Recipes For Chicken Marsala

Five Fun Bridal Shower Themes and Their Fabulous Favors

Yes, the bride is always the center of attention at her bridal shower, but with these five, fantastic theme ideas, you may quickly become "the hottest hostess in town." Along with the themes, you'll get tips on invitations, decorations and the perfect favor for each theme.

Those of us who have hosted bridal showers know this: once you pick a theme, everything falls quickly into place--the invitations, the decorations and the bridal shower favors. Let's take a look at five easy-to-arrange bridal shower themes and the options you'll have for putting together a sensational party for one very lucky bride-to-be.



Theme One: "With This Ring"

A "With This Ring" bridal shower celebrates the sparkling symbol of love and betrothal--a diamond ring. You'll be surprised and delighted at the decorations and favors that fit this theme. Simply search the Internet using the right keywords, and you'll find exactly what you're looking for--like the "engagement ring" invitation at the right. Check out the video below to see the ideal cake--and table centerpiece--for this theme:

The Perfect Cake for a "With This Ring"-Themed Bridal Shower!
Though you can find several bridal shower favors that feature engagement rings, the bottle-stopper favor at the right can't be topped. It's the creative packaging that sets this solid-chrome bottle stopper apart. The diamond-shaped, cut-crystal engagement ring comes in a gift box designed to look like an upscale jeweler's ring box. It truly captures the moment when a man opens the tiny box and asks a woman to marry him! These favors look lovely at any place setting.

Theme Two: "Dreams Do Come True"

A beautiful sentiment, "Dreams Do Come True" lends itself to two kinds of parties--a standard bridal shower held in a home, a restaurant or event facility, or a pajama party for just an evening or overnight! After all, sleeping and dreaming go hand-in-hand, although you might not get much sleep playing games, eating fun food and opening gifts. And how can you resist making the pajama party a lingerie shower? There's a lingerie shower-themed invitation (left, ) but what can really bring in your theme is sending your invitations using the "Dreams Do Come True" stamp on the right.

Anything goes for your menu--have it catered, order pizza, make a buffet with finger foods, like chicken nuggets, satay chicken on sticks, appetizers, potato or pasta salad, chips and dip--enough to last the night until breakfast the next morning. Here's an idea for the centerpiece on your buffet table: Have your bakery make a sheet cake that looks like a white bed pillow with the phrase "Dreams Do Come True. Ask them to put the "Dreams Do Come True" black-satin sleep mask (left) above the writing. Dreamy, right? And you might want to get the sleep masks to hand out as favors, because everybody is going to want one!

Theme Three: "Love In Bloom"

Potentially the most colorful and easiest to arrange of the five themes, "Love In Bloom" is all about flowers--flowered invitations, flower decorations, flower cake, flower favors. You might want to make your guest of honor's favorite flower the predominant flower, or you can choose to create a multi-hued, gorgeous garden wherever you hold the shower. As you can well imagine, everything you need can be found with a flower motif, like the blank-card invitation at the left and the amazing cake on the right.

Table decorations can be as simple as fresh flowers in a clear vase or a few flower-shaped floating candles in a shallow glass bowl.

Flowers are a favorite bridal shower favor motif, so you won't have any problem finding them in stores or online. You'll find flowers on favor boxes, candles, bottle stoppers, glass coasters, tea light holders, decorative soaps, place card holders, salt-and-pepper shakers, hand fans and more. Since your theme is flowers, why not send guests home with personalized, wildflower-seed bags (right, ) so guests can create their own garden full of color and fragrance in their own backyard?

For a wonderful added touch at the end of the shower, play a game to distribute the flower centerpieces to guests and last, but not least, present the bride-to-be with a lush, full bouquet of flowers to take home.

Theme Four: "She's Found Her Prince"

And he's found her! No bridal shower-theme list would be complete without the fairy tale, would it? One of the most popular themes for a wedding also sets the stage for an enchanting bridal shower. Because there are so many items available for those fairy-tale weddings, you can easily adapt most of those items for your bridal shower. These personalized bridal shower invitations with a king's castle in the lower-left corner will say "She's Found Her Prince" at the top.

Spice up the menu with things like "Her Majesty's Chicken Marsala, " "Potatoes Princess" and "Shoe String Beans." As long as we're talking about the menu, you might want to consider a cake like the one on the left for a centerpiece and, of course, for dessert. You can have a bakery create a less-elaborate "shoe" cake that will still taste wonderful and dazzle your guest.

Like flowers, fairy-tale favors are easy to find. Shoes, castles, gowns, crowns, carriages and even a frog prince like the one on the right are among your options. If you don't wish to imply that the groom-to-be is a former amphibian thanks to some wicked spell, you might want to choose something more romantic, like the "Happily Ever After" Carriage Candle (left.) Just use your imagination. Your guests and the guest of honor will definitely fall under the spell of your charming fairy-tale bridal shower.


Theme Five: "Recipe for Love"

If you want to throw the bride-to-be a kitchen shower, just add the "Recipe for Love" theme and stir! All the ingredients for a kitchen shower are waiting for you online or in the store around the corner! First, find personalizable kitchen-shower invitations like the one on the right. At the top, write
"Recipe For Love"
A Kitchen Shower for (bride-to-be's name)

and fill in all the details.

You might ask all the guests to email you their favorite recipes ahead of time, so you can print each one on a recipe card and present them in a recipe box to the guest of honor. Another option is to have it in the home of someone with a large kitchen and invite a gourmet chef to demonstrate how to cook up a couple of recipes and serve them to your guests.

It's fun to get creative with kitchen-shower centerpieces for your tables. For example, you can pick up some colorful mixing bowls, large, glass measuring cups or colanders and fill them with flowers.

The menu can be anything you want it to be. Maybe you can find out what the guest of honor's favorite dishes are and serve them. Here's an idea for a cake to match your theme: Have your baker make a simple, decorated sheet cake and put the following on it:

Recipe for Love

Ingredients:

2 Hearts Full of Love
2 Heaping Cups of Kindness
2 Armfuls of Gentleness
2 Cups of Friendship
2 Cups of Joy
2 Big Hearts Full of Forgiveness
1 Lifetime of Togetherness
2 Minds Full of Tenderness

Directions:

Stir daily with Happiness, Humor and Patience.
Serve with Warmth and Compassion, Respect and Loyalty.

"Recipe for Love" Place Card/Photo/Recipe Holder

"The Perfect Blend" Kitchen Timer

"Seasoned with Love" Cheese Shaker

"Have a Ball!" Melon Baller