A travel bridal shower is one of my favorite themes—it was even the theme of one of my showers. It’s a unique way to celebrate an interest of the couple, and can supply lots of great gift ideas, from honeymoon essentials to travel accessories to experience gifts like concert tickets or a weekend getaway. Start with your tagline…you’ll find three great themes below: Traveling from Miss to Mrs, Adventure Awaits and You’re My Greatest Adventure. Highlight important places for the couple, like where each was born, where they had their first date, where they took their first trip together and other important destinations in their story. Of course, globes and suitcases are obvious decor essentials. We especially love this idea of putting the cake inside a vintage suitcase—the effect is so chic. Check out more ideas for a travel bridal shower below, or on our Travel Bridal Shower Pinterest board.
Basic Invite is one of the few websites that allows you to customize almost every element of the invitation. I’m not just talking the font color and type here. You can literally change the color of the background and each design element to perfectly match your party theme. Below I’ve created three inspiration boards to show you the versatility of Basic Invite’s bridal shower invitations—a Kate Spade bridal shower, a Paris boudoir bridal shower and a tropical bridal shower. P.S. Brides, you’ll find equally customizable wedding invitations, wedding save the dates and more!
Kate Spade Bridal Shower
For this Kate Spade bridal shower inspiration board, I left the Basic Invite Kate Spade invitation exactly as designed since the color palette was already 100% perfect for the Kate Spade theme. Literally every element of this invitation can be customized though, from the color of the stripes to the tones of the flowers and leaves. The no-fail combination for a Kate Spade bridal shower is black and white stripes + pink flowers. Here are a few tips to put together a gorgeous Kate Spade bridal shower.
Adorn cookies or macarons with stripes, polka dots and cute sayings like “Pop, Fizz, Clink” and “Eat Cake for Breakfast.”
A bold black and white striped look for the bride is the perfect twist on traditional bridal shower white.
Add sparkle with a pink sequin table runner and glitter-dipped champagne glasses.
Don’t forget lots of pink blooms, like peonies and roses. And check out this cute bridal shower balloon game to complete the party.
As the city of love, Paris is the perfect inspiration for a bridal shower. I used a French patisserie as my staring point and incorporated a classy and feminine boudoir theme to give the event a little extra French flair. I started with this Basic Invite Paris bridal shower invitation, which I customized with a few tweaks to perfectly fit the event. I updated the font, switched the bride’s name to a matte gold and added a blue accent.
Ask your guests to dress in comfortable and chic boudoir attire—that could mean tulle skirts and floral corsets or silky pajamas with flowing robes.
Set up a flower crown crafting bar or arrange for a class so that guests can create beautiful headpieces of their own.
French macarons are a must, of course. A signature drink like this refreshing rosé cocktail is the perfect complement.
For this last inspiration board, I wanted to show you just how powerful the Basic Invite editing tool is, so I literally changed EVERY single color on their Garden Party Bridal Shower invitation. The original is on the left and my updated version is on the right.
My new vibrant colors gave the Garden Party Bridal Shower Invitation from Basic Invite a more tropical vibe, perfect for a summer bridal shower. Here are a few more tips for putting together the perfect tropical bridal shower. Plus, check out our Pinterest board for more ideas.
You’ve seen a mimosa bar at every bridal shower—switch it up with a sangria bar!
Incorporate tropical flowers, succulents and summer fruits like pineapples and watermelon into your decor for a lush summertime vibe.
Serve fresh, light dishes like summer fruit salad in a coconut shell or watermelon popsicles.
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Tea parties remain one of the most popular bridal shower themes, but that doesn’t mean every tea party shower must look the same as the last. We crafted four tea party shower inspiration boards to show you how you can customize a tea party theme to suit the bride’s personality. Choose from a classic English high tea with pastel hues and floral patterned plates, or go modern with a vibrant color palette and bold patterns. Go for over-the-top opulence with a Marie Antoinette French tea party, or get wacky (or bookish) with an Alice in Wonderland tea.
