Who Do You Invite To A Bridal Shower?

Why a Bridal Shower Guest List?

The bridal shower guest list is the most important part of planning a bridal shower. And this is because you want to be surrounded by people you feel most comfortable with at this time. You want to surround yourself with friends and well-wishers who share in your joy and genuinely wish you well. The last thing you want is to have one or two people making you feel uncomfortable or tense at your wedding shower because of the negative energy they may come with. And thus, a lot of thought has to go into the bridal shower guest list. Read on to find out helpful tips on putting together your bridal shower guest list.

You may also want to check out these related articles on How much to spend on bridal shower gift and How to decorate a bridal shower chair.

Who Attends the Bridal Shower?

Traditionally, bridal showers are a female-only affair, meaning that only women organize and attend bridal showers. However, this does not mean that the groom and some of his close friends cannot make an appearance at the tail end of the bridal shower just to come and say hello. However, not all guys like to do this. Thus it will be a great idea to discuss with your husband-to-be first and get his views before putting him on the itinerary for the day. You may just find out that he doesn’t mind being a part of your bridal shower.

Also, nothing says that you cannot break the tradition of a girl’s only bridal shower and have a bride and groom shower in one, which sounds like having a bachelor’s party and a bridal shower together at the same time. It definitely sounds fun – imagine combining strip teases where the groomsmen and the bridesmaid are all in attendance and everyone going crazy. We know you can already get cool, fun vibes and goosebumps, imagining all the fun it will be. If this idea excites you so much that you want to try it out, discuss it with your husband-to-be. He may just be all for the fun and games that it will be

Who do You Invite to a Wedding Shower? 5 Helpful Factors in Deciding Your Bridal Shower Guest List. 

Don’t lose sleep over who to invite to your bridal shower. Once you’ve considered the 5 factors listed here, you will know who your bridal shower guests should be without a doubt. 

1. Who is hosting the shower? 

The host usually decides the number on the guest list. Ideally, you shouldn’t be the host for your bridal shower. So, unless you want to break tradition and host your shower, the host is integral to how many people get invited to the bridal shower. She may not have a say in exactly who and who gets invited, but she certainly has a say in the numbers that would attend, especially if she is using her house or someone’s house to host it.

2. Your circle of friends and your closeness to them. 

This is arguably the deciding factor in who to invite to a bridal shower. The ones closest to you should surround you on the day. Your bridal party is part of this list; otherwise, why are they your bridal party right? Hehehe.

3. Your wedding guest list. 

Your wedding guest list should also determine who gets invited to your bridal shower. It will be out of place and not so proper bridal shower guest list etiquette to invite someone to a bridal shower and yet not to your wedding. It creates the impression that you’re only after their gift. 

However, this does not mean you have to invite everyone on your wedding guest list. But it does mean that your invitees should only come from that list.

4. Are you having multiple bridal showers? 

This is another important factor in coming up with a bridal shower guest list. This is because multiple bridal showers give you the chance to have more people attend your bridal shower. 

The guest list should be unique and tailored to who is organizing and hosting each bridal shower. So, if, for instance, your maid of honor and/or bridesmaids are organizing one for you, then it is best to limit the guest list to just the bridal party and very close friends. 

If some extended family members are also hosting for you as another example, then a guest list that is mostly family members will be most appropriate.

5. Are your would-be inlaws intimately involved in planning your wedding? 

If so, then it may be courteous to allow one or two close female family members from that end. Maybe your sisters-in-law and your mother-in-law. Since you are about to be family with them, you might as well start getting comfortable with them right? 😉 

Wedding Shower Announcements and How to do it.

Is there a special way to make wedding shower announcements? There isn’t a special fanfare to a wedding shower announcement, especially if you do not intend to invite the whole world. Announcing your wedding shower goes hand-in-hand with your guest list. You only need to invite the persons on your guest list.

Thus, here’s how to go about your wedding shower announcement. First, sort out your guest list. Craft your bridal shower invitation once you have sorted out your guest list. The bridal shower invitation should be simple, short, and straight to the point. Make it colorful to reflect your unique personality. Hand-crafted cards are usually sentimental. However, there is also nothing out of place sending electronic shower invitations through email, particularly given the new virtual reality we now live in.

7 Etiquettes for Bridal Shower Invitations. 

Follow these 7 etiquettes for bridal shower invitations to avoid wedding shower etiquette faux pas.

1. Only invite persons who are invited to your wedding to your bridal shower.

This is perhaps the most important bridal shower guest list etiquette. It would be highly inappropriate to invite someone to a bridal shower and not invite them to the wedding. If they are not good enough to attend your wedding, then they should not be good enough to attend your bridal shower. 

Inviting them to the wedding shower alone makes them feel you only want their gift. We are not at all saying that everyone on your wedding list should be at your bridal shower. However, we are saying that you cannot look outside your wedding guest list to have a bridal shower guest list.

