Bridal Shower Gift Etiquette

The bridal shower is a ceremony organised by the maid of honour where the guests gift the bride with items she would need to run a household. A bridal shower ceremony is believed to have started due to ancient dowry practices. The ceremony has its root in Holland where a wealthy girl once fell madly in love with a poor man who was rejected by her family. However, the girl was determined to marry the man without her parent’s consent. So she went ahead and married her lover. As a result, she was not given any dowry by her livid parents. Looking at the wretched condition of the newly married couple, the villagers pooled in resources and gifted essential items to the bride and the groom to start wedded life. This incident is said to have laid the foundation for bridal shower ceremonies that are so popular today. There are certain basic etiquettes to follow for bridal showers. Read the following section to learn about them.

Etiquettes To Follow For A Bridal Shower

It is the maid of honour that is entitled to host a bridal shower party. Nevertheless, if the maid is out of town or is not available for some reason, some other family member or close relative can take up the responsibility.
Make sure that you take the permission of the maid of honour before taking up the responsibility of the bridal shower. It is the privilege of the maid of honour and you should make it a point to ask her before taking up the responsibility. Make sure that you keep her informed of the occasion through e-mails and calls.
A bridal shower is said to take place at least 4-5 weeks before the wedding day. The reason as to why this ceremony is conducted a month or so before the wedding day is because the bride is going to get too busy with her wedding preparations. Therefore, a bridal shower should always be hosted well ahead of the wedding day.
Bridal shower has undergone lots of changes in recent years. Initially all the brides relatives received an invite for her bridal shower ceremony. However, this was not part of traditional bridal shower etiquettes. According to tradition, a bridal shower is meant to be a small occasion with bride’s closest relatives and friends taking part in it.
Women whom you are not inviting for the wedding should not be asked to join the bridal shower ceremony. You can call anyone from the wedding invite’s list, from colleagues to grandmothers.
Co-ed bridal shower ceremonies are becoming common now-a-days and have become like engagement parties. A co-ed bridal shower ceremony is usually held in the evening. One should check with both the bride and the groom if the plan will work out for them or not.
It is a common custom to send formal invitations for bridal showers. If you have decided a theme for the party, make sure to include it in the way the invitation looks. You can be at your creative best to make the invitation look attractive and appropriate with the theme.
Though most of the shower ceremonies include games and activities now-a-days, it is not a necessity. There is no hard and fast rule to include any activity on the day. Nevertheless, whatever is arranged should go on slickly.
If you have been invited to a bridal shower, you must take the gift personally and not send it by post or courier.
Gifts that are bought should be properly wrapped in gifting paper. Choose a colourful and a decorative gift paper to wrap the gift with. You can also attach a pretty bow or ribbon around the gift to make it look elegant and grand. Moreover, do not forget to attach a card with your wishes penned down.
The gift opening ceremony should also be carried out in a proper way. Opening of the gifts should be done either after or before dinner is served. Assign a guest to pen down the names of the people and the gifts they brought along. This will help the bride while writing the thank you notes for the guests who attended her bridal shower ceremony.

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