Bridal Shower Timeline

Woah your shower list is HUGE aha but hey the more the merrier right? For my shower I recall having like 5-7 games but some of them weren't interactive in the sense that they didn't have to be hosted by someone. Such as it was a board of pictures of me throughout ages and people just guessed at what age each picture was or there was a jar of kisses candy and people guessed how many candy there was in it. Things like that my bridesmaids just counted the score after on their own during. I had basically a gift for every game. But we also had party favors for everyone.
But keep in mind.. you may wanna open gifts during and with that many guests you may have a ton of gifts to open.

Four hours seems like a long time for a shower. Keep the games to a minimum. 1-2 max. Give people a drink/something to eat right away.

My shower is this weekend. My RSVPs ended up being 66 (both FH and I have huge extended families and a large bridal party). My mom and sister (MOH) did most of the planning but because I am a control freak I had a hand in the games. I wanted my guests to have something to do while I open presents, with a large guest list like PP said I may have a lot to open, so I decided to do present bingo, the guests fill out their own cards with likely gifts and play along. I am also doing a how old is the bride but the pictures will be scattered around the venue so people will mingle. My sister loves the what's in your purse game so we are doing that too. My mom got 2 prizes per game just in case there are ties in the scores, I suggest this so there are no hard feelings.

Run of the day (approx):

11-12 - mingle/drinks/how old is the bride

12-1 - lunch/thank everyone for coming/bridal party intros

1-2 - what's in your purse/cake&dessert/prizes for how old is the bride

2-3 - fill in bingo cards, open gifts, present hostess gifts/good-byes

Hey Erin! How exciting to be a part of the planning of your bridal shower! Who is hosting it for you?

I would definitely recommend having some food out upon arrival, even if it just some nibbles if you would prefer to have the main food a little closer to lunchtime. You should also offer your guests a drink as soon as they arrive. The first hour will most likely be greeting everyone that arrives, some mingling and chatting. With such a large guest list, it may take some time to get through all of the games so take that into account also. Having a few prizes per game is a good idea since you are probably going to have some ties, unless you want to have tiebreaker rounds to ensure that there is only one winner.

What food are you planning on serving?

Ours was a couples shower last weekend from 1-4. Setup started at noon. We didn't have actual games but instead had mingle cards, a date jar and how old were the bride and groom which had a prize for whoever got the most correct. Between those, everyone eating/talking and us opening gifts it was plenty of time. We had 30 attend of the 47 invited. We didn't have any favors.

I would have a 2-3 games and a prize for each. Make sure there is time for people to eat and mingle as well as for you to open gifts without feeling rushed. We didn't go by any timeline because we wanted people to kind of do their own thing and visit. Whoever is hosting the shower can let everyone know that so and so game is about to start.

My sister in laws shower lasted about 3 hours and we had brunch and played 3 games. Then, she opened gifts and had mingle time!

View Quoted Comment I thought my list was small compared to all the other showers I’ve been to lol Okay, I like that you had small “games” like the jar of kisses, that’s a good idea!

View Quoted Comment All of the showers I’ve been to have been 4 hours. It’s at a venue so I think it’s just like a standard time now. Yes, we will have drinks available for guests and lunch will be at noon because I know even I will be ready to eat lol

It seems very long. I work at a hotel so I see events all of the time and I stole ideas from there. For the shower with that amount of people it seems a lot and also lot of expenses. For me as I Said I stole the idea of a gateway with my closest friends. They will give you presents anyways. Don’t stress so much for the shower just enjoy yourself it’s about you, and they are celebrating your happiness they will be happy with anything you offer. 😃

View Quoted Comment My sister (MOH) and my best friend are yelling at me for all the planning I’m doing but I can’t help that I’m a control freak! Good idea on getting 2 gifts per game, I’ll have to keep that in mind. And thank you for the outline. It’s not going to be a forced itinerary but I wanted to see how others chose to incorporate the games into the day. I’ve been to many showers but never paid much attention to that part.

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So my bridal shower was yesterday. I had my makeup trial right before so I would look good. I had a rough time getting my false eyelashes to glue down so it took and extra 45 minutes. I was almost an hour late to my own shower! Thank god for that buffer of 1 hr for guests to mingle. Some guests even thought it was intentional that I arrived later. LOL Lunch and games actually went quicker than we thought but because we had such a large guest list opening gifts ended up taking a bit longer so it all evened out. Good luck!

YOU don't have to worry about these things!

Whoever is throwing your shower will take care of making sure the event flows smoothly. You just need to show up and enjoy everyone's company!

I am having multiple showers and those throwing every single one of them have reiterated that this is not an event I have the burden of coordinating. I think that's pretty much how it goes most of the time.

View Quoted Comment Anne, my future MIL, mom and bridesmaids have all said the same thing but I’m such a control freak I can’t help it lol I’m just doing a little bit to feel involved, nothing crazy.

View Quoted Comment Girl I get it! They keep having to tell me to sit tf down too 🤣