We’ve all been there—enjoying a perfectly nice, normal wedding shower when all of a sudden some overzealous bridesmaid proclaims it’s time to play bridal shower games. Personally, I internally cringe every time and try not to meet anyone’s eye so I don’t appear to be a weak target that can get sucked into wrapping the beautiful bride in toilet paper. Anyone else?
Thankfully, I have been to some great wedding showers lately that have shown me there are some bridal shower games and activities that don’t make me want to run and hide in the bathroom. Here are 27 of my favorites—the bride (and the guests) will love you for implementing any one of these!
27 Bridal Shower Games and Activities that Don’t Suck
- Arrange some flowers. What says bridal more than flowers? Purchase a variety of blooms from a local supermarket or farmer’s market and let guests get creative. Purchase a set of small vases like this, then take their bouquet home with them as a party favor.
- Listen to musical matchmaking. This is one of the bridal shower games that might take a bit more planning, but is so fun! Ask guests to add their wedding song to a shared playlist then play 30 seconds of the song so guests can guess each others.
- Decorate cookies. Amp up the snack bar by serving plain cookies and encouraging guests to decorate. Bonus points if you make cookies with wedding cookie cutters!
- Sketch & guess the dress. Since most people have not seen the bride’s wedding dress yet, let guests take their best guess at what it might look like. Hand out these free printable guess the dress cards along with some colored pencils and get creative. The bride can choose the ones that look closest to her dress, or just her favorites if she wants to keep her look a surprise for the big day.
- Hunt for wedding rings. This activity is like Easter egg hunting, except instead of candy, plastic Easter eggs are filled with faux engagement rings. Provide your guests with baskets, and send them off to hunt. Whoever finds the most wins! Grab the printable direction sheet here.
- Play wedding word scramble. This fun word scramble is one of the bridal shower games that people can do throughout the event at their own pace. The prize goes to the person(s) who unscramble the most.
- Name the groom. Another fun bridal shower game is to try this version of name that groom. Print out photos of women celebrities and have guests try to guess her groom. It’s harder than you’d think!
- Play two truths and a lie. This game is such a fun way for guests to have an opportunity to share a few favorite stories about the bride. Everyone takes a turn telling two true stories and one lie about the bride, then everyone tries to guess which one is the lie.
- Build your own flower crown bar. This whimsical, fun activity will allow guests to be entertained while also learning something new—plus, think how cute the pictures will be! Provide some blooms and some supplies such as floral shears and hot glue guns, then follow this easy tutorial.
- Create competitive cocktails. This could be one of the best bridal shower games ever. Put guests into groups and have each group come up with a fun cocktail. The bride gets to taste them all and choose her favorites!
- Play bridal Bingo. This is one of the most popular bridal shower games—for good reason! These free printable blank Bingo cards allow attendees to guess what they think the bride will receive, filling in each blank box with a different item. When the bride opens her gifts during the shower, guests can begin crossing off their squares. First one to get BINGO wins!
- Relax with a spa bar. Set up an area where guests can indulge in an at-home spa treatment or two. A DIY hand scrub in 3-4 different scents is an affordable and fun way to do this—just make sure you add a few bottles of lotion to top it off.
- Play hot potato. Remember the classic game as a child where you pass around something until the music stops? Make it into one of many fun bridal shower games by passing a bouquet instead. Remember, whoever has the bouquet when the music stops is out. Winner keeps the flowers!
- Let everyone show off how well they know the bride. This is another free printable activity guests will love. Pass out these cards and let people prove how well they know the bride.
- Guess her age. This idea from Martha Stewart Weddings is fun – gather photos of the bride throughout her life and have guests take their best guess at how old she was.
- Try a scavenger hunt. Create a list of items for guests to gather in teams or as individuals. Whoever finds them all first wins! Use this editable template to create a custom list of your own.
- Guess what she’d rather do. Another fun activity is to guess what the bride would rather do. This version makes you choose between items such as call or text, beach or ocean, or red or white wine.
- Play he said, she said. This game is such a fun and easy way for everyone to get to know the bride and groom better. Let your guests guess things such as who spends more time on social media and who is more likely to get lost. Laughs are practically guaranteed!
- Create your own nail polish. This is one of those bridal shower games or activities that also doubles as a party favor—a true win-win! Set up a DIY nail polish bar and allow guests to create a custom polish blend.
- Try a classic group party game. There are a ton of super fun group games out there—why not play at the shower? Apples to Apples or Telestrations are good ones to try.
- Fill out recipe cards. Virtually every bride can appreciate a good recipe, whether she makes it herself or passes it along to her husband-to-be. A bridal shower is a perfect opportunity to collect dozens of excellent recipes for the bride and groom to cook together—simply print out these free recipe cards and ask guests to fill them out.
- Enjoy lawn games. Whoever said bridal shower games have to be all wedding-themed? If you have a lawn space, let guests play fun games such as ladder toss, giant Jenga, or croquet.
- Play bridal charades. Take your classic charades game and make it bridal-themed. You can either allow guests to put their own wedding-related ideas in, or simply grab this printable.
- Engage in some wine tasting. Set up several types of wine for guests to drink, and have them write their guesses as to the type, region and fruit notes. Make sure you cover the original labels with these cute wine labels.
- Play ‘what’s in your purse’. This game is another one of the easy bridal shower games that pretty much everyone can enjoy. The only requirements are a purse and a bit of honesty! Guests can check off what’s in their bag using this free printable template – whoever checks off the most items wins! One great idea for a prize for this game is a purse organizer, as they clearly carry many things.
- Play ‘what’s on your phone’. This is a spin-off of the game above, but instead of marking off what’s in your purse you share what’s on your phone.Grab the game card here.
- Create custom jewelry. Treat your guests to a one-of-a-kind jewelry bar, where they can make custom pieces of their own. In addition to pretty beads and embellishments, make sure you have a basic jewelry making kit on hand.
So, which one of these bridal shower games will you be using at the shower?