Ten Tried and True Bridal Shower Gifts that are made for Personalizing

Personalized gifts are great for any occasion. Personalizing a gift shows that you care and is a fun way to show how special the recipient is. Personalized gifts are unique in there own way and there are many ways to personalize a gift. Personalized does not just mean you had someone’s name or initials on the gift. You can make a gift personal by adding a photo or a special phrase. The personal touch could just be that you hand made the item or get a gift that is symbolic of a special event or time in the recipient’s life or future. Giving a personalized gift for a bridal shower is a wonderful way to welcome the newlyweds into this world. Personalizing a gift meant for the bride to be is great especially if it is using her new last name or initials. This article will cover just a few tried and true bridal shower gifts that are perfect for personalization.

Lingerie is a great gift that the bride to be will love and is sure to please the groom to be as well! Have the lingerie personalized with the bride’s new initials or a special phrase that will mean something special to the couple. Bathrobes for the couple can be personalized with the usual names but what about something that indicates they are newly weds, perhaps a cute little drawing done by you the gift giver? Maybe you could write a poem to the special couple. Pajamas are another wonderful little gift that can be personalized with a unique appliqué, a set of wedding rings or a bride and groom having their first kiss along with the wedding date of the couple to be.

Candles symbolizing the colors of milestone anniversaries are another way to give a personal touch to a wedding shower gift. For example buy a bunch of candles in a variety of colors and write a special instruction sheet to accompany them. The instructions could include things such as a color chart and a timeline for burning, such as, “Red is for passion, burn these on your first night together.” Wine glasses and picture frames are another great gift that can be personalized with the wedding date or couple’s name. In the picture frame you could also add a picture of you and the bride to be or a picture of the happy couple. A welcome mat with the bride and groom’s new shared last name would be a great idea for a gift that could be given at a party focused on the bride and groom to be.

If you are a crafty person the possibilities for a personalized gift are endless. Just knowing that you crafted the gift yourself will tell the bride to be that you care enough to make a personal gift just for her. As a hostess of a bridal shower you could purchase a scrapbook and pages to go in it. Send the pages to each of the guests and ask them to create a page just for the bride to be. When they come to the bridal shower they can place the pages into the scrapbook and the bride to be will have a memory of all of her friends and family that made the pages. Another personal gift that the guests at the bridal could all contribute to is a cutting board signed and personalized with little messages by all the bridal shower guests. After everyone has signed the cutting board you may want to put a clear coat on it to protect it but the bride to be will probably just display the cutting board in her new kitchen. If you are a hobbyist craft painter maybe you would want to paint a mailbox for the bride and groom to be. You could paint on their house numbers, shared last name, or get creative and maybe paint it with the couple’s wedding color and they could use it for cards at the wedding reception.

Personalized bridal shower gifts are a great idea and can really show the bride and groom to be how special they are to you. No matter what gift you give remember that it is not the gift that counts but the thought you put into it. Try to get the couple or bride to be something that has a purpose.

Spa Inspiring Bridal Showers

Getting married is a joyous occasion for every woman. Planning the wedding can also be a bit stressful and hectic. For this reason, it is a great idea to plan a spa inspiring bridal shower before the big day. With a spa bridal shower, the bride-to-be can relax and enjoy the company of a few of her closest family members and best friends in a fun and memorable way.

Get Started with Invitations

To get the mood started off right, look for bridal shower invitations with a spa theme. Even if the card isn’t specifically for a bridal shower, do your best to find one that refers to the spa theme in some way. More and more bridal showers are going spa-rific, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find an invitation depicting this theme. If you do have trouble, however, he might want to consider making your own spa bridal shower invitations.

Be sure to also include a special note that clearly expresses what will be included at the spa bridal shower and whether or not guests should include gifts. At the same time, try to make the note fun, such as:

It’s a day to be spoiled

And be pampered all the way

With a day at the spa

Before Tricia’s big day!

We have reserved a room at XYZ solon for 2 pm, Sunday May 1. Please be sure to bring $30 for your pedicure and manicure treatment, as well as a spa or beauty themed present for Tricia. We will each enjoy a day of pampering as we toast Tricia’s upcoming nuptials: RSVP to Cindy or Tanya at 555-1234.

