A bridal shower is something that a bride looks forward to throughout her entire engagement. But when there’s a worldwide pandemic happening, stay-at-home orders going on, and bans on large gatherings… what are you supposed to do? This is where a virtual bridal shower can come into play!
A virtual bridal shower may not be the dream that you’ve always had for your special day… but, there aren’t many things nowadays that we would have considered normal just a few months ago. Even though a virtual bridal shower will never be able to take the place of an in-person shower, it’s still possible to have a virtual experience that can make the bride feel special!
6 Tips for Holding a Virtual Bridal Shower
The silver lining? A virtual shower may even mean that more friends and family will be able to attend! Here’s how to pull off the best possible virtual bridal shower that will make the bride feel like she didn’t miss out on the experience.
Send out invitations
Sending out invitations is a surefire way to make sure that the shower stays organized and cohesive. These invitations will hold all of the details — a link to the couple’s registry, where and when the virtual shower will be held, and any other small details that you may want to communicate!
One of the simplest ways to do this is to create a private Facebook event that lays out all of the details.
Another option is to send out virtual invitations. This can be done through a few different websites, including Greenvelope, Evite, and Paperless Post. These are probably your best bet if you’re planning the shower in a short time period!
Of course, you can always choose to send out formal, paper invitations. These may make things feel just a little more festive and official!
As mentioned before, you may even choose to add a dress code to your invitation. This way, everyone can feel dressed up and more “together” while attending!
Choose a platform to host the shower
One of the most crucial aspects to planning a virtual shower is choosing where to host it. There are a ton of options, but you want to choose something that is most easily accessible by everyone. Options include:
- Facebook live event
- Facebook Messenger
- Zoom
- Google Hangouts
- Skype
- Facetime
Decorate
A way to make a virtual bridal shower feel more like… well, a bridal shower… is to decorate as much as you can! If at all possible, have the host decorate the backdrop of where the bride will be sitting during the shower. This may include clusters of balloons, a banner, or festive garland. The possibilities are endless!
The best part? You can then take a picture of the backdrop, and send it to all of the attendees before the shower. As long as the video platform has the option, all attendees can then set that picture as their virtual background. It will be a nice surprise to the bride and will make it feel more like everyone is actually together!
Don’t forget food and drinks!
Make sure to send the bride food, dessert, and drinks to enjoy during the shower! You can send over homemade goodies, or use a food delivery service to help support local businesses. A lot of bakeries offer delivery services, and many restaurants are even allowed to deliver alcohol with your food during this time!
Another fun way to keep everyone feeling like they’re really together is to send all guests a signature cocktail recipe beforehand. Or, everyone can pop open a bottle of champagne together!
Have virtual games
What’s a bridal shower without the games? Not everyone is a fan of bridal shower games, but they can be a game-changer for a virtual shower. Some fun options include:
- A Q&A session with the bride — have everyone hold up what they think her answers are on a piece of paper!
- Bridal Bingo — incorporate possible gifts onto a bingo card and have guests fill it out as she opens them!
- Name That Love Song
Don’t forget about prizes. Winners could win virtual gift cards to local restaurants and other small businesses. If you want to forego prizes, you can consider donating to local hospitals or charities instead!
Don’t forget the gifts!
The easiest way to make sure all gifts get to the bride is to purchase off of her registry. Gifts can be shipped directly to her this way. You just have to make sure that everyone orders them in enough time for them to get to her for the shower!
What should you do in the case that there’s no registry? You can opt for virtual gift cards, or purchase travel-related gifts — airline miles, honeymoon funds, etc.
Don’t forget to have someone in charge of writing down who got each gift for the bride! This will make it easy for her to send out thank-you’s.
Many bridal showers also have a recipe-sharing aspect, and this is really simple to do with a virtual shower, too! Everyone can send their recipes to the bride via a Facebook event or message/e-mail. During the shower, everyone can share the history of that recipe or what it means to their family.
Virtual Bridal Shower Planning Checklist
