The best bridal shower games are quick to explain, need little setup and get guests who don’t know each other talking. For a two to three hour shower, plan three to five: open with an icebreaker, play one or two games about the couple, and finish with something active.
Pick from the 12 games below: icebreakers, games about the couple and team games. If the bride would rather skip games, the last FAQ has alternatives. Still deciding the guest list? Here is whether men should be invited to the bridal shower.
Allow one longer game or two short ones per hour. A two-hour shower fits three or four games with time left for food, gifts and speeches. Keep a spare in your back pocket in case one falls flat, and save Bridal Bingo for the gift opening.
Every guest gets a plastic ring as they arrive. Anyone who says a banned word, such as “bride”, “groom” or “wedding”, can have their ring taken by whoever caught them. The guest holding the most rings at the end wins. It runs all afternoon with no setup beyond the rings.
Read from a list of items (a receipt from this week, hand cream, a hair tie) and award a point for each one a guest can pull from her bag. The most points wins.
Before the shower, make bingo cards filled with gifts the bride is likely to receive, or items from her registry. Guests mark off each one as she opens her presents, and the first to complete a row calls out. It keeps everyone involved during the gift opening.
Put together a list of quotes from the bride and the groom and have guests guess who said each one. Pick the funniest and strangest lines you can find. Whoever gets the most right wins.
Record the groom answering questions about the relationship (“Who said I love you first?”) on video. Ask the bride the same questions at the shower, then play his answer after each one. It’s funniest when she gets them wrong.
Print traditional vows with blanks for nouns, verbs and adjectives. Guests call out words for each blank without seeing the vows, then the bride reads her new and improved version aloud.
Read out lines from romantic films and have guests name the movie. It needs nothing but a host and a phone, so it works well as a fill-in between courses.
Guests stand in a circle and pass a bouquet while music plays. Whoever is holding it when the music stops is out, until one guest is left.
Blow up a photo of the bride and cut out veils from fabric with tape on the back. Blindfolded and spun around, each guest tries to place the veil on the bride’s head.
Line up bottles and give each player a set of rings. Take turns tossing, and whoever lands the most rings on the bottles wins.
Fill buckets with icy water and drop toy rings in the bottom. Guests fish the rings out with their feet, and the fastest wins.
Put bowls of cherries on the tables and see who can tie a stem into a knot with their tongue. If cherries are out of season, gummy candy laces work the same way.
Put the game plan on the bridal shower invitations if guests need to bring anything, and see our bridal shower gift guide for what to give. If the shower is part of a bigger celebration, like a destination wedding weekend, Wedded Concierge can plan it with you. If you are shopping for the wedding in Melbourne, Wedded World Melbourne, The Fashion, Travel & Wellness Edition, runs on 7 and 8 November.
Written by
Senior SEO Specialist, Wedded Wonderland
Mark Tuason is the Senior SEO Specialist at Wedded Wonderland, where he writes and refreshes the brand's guides to destination weddings and cultural wedding traditions. He starts with the questions couples search for, checks the answers against trusted sources, and shapes each guide to help them plan, compare and book with confidence. Based in the Philippines, he specialises in content strategy and on-page SEO.
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