Get Crafty!

Add some activities to a bridal shower to make it more fun. If you give everyone something to do with their hands you’ll have less awkward small talk and more fun overall – particularly if your guest list is made up of a bunch of people who won’t know each other very well. These ideas could work at a bachelorette party too, depending on the tone of the event.

Ring Fling

Provide an assortment of materials and let guests craft their own engagement ring. Offer prizes for the most outrageous, most realistic, etc. Raid your craft supplies – if you’re not a big craft nerd like me, you can also go to a dollar store or craft store and pick up: metallic-colored pipe cleaners, large beads, ribbons, glitter glue, and whatever else you see that will work.

Check out this impressive looking ring from craftbits.com (visit the site for a tutorial).

Garter Fun

Everyone makes their own garter and then make all the guests wear it out on the stagette, if you like! Or everyone could make one and then the bride picks which one she will actually wear at the wedding.There’s a tutorial at applebride.com. Another option, buy simple and inexpensive garters for every guest and then ask them to decorate them instead. This is a quick and easy activity that could start off a fun evening. Garters should include the guests name or role in the wedding and the decorations will serve as an icebreaker when everyone is mingling at the party. It’s also a cheeky way to identify everyone in the group if you are heading downtown for the second half of the evening.

A plain white garter at koyalwholesale.com is only $2.99 (while on sale). Ideas for decorations: feathers, flowers, felt hearts (or other shapes), beads, gems, lace, ribbons, charms, etc. Also consider buying some fabric pens or self-applicating paint.

The garter pictured below is from mypromstyle.com.

Tampon Brides

Each guest makes a bride from a tampon for a fun craft activity that promotes lots of laughter and female bonding. Provide the following materials: tampons, glue gun, paint, pipe cleaners, yarn, embroidery thread, cardboard, glitter glue, beads, etc. This craft was inspired by the infamous Tampon Angel – I was pleasantly suprised to find a whole website dedicated to tampon crafts (tamponcrafts.com- their angel is pictured below).

The first installment in a series about how you can prevent your wedding from becoming an example of a worst case scenario!

Today we focus on…

Part 1: The Bride

You may have heard the saying, “If you can’t be a good example, then be a cautionary tale.” Well, you don’t want to be that bride people talk about and you don’t want your wedding catastrophe viewed on youtube by millions of people, right? Here are a few tips.

1. Don’t try out any new foods in the days leading up to your wedding – you don’t want to have to deal with an allergic reaction or, worse, explosive diarrhea!

thisiswhyyourefat.com

2. Try your dress on again one week before your wedding just to make absolutely sure you fit into it properly.  Wear it for at least 1o minutes and wear all of the underthings and accessories you plan to wear on your big day. Bend over, sit down, dance, try out some stairs – anything you will be doing on the day of your wedding.

3. Wear your shoes in- how many hours will you wear them during the event? Try wearing them for this same amount of time and make sure you can do it. Sore, blistered feet will have a negative effect on your wedding night…

4. Don’t get drunk! There are already too many examples of drunken brides on YouTube. Yes you want to have fun, but remember you also want to look good in the photos and you want to REMEMBER the event! Try drinking a glass of water between each alcoholic beverage if you will find this a challenge. I found that I didn’t even have the chance to drink – I was so busy getting pictures taken, giving toasts, dancing, etc – the time by went so fast.

5. Don’t try out a new type of deodorant or tampon on your wedding day! And, seriously, don’t put deodorant on your FACE like this lady…

Any other tips? If you can think of any please share them in the comments and I might feature them in Part 2 – coming soon!