2. Personalize each invitation.

Add an extra personal touch to each invitation by personalizing it with the name of your guest(s).

3. Make it clear whether a plus one or extra guest is permitted.

You don’t want guests bringing other people along if you don’t want them there. Be sure to clarify on the invitation whether they are allowed to come with a guest or whether the invitation-only allows one person in.

4. Keep the invitation short and sweet. 

There’s no need to beat around the bush on the invitation card. Simple does it best. Go straight to the point with the basic details needed – your name (or yours and that of your groom if it’s a combined affair); the date, time, and location of the event; and how they can make their reservation and by when they should make their reservation; and the name of the host.

5. Put a deadline on making reservations. 

This is to help you plan properly. You don’t want people still making reservations a week or even 3 days to the wedding shower. Put a deadline that is at the latest 2 weeks before the date for the wedding shower.

6. Send out invitations with adequate notice. 

This goes hand in hand with the point of having a deadline to have made a reservation. This means that you want to send out your notices in advance of the time to have made a reservation. Also, no one likes last-minute invitations. It will certainly give off afterthought vibes like you never wanted them to come in the first place but only thought of them to make up the numbers and get more gifts. Send out invitations at the very latest, 3 weeks in advance.

7. Send reminders at least a week to the event. 

After you have sent out your invitations on time, send another reminder to your guests at least a week before the event. You can then follow this up with another reminder 3 days before the event.  

When To Mail Bridal Shower Invitations.

Mail invitations should be sent out earlier than hand-delivered invitations. And this is because of the longer period it takes for mail to get to its final destination. Given this delay, send out mail invitations at least 2 weeks earlier than hand-delivered invitations. So, to illustrate. Where you send out your hand-delivered invitations 4 weeks before the event, for instance, mail bridal shower invitations should then be sent 6 weeks prior.

Frequently Asked Questions.

1. Do men/guys attend bridal showers?

Traditionally, men generally don’t attend bridal showers because it is usually a woman’s only affair. However, that does not mean a man/guy cannot decide to break tradition and attend a bridal shower. Indeed, some grooms attend the bridal shower towards the end. Other more progressive couples even combine the bridal shower with the bachelor’s party, and in that way, you have men attending the bridal shower.

2. Does the groom go to bridal shower?

Yes, the groom can go to the bridal shower if he wants to. This is not usually the norm, but nothing stops a groom from going to the bridal shower.

3. Do you invite out of town guests to bridal shower?

Sure you can. Nothing says you should restrict your guest list to only persons staying in your town. Should your guests be out of town guests, be sure to mail out their invitations at least 2 weeks earlier than hand-delivered invitations. In that way, they get their invitation early enough to start making travel arrangements to be in attendance.

4. When should I send out bridal shower invites?

Your bridal shower invitation should be sent at the latest 3 weeks before the bridal shower. This allows your guests enough time to make arrangements to attend. The best timeline would be between 4 to 6 weeks to the bridal shower. It may not, however, be possible for you to meet this timeline. And where this happens to be your situation, work hard to meet the later timeline of 3 weeks to the bridal shower.

5. How soon should bridal shower invitations be sent?

Your invitations should be sent out as soon as possible. As soon as 4 to 6 weeks to your bridal shower, send out your invitations.

6. How many to invite to bridal shower?

There is no prescribed number of guests to invite to a bridal shower. You are at liberty to invite as many people as you desire. This is, of course, subject to the caveat that ultimately, the host determines the number of guests that will attend. So, while you have unfettered discretion to invite as many people as you want, do not forget to check in with your host to be sure they can accommodate all your guests. And if they can’t, you may have to have multiple bridal showers.

7. Are bridal showers for women only?

Traditionally, yes, bridal showers were for women only. However, in recent times this is no longer the case. Some bridal showers are now a combined affair. In other instances, the groom and his friends pull up a surprise entrance towards the end of the shower.

8. Are bridal showers just for ladies?

Bridal showers, as the name also imply, are for ladies only. But as we said earlier, nothing stops a combined bridal shower with guys.

Conclusion.

When it comes to your bridal shower guest list, you want to keep it close-knit because you don’t want a tense environment for your bridal shower. The 5 tips listed in this article will help you in coming up with the perfect bridal shower guest list. And don’t forget to follow the 7 etiquettes for bridal shower invitations in sending out your wedding shower invitations. Also, remember that for your mail bridal shower invitations, these should be sent out at least 2 weeks earlier than your hand-delivered bridal shower invitation.

What do you think?

Would you have a mixed bridal shower and bachelor’s party together, or would you rather that bridal showers are left as a woman’s only affair as they traditionally have been?

• Yes, please, let’s leave bridal showers to remain a women-only affair.

• While I don’t think it’s a bad idea to have it mixed, I won’t have a mixed bridal shower.

• I am definitely stoked about trying out a mixed bridal and bachelor party shower.