarious, ridiculous, and interesting trivia about the bride and groom. For example, how many beers can the groom glug at one go (if he loves beer, that is!) or who said I love you first. Throw out the questions and ask your guests to come up with the answers. The guests can just shout out the answers if you love some loud fun, or they can raise their hands or write down the answers on a piece of paper. The guest with maximum correct answers wins!
8. Photo Challenge
Put up random funny pictures of both the bride and groom at various ages. Ask the guests to guess their age and the occasion if they have known either of the partners for long. Number the pictures and ask the guests to jot down their answers accordingly. The guest with the maximum number of right answers wins. This game can become more interesting if friends, family, and siblings narrate the tales related to the pictures. For example, the bride’s mother can tell the story behind a photo of the baby bride smothered in a cake.
9. Put A Ring On It
This popular bridal shower game keeps everyone alert. Give each guest a ring once they arrive at the venue, which they have to wear. The trick is that no one can say the word ‘wedding’ or ‘bride’ throughout the party. If a guest hears another speaking the forbidden word, they can take their ring away. Whoever wears maximum rings at the end of the shower is the winner.
10. Why Do We Do That?
Many wedding traditions are carried out without really knowing their true significance. For example, the bouquet toss or the ‘something old, something blue’. This unique game will impart a little knowledge and explore a variety of beliefs. Put out a list of traditions and ask your guests to write down what they think these customs signify. Some cheesy friends may come up with quirky answers, which will add a fun element to the game.
11. The Newlywed Game
This game is primarily for the bride and groom, but the guests (especially the nosey ones) will love it! One-half of the couple has to answer some personal and not-so-personal questions on a pre-recorded video. The questions can range from favorite color and food to when was your first kiss. You can also include questions about the couple, like ‘when was the first date?’ The other half of the couple is asked the questions during the party, and the pre-recorded answers are played to match them. This gives an insight into how much the couple knows about each other and what is left to explore.
12. Doubles Jenga
You can include Jenga, a classic favorite game, but with a twist. Take mixed couples from the group, tie their hands, and make the game a little harder. Proceed to play as usual, taking out the blocks without dropping the tower. The couple with the most blocks wins.
13. Find The Guest
Each guest gets a checklist of characteristics, such as who speaks more than four languages or has the highest number of the shoe collection. They must circulate the checklist around the room, talking to other guests, and trying to gauge who fits which characteristic. It is an entertaining way to know a little bit about everyone. You can read out the final list at the end of the game and ask the guests to share a little tale about themselves if they choose to.
14. Love Songs Memory Game
Play a 15-20-second clip of 10 to 15 romantic songs back-to-back. Ask each player to recognize the songs and musicians and write them in order once the songs pause. The players with maximum correct answers in the correct order wins.
15. Whose Memory?
Your guests, friends, and family will have innumerable memories with this game. BFFs will write down their most memorable incidents with the bride or groom and put the chits in a bowl marked ‘for the bride’ and ‘for the groom.” The couple alternately picks a chit from their bowls and reads out the memory, trying to guess who it is from. More than guessing, the fun lies in laughing and reliving the past. Games and prizes are always a great way to make every bridal shower fun, but here are a few other activities that can make the shower memorable.
What To Do At Bridal Showers Instead Of Games?
1. Memories And Advice Game
Give each guest a card that they can fill out with small memory and advice for the future. It can be some funny ones by friends or serious and encouraging ones by elders. Put the cards in a small pocketbook and add pictures of each guest. You can also keep a polaroid handy for this. Compile the book and present it to the bride at the end of the party.
2. Date Night Ideas
This fun activity will spark romance among the newlyweds. Keep a stack of pretty cards and glitter pens. Ask the guests to jot down their ideas of some great date nights that the couple can explore during their honeymoon. Ask the guests to read out their ideas and put them in a box to gift to the couple. Have the bridal shower host ask for “date night” shower gifts to give to the couple to keep the romance going after the wedding celebration.
3. Selfie Station
Create a cute corner where the bride and groom can take selfies with each guest. Spice this up with some funny props – caps, glasses, and accessories – to make the pictures memorable and hilarious.
4. Anniversary Wishes
Make cards with various anniversary dates like one, three, five, or nine years. If your guest group is large, feel free to add nine or six months’ anniversary. Ask your guest to write an anniversary wish for the couple. For example, on the 10th year card, someone can say, “wish you have three kids by then” or “wish you have a big house by then.” Some fun ones can include – ‘hope you cross the 500 parties by the 3rd year!’ Read out the wishes for some good laughs and endearing expressions. Let the couple carry this with their gifts.
5. Customized Cookbook
Buy a blank recipe book or fancy folder with filed sheets. Pass each sheet to a guest and let them write down some favorite or easy recipes for the couple to try out. The recipes can be simple drinks and cocktails to fancy Christmas dinner dishes. The invite can inform this activity, so the guests come prepared with a recipe or two. How long should a bridal shower last? A bridal shower can last between two to four hours. People may not enjoy it to the fullest if it is less than two hours, and the event may become tiresome if it doesn’t end in four hours. How do you play bridal shower bingo? Follow the steps to play bridal shower bingo: • Provide players with bingo cards and pens. • Ask players to fill in the box of cards with possible bridal shower gifts. • Bring the players to their designated gift-opening area and pay attention to the bride. • When the bride opens one gift, the players must cross out their cards if the gift matches. The first player who gets five correct gifts in a row, diagonal, horizontal, or vertical, must call out “Bingo” to win a prize.