To create a classic high tea, you’ll need pretty patterned china and a few traditional tea snacks, like this honey pound cake or soft angel food cake cut into hearts and covered with layers of creamy frosting. Soft colors should run throughout the decor, from the flowers to the table settings. An English tea dress code will give your guests a change to wear springtime sundresses, feathered hats, flower crowns or even lace gloves.
To throw a modern tea party, change up the color palette. While a traditional tea incorporates soft pastels and vintage florals, go with bold, vibrant colors and patterns for a modern twist. We love the orange accents in this tea party or the abstract patterned tablecloth in a modern navy motif. And don’t be afraid of black! The letter board at this modern tea party gives the perfect updated twist. You can also look beyond Europe for inspiration and explore other tea cultures. What about serving a Moroccan tea or having a Japanese tea service?
A Marie Antoinette tea holds on to the elegance of a traditional English tea, but turns the fancy up to 10! The traditional palette is pink, blue and white, but we love accents of gold to channel French rococo glam. Host your shower at a cute French cafe and serve pink floral teas and French macarons. Marie’s classic catch phrase (“Let them eat cake”) must be on display, and the aforementioned cake should make an appearance too. This type of tea party also screams for the addition of alcohol—we love this pink champagne granita as a finish to your meal.
Alice in Wonderland is a versatile theme, as there are two parties in the book you can take inspiration from: the Mad Hatter’s wacky tea party or the Queen of Hearts’ croquet lawn party. If you’re going Mad Hatter, incorporate whimsical colors with mismatched vintage china. A grouping of clocks or vintage glass bottles makes for simple yet stunning table decor. Color chaos is your goal. You can use vintage wallpaper samples to create a shabby chic photo backdrop that completes the look. For the Queen’s garden party, your palette is black, white and red. And if you’ve got a hedge, use it! This one is dotted with red roses and oversized playing cards. Fancy hats will add an element of fun and whimsy to a party that’s fit for a queen. And don’t forget these DIY flamingo croquet sticks!
Q: What should we do at a flamingo bridal shower? A: Let’s flamingle, of course! I love the recent flamingo explosion, from pool floats to cute tank tops. The theme is perfect for a summer beach bridal shower, Palm Springs or Miami Beach bachelorette, or just a party in your own backyard. Put together this DIY flamingo ring toss game and serve your signature flamingo pink cocktail topped with one of these printable flamingo straw tags. And can we talk about this flamingo pool float cake?! It is everything. I want it in my life. For more flamingo inspiration, check out our Let’s Flamingle party board on Pinterest.
Achieve sweet summer perfection with a pineapple bridal shower. And let’s be serious, pineapples are everywhere right now, meaning decorating for this theme will be so very simple. The adorable pineapple invitation from Paper Source is actually listed as a House Warming invite, but it just seemed too perfect for a bridal shower to me. A couple quick edits and it’s transformed! And I’m maybe a little bit obsessed with the pineapple sundress. Much needed addition to my summer wardrobe? Pineapples can find their way into your food, your drinks, and you decor in a snap.
Why do we love a garden party bridal shower? Because the decor couldn’t be easier to pull off or more gorgeous. Just add flowers to everything, from the top of the cake to the ice cubes in your cocktails. Gift each guest a mini succulent or packet of seeds to enhance their own gardens or ask an expert florist to give a class on making the perfect bouquet or flower crowns. Keep your menu light and colorful with loads of fresh spring vegetables (you can even get creative with plating—check out the mini hummus pots below!). You can’t go wrong with an abundance of spring blooms, a few patio chairs and a little sunshine.
I know some of my ladies out there just can’t get enough pink, so this inspiration board is for you. Just be sure not to drift into baby shower territory though! Keep your shower on the adult side with one of these two tricks: 1) Pair pink with metallic gold and glitter accents to add grown-up sparkle and shine, or 2) Rather than bubblegum pink, choose a hot pink or fuchsia to keep the look fresh and fun (just like you). For more inspiration, check out our Pink Bridal Shower board on Pinterest.