Activity Planning

A great way to start off a spa bridal shower is to first attend a yoga class together. The class will help get everyone’s mind and body focused and prepared for a day of fun and pampering. A spa with a steam room or Jacuzzi is another good place to host a spa bridal shower. That way, everyone can enjoy a break in either the steam room or Jacuzzi (or perhaps a bit of both!) between treatments.

The middle of the spa adventure is a good time to grab a light lunch, share a cake, and open presents. If cost is a factor, however, you can wait until after all of the treatments are complete and eat lunch or early dinner together afterward at a restaurant. Gifts can then be exchanged at the restaurant instead.

Gift Ideas

One idea for the spa bridal shower gift is to simply have all the guests pitch in to pay for the bride-to-be’s spa treatments. Check with the spa you will be visiting, though, because some will actually include the bride-to-be’s spa package for free with a certain number of paying guests. Otherwise, a spa bridal shower lends itself naturally to gifts such as lotions and creams. Hair products and other beauty accessories, such as cosmetics, colognes, hair dryers, and robes are also excellent gifts for a spa bridal shower.

Spa Bridal Shower Favors

The perfect spa bridal shower favors are small samples of a variety of pampering products, such as do-at-home face masks, manicure accessories, nail files, or toe separators. Often, free samples of cosmetics can also be obtained from department stores. Gather up as many of these samples as you can and toss them into goodie bags for your guests.

The Home Spa

Another option for the spa bridal shower is to create the spa experience at home. With a home-based spa bridal shower, the hostess can still use many of the same ideas already discussed, but she can indulge and pamper the guests from the comfort of her home. This type of spa bridal shower can save a great deal of money in the long run for those who are on a tight budget. It can also make for a more intimate experience.

Many different facemasks can be purchased, or even made at home, for the at home spa bridal shower. Each guest can wash her face then enjoy a soothing and relaxing facial. Afterward, each guest can apply toner and moisturizer while enjoying each other’s company. Of course, don’t forget to include a snack or lunch, cake, and presents for the bride-to-be!

Bridal Shower Punches - Five Perennial Favorites

Anyone who has ever hosted a bridal shower within the informal setting of a home or backyard will know that food is a major sticking point. Easily a budget buster, food and drinks will need to be carefully contemplated and planned in order to provide the most bang for the buck. Of course, the question of food is second only to the question of drinks, and most often the idea of having a bridal shower punch is the answer many a bridal shower hostess will receive when wondering what to serve. Soda and water should always be available, but for an awesome centerpiece as well as a drink mixture that will go a long ways, punch is still hands down a perennial favorite. Yet not all punches are created equal, and neither do all kinds of punch fit into every type of bridal shower. Here are the five favorites that seem to have found a large following amongst the bridal shower set:

At the top of the list is the Citrus Punch. Citrus punch is a favorite in the summertime and many women in citrus producing states love this easy to make recipe simply because it can be made from lemons and oranges that are growing in their own backyards. The ingredients are so easy to come by that even those who do not live in the sun-kissed citrus producing states will be able to enjoy it. Visit your local mega mart and purchase two cans of frozen lemonade and two cans of frozen orange juice. Mix them together. Add eight cans of water, two cups of grenadine syrup, and three quarts of ginger ale. Be sure that the ingredients are mixed together well! If you have fresh lemons in your backyard, go ahead and add the juice of three fresh lemons. After mixing the punch more time, go ahead and garnish it with fresh lemon or orange slices. This is a favorite especially for the kids!

Of course, for those who live in the coldest climates or are looking forward to a wedding in the middle of winter, a Citrus Punch is perhaps not the best way to go. Instead, how about a Hot and Spicy Punch? The ingredients are surprisingly simple: you simply need two cups of cider and two cups of 7-Up. Mix these ingredients together. Then combine this mixture with one cup of orange juice, the juice of one big lemon, half a cup of brown sugar, and a pinch of salt. Next, prepare a large tea bag to hold one tablespoon of whole cloves, half a teaspoon of allspice, and three to four sticks of cinnamon. This kind of teabag may be fashioned from a couple of coffee filters, or from a discarded cheese cloth. Put the cheese cloth into the mixture and boil it for about five minutes. After the cooking time go ahead and remove the spices and enjoy the punch warm.

