bridal shower games | Ultimate Bridesmaid

When I was first asked to be a bridesmaid, I Googled “bridesmaid duties” (just like you probably did) and found myself led to a string of websites that look like they were thrown together around the time the internet was invented. I was really disappointed to see that there was very little real advice for bridesmaids that delved below the superficial and most of the lists I found seemed dated and out of touch, a sort of “Miss Manners” approach rather than an honest assessment of what to expect. I decided to use my own experience to put together articles and guides that might help other women like me. I’m really honored to find out that these articles dominate this year’s top 10. I could spend hours collaging gorgeous images of bridal showers or compiling bachelorette inspiration boards, but I really put my heart into these articles. Thanks for reading them and I promise I’ll keep more coming in year two. Please let me know what topics you’d like more info on in the coming year!

1. The Ultimate Maid of Honor Speech

This post was far and away the highest viewed in our first year. In my opinion, delivering a speech at a wedding is probably the most difficult thing asked of the maid of honor. Planning parties may be time consuming and logistically complicated, but writing and delivering a speech comes with a lot of pressure. This post breaks down how to structure the beginning, middle and end of your speech, with ideas for topics, jumping-off points and even a gimmick or two.

2. The Maid of Honor Speech: Do’s and Don’ts

Speech writing and giving was such a large topic that I had to split it into two posts. If you’re looking for down and dirty tips for delivering the speech, I actually recommend this post over the first, which is more focused on the writing process.

3. Bachelorette Games: The Fiancé Quiz

After the Maid of Honor Speech, you were most interested in bachelorette games. This is a classic, and is still my number one go-to for every kind of bachelorette party, be it a raucous destination weekend or a more intimate dinner with friends. It can even be adapted to a bridal shower—just make the question PG-13 for the daytime crowd.

4. Bachelorette Games: Bar Scavenger Hunt

Your fourth favorite post—with super-fun free printable checklist!

5. Bachelorette Games: Most Likely To…

A hilarious game to play with a close-knit group of friends (even if its not a bachelorette party!).

6. 5 Simple Bridal Shower Games (that don’t suck)

I typically find bridal shower games to be incredibly boring, so I decided to pull together five not-lame options. Toilet paper wedding dresses are just not my jam. Being made to wear a hideous veil every time you let the word “bride” or “wedding” slip? Highly preferable. Maybe that’s just me.

7. A Step-by-Step Guide to Planning a Bachelorette Weekend

This post was seriously a labor of love. I pulled from all of my experiences to put together all the details for organizing a bachelorette weekend, with a timeline and advice on how to coordinate a huge number of girls, find lodging, book dinners, plan events and keep everyone entertained.

8 and 9. Lingerie Shower and Mission Bachelorette Party!

These two posts make me a little bit nostalgic and bring back great memories because they are two of my very first posts on Ultimate Bridesmaid. Both talk about my own experiences planning parties, one for my friend Amanda’s lingerie shower in Atlanta and another for my friend Marisa’s bachelorette party in Savannah.

10. Six Dirty Details Bridesmaids Need to Know

From your unofficial role as Designated Bride Bodyguard on bachelorette night to corset-lacing, bustling and the ol “help the bride pee” bit on wedding day, this list includes six parts of bridesmaiding you may not be looking forward to, but you’ll need to be prepared all the same!

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Let me know what aspects of bridesmaid duties you want to know more about in the comments! I’ll have many new guides and articles in year 2.

Bridal shower games are not mandatory, but they can help break up the day and be funny and cute. Save the racy stuff for the bachelorette though. At a bridal shower, you’re going to need activities that work for a mixed group of ages. Remember that people want to eat, drink, and chat, not have a regimented schedule of enforced games, so just choose a few to sprinkle in. And have prizes! People are more likely to take interest if there’s chocolate involved.

Bridezilla

Before the shower, make the most hideous veil you can with a cheap tiara, glitter, different colors of tulle—whatever you can muster. Then once all the guests have arrived, tell them that the word “wedding” and “bride” are banned. If you use one of the words, you are Bridezilla and have the wear the veil until someone else slips up! During your time as Bridezilla you are encouraged to add to the veil to make it more hideous if possible.

Ring Hunt

Hide fake diamond engagement rings around the house and tell the guests to collect them throughout the party and put them on as they find them. The guests wearing the most rings at the end of the party wins. This one is simple, non-invasive and will lead to plenty of cute pictures.

Chick Flick Charades

We all know how to play charades. But raise the bar by banning the typical tactic of acting out the words in the title. Instead, pairs of guests have to act out a scene from different chick flicks. You’ll end up reenacting the Katz’s Deli scene from When Harry Met Sally, snapping a jewelry box closed as Julia Roberts reaches for her necklace in Pretty Woman, or trying to jump into Patrick Swayze’s arms for Dirty Dancing. If both players claim to have never seen the film and thus cannot act out a scene, let them default to the title, but make sure you appropriately shame them for neglecting to watch You’ve Got Mail. You can also opt for a tiered point system: 1 point for just acting out the title, 2 points for a scene, and 5 points for acting out the entire movie in less than two minutes. Some other flicks to throw in: My Best Friend’s Wedding, Runaway Bride, 27 Dresses, Sleepless in Seattle, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Something’s Got to Give, Love Actually, Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Two Truths and a Lie

Guests take turns sharing two truths and a lie about the bride. It’s a good idea to announce this game early in the shower so guests have time to think of good facts. Maybe bring it up before lunch or dinner is served or before you open presents. The facts can be about their friendship or history with the bride—they’ve been friends for 15 years, they taught the bride how to drive, they shared a lost weekend in Myrtle Beach—or a little known fact about the bride—the details of her first kiss, what she really thought of her groom when she first met him, her biggest pet peeve. Everyone else writes down the number of the fact they think is false. Those who get it right get a little prize or a point and most points win at the end. Remember to keep this PG-13 if you’re in a shower with mixed age groups or that includes relatives or coworkers of the bride who may not need to know about her scandalous behavior in college…or six months ago.

Purse Scavenger Hunt

This game may seem too simple or overdone, but in this version you add an element of urgency. In the typical game you get a point for each item that you have, but in this version it’s the first person to find the item who wins. Watching women frantically rifle through their purses is what makes it funny. People will know they have that peppermint but they just can’t find it!

Come up with a list of items a woman might have in her purse. The host reads the items aloud and the first person to fish that item out of her purse gets a prize. You can also give out small prizes for each item, but then designate points to each item for a big reward at the end. Make sure it’s on a sliding scale so that easy items like wallet and keys get one point and harder ones like dog treat, pepper spray or corkscrew get more. Here’s a fun sample list. You’ll be surprised how many of these people have in their purses!

Wallet, keys, cell phone, mirror, lip gloss, foundation, mascara, deodorant, hairbrush, tweezers, umbrella, book, pepper spray, dog treat, condom, tampon, Advil, band-aid, stomach medicine, underwear, scissors, a Groupon, a stamp, a mint, a bottle of water, USB flash drive, a $50 bill, a menu, stain remover and bottle opener. You can also throw in a few things that require a little bit of extra effort. For example: a picture of the bride. Someone’s got to have it on their phone, right? A cup of coffee will have clever people riffling through their wallets for their Starbucks gift card.