Who better to plan a bridal shower than your best friend or sister. As a best friend, you probably know almost everything and anything that your friend would want to experience and most importantly know all the people she would love to attend.
Also, it is safe to assume that as a best friend you know where the bride-to-be will want to celebrate this day and the activities that she would enjoy. Don’t forget it’s all about her.
So what do you do if you're not blessed with superb planning skills?Fret not and follow our simple steps below
- First, pick a date that you are sure is comfortable for the bride. It must not clash with any of her personal activities as regards the wedding.
- Determine if you want it as a surprise or not. If yes, get all the information you would need from her months before.
- Invite at least one other close friend to plan with you. You need other ideas and you will be amazed by how much information they have about your best friend that you didn't know.
- Determine what theme you would go with (remember, it’s about her and so should be one you know she would totally rock).
- Get a venue that makes sense, can it accommodate all her girls without breaking the bank? Can it be decorated to suit the theme? Is it a place she will love? You get the drift.
- Speak to all vendors (food and drink at the minimum and maybe an activity coordinator?) needed and narrow down based on preferences and budget.
- Agree and communicate date and time to vendors at least four months to the event and check in with them twice a month.
- Draft a list of friends and family that would be attending.
- If they have to contribute financially, communicate to each of them personally (most effectively via email) explaining what the plan is and how you need their contributions to make this happen.
- Don’t involve the bride on the finance journey; work with what you have.
- Make sure the invites go out to all at least two months before the event day to give invitees the time to prepare and also clear their schedule for that day. (Invitees are those you know the bride wants to attend and not those you think should attend. A safer method will be to get the list from the bride almost after she is engaged if you don’t want any spoilers just in case you want it as a surprise party).
- Never get too carried away during the event tending to friends and family that you forget about the bride-to-be, all activities must revolve around her; we can't stress this enough.
- Finally, remember to send 'thank you' emails or text messages to all attendees; it couldn’t have happened without them.
Bridal showers set the pace for how organised or enjoyable the actual wedding will be to the friends and family, and also communicate to the bride that everything will work out just fine her wedding! So please, do your best to tell the right/best story with a great event.
All the best!