If you are pressed for time or money, then the Hawaiian Punch will be a great alternative, and you can be sure that even the younger guests will love it! Simply visit your local mega mart and purchase two one-liter bottles of red punch commercially mixed. This can be found in the soda isle. Next, add a forty-six ounce bottle of pineapple juice. Last but not least, go ahead and add a can of pineapple bits. Voila! You will have a punch that nobody will be able to resist.

Of course, there will be times that the party will be adults only, and at that time it is entirely appropriate to serve alcohol laced punches. For a Hawaiian Punch with a twist, simply combine one gallon of pineapple juice with one quart of vodka, 7-Up, and brandy. Add some lime juice to taste, and serve the concoction chilled.

For a more traditional Champagne Punch, simply choose a gallon of white wine as your base; add four bottles of champagne, two bottles of ginger ale, and some ice cubes. Of course, whenever serving alcoholic beverages, it is imperative that no children are present, that someone will ensure that no inebriated guests get behind the wheel of their cars, and that plenty of non-alcoholic choices are available for the teetotalers of the crowd.

Keep Your Arm and Leg - Seven Unique Ways to Cut the Cost of your Bridal Shower Invitations

Hosting a bridal shower can be a fun and exciting experience. It, however, can involve some pretty extensive planning and costs. You have to decide who to invite. You have to figure out where you plan to hold the party. You need to decide on a theme for your party. You even have to decide what to do at the party, like which games to play, when to eat, and when to open gifts. You have to choose and supply to food for the party. You even have to come up with a cake to help the bride and the guests celebrate. Most importantly, though, you have to come up with invitations to let everyone know when and where the shower will be held. This can, easily, be one of the most expensive parts of the entire wedding shower. There are so many different kinds of invitations to choose from. You can choose one that reflects the bride's wedding invitation. You can choose to send out invitations that reflect your theme. You can choose embossed invitations. You can even make your own invitations. However, if you are on a tight bud get for you wedding shower, you may be looking to cut the costs of your invitations.

One easy way to cut the cost of your bridal shower invitations is to create your own embossed invitations. An embossed invitation gives an elegant, sophisticated feel to the wedding shower. It will help you make the party uniquely yours. A handmade embossed invitation starts with a quick trip to the craft store. Once there, you will need to invest in an embossing heat tool, embossing powder in your desired colors, an embossing ink pad, and stamps. Don't forget the paper. The entire set up will cost you about one hundred dollars. This should be the only set of costs involved with this type of invitation. Moreover, most of your set-up costs are materials that you can reuse for other projects like scrapbooking, thank you notes, and other party invitations in the future. When you go to choose the stamp or stamps, be sure to choose something that fits in with the theme of the wedding or the party. Once you have all of your supplies, simply stamp the stamp pad, and then the paper. Sprinkle some powder and shake of f the excess. Power up your heating tool, and then apply heat to the stamped and powered area. You now have some of the best, cheapest invitations you can make.

Another easy way to keep the costs down on your bridal shower invitations is by purchasing invitations at the store that are clearance material. For the most part, stores restock their invitation store from season to season. In order to clear out older material, they seriously discount the prices. Some stores discount the prices by up to ninety percent. This means that if you were planning to purchase a set of invitations that cost forty dollars, you can get them for just a few bucks if you are able to find them on clearance. These invitations are usually just as good as the newer models, and usually, there is nothing on the invitations to date them, which means that you can use them at any point in the future. If you have your eye on a set of invitations, watch them for a clearance price.

A third great ways to hold down wedding shower invitation costs is to shop at closeout stores for premade wedding invitations. Closeout stores specialize in purchasing large quantities of merchandise that larger companies simply don't want in their stock rooms anymore. Maybe they aren't selling well, or maybe the store needs to make room for new merchandise. Either way, a nice, brand name set of invitations can be yours at about half of the cost they were regularly sold for.

