Wedding Showers have changed over the past few years, and now many times the groom and father of the bride are invited to attend. It is a good idea to make it clear in your invitations if you are having a "Wedding Shower" for the couple and men are invited to attend. Decorations:
“...His Banner Over Me Was Love”... Song of Solomon 2:4
Many of the showers I have been to were decorated in the colors that the bride was planning to use in the wedding. The weddings I have attended recently were very elegant using black and red. At one shower, each table had a photo of the bride and groom in a small black picture frame, a single red rose in a black metal vase, and a small red candle surrounded by a few black stones on a mirror. Rose petals, confetti, and balloons are other simple ideas that look very pretty when brought together with two or three complementing colors.Refreshments:
Every shower I attended when I was young served the same refreshments. Cake squares, peanuts, candy mints, sweet pickles, and potato chips were served with some type of punch. More recently I have noticed that sometimes finger sandwiches, fresh fruit, or vegetable and cheese trays have been used to replace some of the above items. Last summer I went to a shower that had the dark chocolate frosted cup cakes, each topped with a cherry in the cup cake tiers and ice cream with various toppings for sundaes. This was served with red punch to compliment their red and black table decorations.Gift Ideas:
“Every Good Gift”... James 1:17
Showers are a lovely way to express your love to the bride and groom with a gift. Here are a few ideas that might be fun...Recipe Cards -- You could put two or three recipe cards in your shower invitations and ask everyone to write down instructions to prepare their favorite dishes and have a pretty recipe card box to put them all in at the shower.
Christmas Tree Ornaments -- My son was married in December and at one of the showers the hostess bought a tree for the couple's new home and asked everyone to bring an ornament for the tree. Many people had special ornaments with the names of the bride and groom painted on them.
Gifts For Charity -- If the bride or groom, or both, already have a house they may not need a wedding shower. Some couples get married and find themselves trying to put two households of furnishings into one house. They may enjoy having a special dinner, with donations given for a favorite charity, instead of gifts.
Games:
“Teach The Young”... Titus 2:4
At the last shower I hosted, I read Titus 2:1-7, and explained that the older guests were going to teach the young bride-to-be and groom-to-be how to do some of the things they will need to do once they were married. In preparation I went to the dollar stores and bought two each of several small items that could be used as gifts, to represent various duties that come with marriage. I wrapped each set of gifts together and put the duty on the gift tag. I asked for a volunteer from the guests and she chose a gift and proceeded to "teach" the couple how to complete the duty listed on the name tag by actions only, no speaking. After the couple guessed the action correctly, the guest opened the prize package and kept one gift, and gave the other to the couple. After several guests had played, I let the couple choose a gift and they "taught" the guests how to ... with the prize going to the first guest that guessed correctly. For a list of duties to perform and sample prizes go to Teach The Young.“What Therefore God Hath Joined Together...”
... Mark 10:9A list of Bible couples is provided to use in a game of Bible Charades or Bible Pictionary. For a paper and pencil matching game of couples in the Bible go to Bible Couples.Making Memories:
Recipe For A Happy Marriage
Buy a pack of recipe cards and let each guest write a "Recipe For A Happy Marriage" on one of the cards. Some may want to read their cards out loud. Picture Mat
I have seen special photo mats made for signatures. Each guest can sign the mat with a special message to the bride and groom. The couple can put the mat around a special picture of the two of them.Bride And Groom Quilt
At a recent wedding shower I attended, the mother of the bride had pre-cut squares of material. She asked each guest to write a special message to the bride and groom with a permanent marker. She then sewed the squares together and made the bride and groom a quilt.Scrapbook
If you go into any craft store, you can often find special shelves for scrapbooking supplies. Buy some decorated pages that complement each other and cut each page in four or six pieces, depending on the size photos you will use. Paste one square near the center of each white page for your scrapbook, putting some at unique angles. Each guest writes a message on one of the pages. Take a picture of each guest to put on the center square of his or her special page. The pages can then be put together in a special scrapbook for the bride and groom.Devotions:
“What Therefore God Hath Joined Together, Let Not Man Put Asunder.”... Mark 10:9
... Mark 10:9There are several phrases in Be Followers Of God which could be used to remind the couple to Be Kind, Be Patient, Be Forgiving, etc. You may also want to look at God Is Love for devotional ideas on love.
