Bridal showers are one of the most exciting pre-wedding occasions. This is a good time when the soon-to-be-missus is surrounded by close friends and family members, with many gathering to celebrate the start of a new life for the woman of the moment.
And while bridal showers are a big thing to the bride-to-be, proper time management of the event also contributes to the vividness of the party. Therefore, you may want to keep the event within reasonable timeliness which leads to the question: how long should a bridal shower last?
Bridal showers should last between two to around four hours. You don’t want to host an event that seems to go on forever and neither do you want to host an event that seems short and unplanned for.
To ensure that you plan and host a shower that your guests will enjoy, below are a few pointers to help you with planning the bridal shower timeline and order of events.
Ensure to Keep it Short
In most cases, bridal showers last between two to around four hours as anything shorter than this might make your guests feel as if they didn’t have a good time to spend with the soon-to-be bride. On the other hand, make sure that the bridal shower doesn’t go on for more than four hours as some of your guests may be itching to get back home.
To ensure that everything goes on well, it may be helpful to come up with a list stating the start time and the end time on all your invites to ensure that they have an idea of how long the bridal shower party will take.
Time tends to fly as you have fun
If you’ve never heard it before, guests tend to have more fun, especially when they have something to do. For that reason, you may you may want to do something fun as opposed to just playing bridal shower games.
A majority of brides tend to skip bridal shower games with most of them preferring to socialize. However, non-conventional games such as candle making or cake decoration are all fun ways to ensure you keep your guests happy and busy throughout the shower.
Opt for something different
Are you nervous about the timing of your bridal shower? If that’s the case, you may want to forego a conventional shower and try something totally different, such as a wedding tea shower. It can be a good idea to have tea as opposed to a wedding shower.
With a bridal shower tea party idea, the guests will lay their gifts in front of the table in addition to a card from where the gift comes from, thereby allowing the soon-to-be bride a good time to enjoy with close acquaintances and family.
A Comprehensive Bridal Shower Schedule
Below is a brief look at what happens at a typical bridal shower occasion:
- Arrival of the guests – about 20-30 minutes. Make sure that your guests keep time or are aware of the arrival time.
- Drinks and food – about 15-20 minutes (it’s always a good idea for guests to serve themselves food and drinks)
- Chosen bridal shower games – about an hour into the bridal shower after the guests are done eating, it’s good to have a short icebreaker game.
- Opening of the bridal shower gifts by the soon-to-be missus – an hour or an hour and a half
- Invites departure – around 15-20 minutes, especially if you’ve rented out a venue
Wrap Up
Bridal showers are wonderful moments for the bride to enjoy her last days with friends and close family members before getting married. And even though the soon-to-be bride needs to spend this time with the people that she values the most, this event should drag on for more than four hours.
You need to understand that your invites have their own schedules and when hosting such an event, you need to ensure that it lasts two to around four hours. A short time may lock some of your friends out or fail to see you enjoy bridal shower games and other activities, while too much time may inconvenience some of your guests who may have other business to attend to.