An additional way to keep the costs down on your bridal shower invitations is to make a theme invitation with scrapbooking supplies. With the explosion of the scrapbooking hobby, many stores now carry specialty papers, stickers, and pens that make excellent themed invitation supplies. For example, if you want a beach party wedding shower, you could purchase paper with a shell background. You can find some little flip-flop stickers, and a summery colored pen to complete all of your text with. For around thirty dollars, you have all of the supplies you need to make for any wedding shower theme.

A fifth way to keep your wedding shower invitation costs down is to purchase some software to help you make wedding shower invitations on your computer. There are a number of different programs that will serve to make your wedding shower invitations, cards, and other fun things. Just by some fun paper, and you're on your way to some neat wedding shower invitations.

Another way to keep your wedding shower invitation costs down is to check with the bride's wedding invitation printer. Many of them offer some great package deals. For example, sometimes they'll be happy to give you fifty free shower invitations with the purchase of five hundred wedding invitations. This can be a great deal for you if the bride has already placed a large order for her wedding invitations.

One final way to keep your wedding shower invitation costs down is to look for websites that offer free printable invitations. Many sites will give you a free trial with their product by offering some free invitations. Often these look just as good as the ones you might purchase in the store.

Finding discounted bridal shower invitations or making your own can be a great way to save some cash when you assemble the perfect shower.

Eight Places Perfect for a Bridal Shower Event

If you are planning a bridal shower, you want everything to be perfect. From the theme, to the decorations, to the food, and to the games everything must be just right. With that in mind, special attention needs to also be placed on where your bridal shower will be located. The location of your bridal shower can have a huge impact on how your bridal shower theme turns out. It can also lend itself naturally to some wonderful activities that will be memorable for all that attend.

A Private Home or Apartment

When choosing to have the shower at a private home, the options really are wide open. If you are a traditionalist, then the bridal shower should be held at the maid of honor’s home. It is, however, perfectly fine to have the bridal shower at the home of the bride or at the bride or groom’s parent’s house, or at anybody else’s home you desire. There really are no restrictions as to whose house you can have the bridal shower at. Just be sure to choose a home that is spacious enough to accommodate all of your guests. Don’t forget that the presents will take up space, too! And, somehow, they seem to take up even more space after they are open, so be sure there is plenty of room for the gifts both before and after they are opened. You don’t want to be crowded or cramped in any way.

If you or someone you know lives in an apartment complex, you might also want to look into having the bridal shower on the roof of the apartment. This area is quite spacious and can be a great deal of fun. Empty lofts are another option of living space turned to bridal shower location.

You also need to be sure the home is located somewhere the bride and all of her guests can easily locate and get to. Your home may seem “perfect” in every way, but it won’t matter if no one can find it or if it is so far out of the way that it becomes a hassle.

A Park

A park can offer a pleasant outdoor atmosphere to be enjoyed by all guests. Often, parks have picnic areas that you can use to barbeque some enjoyable treats for guests. A park also lends itself naturally to fun outdoor activities for a “sports” or “outdoors” bridal shower theme.

A Bowling Alley

Many women are choosing to just go out for a night of bowling and pizza for their bridal shower. Typically, this would be a smaller group of women, such as just the bridal party. A bowling alley bridal shower does, however, lend itself well to a co-ed bridal shower because the atmosphere is relaxed and enjoyable for the men, as well.

A Room in the Community Center or a Hall

A room in community center or a rented hall can be great for a bridal shower. Typically, these spaces were designed with special activities such as bridal showers in mind. Therefore, there should be plenty of space available for the

A Bar or Club

Sometimes, there is just nothing better than just going to a bar or club, particularly if those invited to your bridal shower enjoy dancing and having a “girls night out.” Just be sure to only invite those you know would be comfortable in this type of environment. A bar or club is also a good place to have a coed bridal shower.

A Room at Country Club or the Spa

Spending a day at the spa has become an increasingly popular bridal shower trend. This is generally a smaller party, as going to the spa can become quite costly. Often, just the women who are members of the bridal party enjoy this bridal shower. To spend a day at the spa, everyone usually signs up for two or three spa services. The job of the hostess is to ensure the space is available at the spa and to reserve a spot for lunch. At this time, gifts can be exchanged. Or, the guests might combine their money to pay for the spa treatment for the bride-to-be.

