Bon Voyage Bridal Shower Ideas
- A cruise- or boating-themed shower conveys the glamor of sailing the bounding main. Contact a local yacht or boating club to rent a houseboat for the afternoon, or hold the shower at an upscale restaurant or clubhouse that conjures up images of the stately dining rooms of bygone ships. Have a christening ceremony at the beginning of your shower before you embark on the "Queen Marry" for the day; if breaking a bottle of champagne over the boat's hull isn't feasible, uncork the bottle and toast the bride-to-be and the boat. Serve a sea-worthy menu of shrimp scampi over pasta, grilled vegetables and floating islands for dessert. Navy and white table linens and nautical accents such as anchors and life-preservers bearing the couple's names and wedding date complete the look.
- Take a trip around the world with a globetrotting shower, perfect for a bride-to-be who has the travel bug. Host the shower at a private home and decorate each room to reflect the wonders of a different country or continent. Assign each guest a country in her invitation and ask each to bring a typical food dish from her assigned country; China might bring eggrolls, England could serve scones and clotted cream, Brazil may whip up fried bananas. Gifts can also be themed by country, allowing guests to stretch the motif even further. For a fun party game, print a list of wedding traditions from different countries and ask guests to guess the country of origin. Purchase small plastic photo albums and insert an image of a passport cover into the front cover panel of each, to make inexpensive, travel-themed shower favors.
- Plan your party games, food and decorations around the bride-to-be's honeymoon destination. An island honeymoon could inspire grilled chicken, fragrant rice and games of limbo. If the couple is planning on honeymooning at a winery, hold a wine tasting at the shower. Ask guests to bring gifts that the couple could use on their honeymoon. Gift ideas range from money holders and travel guides to saucier presents like romantic lingerie. If the bride-to-be is conservative or would be embarrassed by anything racy, make sure to inform the guests of that. If the couple is going to honeymoon in a foreign country, guests could play a quiz game in which they're divided into teams and asked to guess the translation for different words from the honeymoon country. For shower favors, buy small boxes that resemble suitcases and fill them with chocolates or small treats.
- Not every voyage takes travelers to distant lands; a sweet and personal "Bon Voyage" shower can focus on a location that's meaningful to the wedding couple. Host the shower at an important or sentimental spot from the couple's courtship, such as the backyard where they met at a friend's barbecue, the restaurant where they had their first date, the site of the proposal, or the park that they love to frequent on weekends. Decorate the space with flowers and photos of the couple at a number of their key courtship locations, and name tables at the party after spots that figure prominently in their relationship. Ask guests to bring gifts that will help them on their "journey" through married life, be it items for the kitchen or garden supplies to create a backyard sanctuary.