Back in the day, a bridal shower was a gathering of female relatives in a family home or church basement where everyone sat around sipping punch and playing word games. Thank heavens that’s not the case any more! In fact, it appears that sky’s the limit when it comes to planning a shower. To help you narrow down your options, consider the following bridal shower trends.
• Couples Showers
• Learning Showers
• Power Showers
• Destination Showers
Couple Up
Grooms are often involved with the wedding planning these days, so leaving them out of the fun just doesn’t seem right. Besides, it only makes sense. The bride and groom love each other enough to get married, why not celebrate the upcoming nuptials together with other couple friends? If the bride and groom are both baseball fans, host a baseball-themed party, or better yet, take the party to the stadium for a tour and home game. A skybox would be a great place to host your Couples Shower.
Turn Learning into Fun
Rather than play silly games, consider the bride’s interests and invite an expert on the subject to come give a demonstration at your shower. This will work for Couples Showers, too. Host a gourmet-themed shower and have a chef give cooking lessons. Then your food’s taken care of, too! Or hire a masseuse to come show everyone how to give a great massage. Who needs a spa day when you’re actually learning the tricks of the trade?
Think “Tim-the-Tool-Man Taylor”
“Home Improvement,” the 1990’s sit-com, revolved around cars, power tools, fix-it projects and lots of grunting — not unlike a Groom’s Shower! OK, that’s stereotyping. Maybe your groom-to-be would prefer a pedicure party over a Power Shower, and that’s OK. As with any wedding shower, the idea is to customize the activities around the interests of the person being honored.
Take a Trip
Whether your outing is just down the road for a day at the spa or a plane-ride away at a resort, more and more showers are going longer than a two-hour gathering of friends and relatives. Following the tradition of the girl’s weekend or boy’s getaway, these Destination Showers focus the fun on the bride- or groom-to-be and their interests. Do the bride and groom love the old west? Make your Destination Shower a Couples Shower at a dude ranch for the weekend. Or maybe the bride is a wine connoisseur. Plan a trip to wine country and book some private vineyard tours and wine tastings for the group.
Other Bridal Shower Trends 
Shower favors are getting more creative. For example, a Learning Shower with a barista and a coffeehouse theme might reward guests a personalized photo mug with the couple’s engagement photo on it. A Destination Shower might feature custom door hangers on each attendee’s hotel room door. A Power Shower with a golf theme might give the guys golf towels featuring the bride and groom’s names and wedding date.
The trend in shower gifts is to consider the couple. Today, many brides and grooms have postponed marriage to start their careers. They already have apartments and even homes that are completely “stocked,” so basics like cookie sheets and bathroom towels are no longer needed. If the shower is a more expensive event, your gift may be helping to pay for the spa day, ticket to the game or expert’s demonstration.
The one thing that never goes out of style is knowing your bride-to-be or groom-in-waiting and customizing the shower to their interests. Even if you are hosting a very traditional shower that includes female relatives in a church basement, you can still incorporate elements that cater specifically to the bride.
Tell us about a unique shower you’ve hosted or attended. Are there other trends out there that we’re missing? Please let us know!
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