Weddingbee boards

Help!

I'm a bridesmaid in the process of pulling together a knock-you-out-of-your-socks bridal shower. The bride has not decided  what she would like. But, she knows she wants it to be more fun than sentimental. The mother of the bride also wants to host it at her house, which is fantastic.  

Any ideas? If possible I'd like to avoid the dreaded "make a wedding dress out of toilet paper" kind of games.  

Fun facts about the beautiful blushing bride

-Spends half her life in the bathtub.

-Is a hard working Master's student

-Is part bookworm and part dancing queen

-Can't cook to save her life

-Animal lover of the highest order (she's also a vegetarian)

-I rarely see her without coffee in her hand

-Very close with her family 

Ooh, too easy!

Not sure where you're located, but how about kicking things off with a coffee tasting?  Often, baristas from smaller independent coffee houses are willing to help with this.  You could even do your own with brews from different continents (African, South American, Hawaiian).  Or if that doesn't sound fun, at least rent/borrow/buy an espresso machine and have your own coffee bar with 'the works' - flavored syrups, cocoa powder, cinnamon, steamed milk, whipped cream, chocolate/caramel sauce - and treats to go with the coffee (biscotti, muffins, scones, cookies, brownies, etc.).

Or...if the host's kitchen allows it, see if you can hire a caterer or personal chef to do a cooking lesson for the group (provided the bride to be has a sense of humor about her lack of cooking skills :D).

Or...make it a 'spa' shower, and bring in a nail technician or facialist to work on all the guests (this works better with small groups, and in my area (DC) was really expensive...so maybe not...).

At a shower I recently hosted, we had a 'how well do you know the nearly-weds?" quiz, where I asked both the bride- and groom-to-be to answer a series of questions about their relationship and then had the guests guess whose answer was provided for each question.  It turned out to be a fun converstation starter as well as a tricky game - even the bride's mom missed a bunch!

We played the purse challenge game, too (where guests have to solve 'wedding emergencies' like lost rings with only the items in their purse), but only the younger crowd really got into that one.

Hope these ideas give you a jumping-off point - good luck!

I should add that there could be anywhere from 20-40 guests. I'm also trying to keep in mind that some of the bridesmaids are cash strapped students.

I like the "wedding emergencies" game. What other emergencies (other than a lost ring) could we use? What did people come up with for the lost ring scenario?

There were four, I think?  We played in teams...

1. The bride and groom left the rings at home!  Construct temporary replacements using the contents of your purse.

2. The florist is stuck in traffic - construct the bride's bouquet and the groom's boutenniere from the contents of your purse.

3. The DJ bailed - provide wedding ceremony and/or reception music using the contents of your purse. <- This led to a hilarious ring-tone playlist

 4. The best man had a little too much 'fun' - remedy the situation (using the contents of your purse) before he has to give the toast! 

Great ideas!

More! More! More!

Did any of you try doing a theme? What the heck should I feed the guests?