I really enjoyed planning and creating this bridal shower for my little cousin. She looked so beautiful dressed in white and I hope it was memorable for her. I can honestly say that I learned a lot from hosting her bridal shower. Two important factors is to PLAN and ORGANIZE.
Make A Plan:
Make A Plan:
- Budget - For Decorations, Food, Favors, Game gifts, Facility (Tables and Chairs depending where your event may be located) and table linens
- Menu - Plan your menu; ask the bride if she has a preference or plan according to budget you set aside
- Games - Traditional games, check Pinterest for tons of games ideas
- Favors - Candy, keepsake trinkets, bubbles, (I chose nail polish, something everyone can actually use in the future)
The first decision I had to personally make is where I wanted to have the shower. My comfort zone was of course my home but I had to calculate how much the cost for tables and chairs that I needed for 22-25 people excepted to arrive. The tables were $9.00 and $2.00 each. The price for renting them both certainly went up since we had our house warming 6 years ago and a birthday party for my oldest son. To rent the room at the community center was $15.00 to $20.00 per hour depending on the size of the room. Other factors I had to think about was the clean up before and after guests arrived, if I had the shower at my home. I would have had plenty of time to set up for the bridal shower in my home versus at the community center I had to pay for additional time for set up. In the end I went with the community center because the cost of renting chairs, tables and delivery was another factor that I didn't want to handle or pay for.
In addition, I had to make a decision to rent or purchase my table linens. I love the look of fabric linens versus plastic tablecloths depending on the event. If it is a kids birthday party or something casual I don't mind plastic tablecloths at all but in this case I had to go with fabric. I also figured out that it is the same price or cheaper to just purchase them online. I like to use tableclothfactory.com they have a large variety of colors and designs.
I made a outline of how I wanted the tables to be arranged, took video and pictures of the room at the community center to reference later. I was nervous when I realized that the community center had more 10 foot tables than 8 foot tables that I am use to working with. So I had to factor that in when I was ordering the linens and setting up the room to save time and money.
I made a outline of how I wanted the tables to be arranged, took video and pictures of the room at the community center to reference later. I was nervous when I realized that the community center had more 10 foot tables than 8 foot tables that I am use to working with. So I had to factor that in when I was ordering the linens and setting up the room to save time and money.
With the food I was trying to keep it simple, which is hard for me to do. Normally I order a cake from Wal-Mart and cupcakes are really affordable there. My dessert table was a result of running out of time when the guest arrived but it housed the perfect amount of cupcakes for those that did arrive.
My family helped me a lot with setting up the food and I am so grateful for that. If I had time I would have arranged some items a little differently but overall I still love the setup. Looking back at it I would have added the colorful foods in with the light colored foods for more eye appeal. I served tuna and chicken salad in the white tier bowls. I froze those white bowls so that the food would stay cold during the bridal shower. That really worked out great! I have a food haul video below of what I purchased.