A Boat or Yacht

Renting a boat or Yacht for the day can be a great place for a bridal shower. You and your guests can enjoy the scenery and have a great time sailing away. A boat or a yacht can be perfect for a themed bridal shower, particularly if the bride-to-be enjoys sailing or likes gifts with a nautical theme, such as dolphins.

A Restaurant

Restaurant showers are gaining in popularity. This is largely because there is no clean up required afterward and it requires very little preparation. It is customary to pay for the food for guests invited to a bridal shower. You can, however, expect the guests to pay for their own meals and drinks while you provide dessert or a cake. Or, you can put a cap on the spending or only pay for pre-selected foods and drinks. If you won’t be paying for all of the food and drinks, be sure your guests are well aware ahead of time. In fact, this information should be included on the invitation.

A Bounty of Bridal Showers - Can You Have More Than One?

Wedding showers are a rare privilege the bride may enjoy, and thus many a bride to be is looking forward to the gathering of her friends and family to shower her with presents, attention and well wishes prior to the big day itself. The history of bridal showers is a bit murky, but the general consensus is that it dates back to the time of the dowry system, when parents would dower their girls to ensure they would have a good start in their married life and could set up a household with their husbands to be. The story goes that a rich man’s daughter fell head over heels in love with a poor but honorable miller’s apprentice. Against the wishes of the girl’s father the two became engaged and were planning to get married with or without his blessing. In his anger, the father sought to apply financial pressure to the young couple by threatening to withhold the dowry, thus essentially leaving the young couple to be destitute and penniless at the onset of their lives together. The villagers who heard of th is cruelty were incensed and decided to take matters into their own hands and ensure that the couple would have a grand send-off and be able to have all the items they would need to set up their first household together. The villagers banded together and collected all the household essentials the couple would require and then invited the bride to a great gift-giving party where they showered her with these gifts, attention, and well wishes her father neglected to give her. The practice stuck and became a tradition for new brides everywhere. Even in this time of plenty where women are getting married at later ages when many are already well established financially and quite possibly may have more than enough funds to set up a household many times over, the bridal shower is an event many do not wish to do without.

As concerns any event that involves a large number of people, there are some rules of etiquette that need to be observed in order to make sure that nobody’s feelings are hurt, and also to prevent the bride from being accused of greed. One of the most often asked questions deals with the bounty of bridal showers; can you have more than one? Generally speaking the answer is “no” but there are some exceptions. Here are some rules to live by:

Since it is up to your bridesmaids and maid of honor to host the party, please be sure to supply them with your address book, wedding guest list, and phone numbers and addresses. This way they will be able to choose whom they will invite. Depending on their budget, and please remember that it is the bridal party who is footing the bill, this if they can only afford to host for a few, the guest list will be small, you may either encounter almost every female who is invited to the wedding, or only a small circle of your closest friends and family. Your mother, mother-in-law or sister is not in charge of this event, and thus the party your brides’ maids will hold in your honor will be the only shower you will receive.

Since a bridal shower is a “party with a purpose,” namely the giving of gifts to the bride, it is up to you, the bride, to ensure that not a gaggle of well-meaning friends and family members will be hosting a bunch of them. While each of these individuals probably wants to honor you, and your mom probably wants to make sure that you have a couple of pizza stones and slotted spoons, having a number of occasion on which people are to fork over presents is in poor taste and may make your appear greedy.

The two noted exceptions are the out-of-town shower and the office shower. While some of the office staff is probably invited to the actual wedding, many will quite possibly not attend because they probably don’t know you that well. If the office staff wants to throw you a party, this is an acceptable addition to the bridal shower already in the works for you, since this is more or less a work event and an opportunity to allow those with whom you have worked side by side to have a little informal event to express their appreciations and well wishes to you. The other exception is the shower that will be held by out of town friends and family who cannot attend your own bridal shower. At times, you may not actually be at the party itself, but the hostess will gather the presents and present them at your wedding party.