Who Should You Invite to Your Bridal Shower?

Bridal showers are one of the most amusing pre-wedding events. Proper planning and the right guest list can add more fun to this celebration.

A bridal shower is a fun and fantastic way to officially celebrate a bride-to-be. It is a time to eat and drink, share advice and stories, and pay special attention to the special lady. It is also a practical opportunity for guests to shower gifts that will prove useful in their upcoming married life.

Traditionally, this amazing event is hosted by the bridesmaids, and/or the mother of the bride. After picking a bridal shower date, thoughtfully choosing a theme, and arranging some hilarious bridal shower games, they will come to you for your preferred guest list.

Showers, on the other hand, are usually smaller than marriage ceremonies and receptions, and you have a lot more freedom in terms of who you invite. To assist you in creating your wedding shower guest list, we’ve compiled a list of frequently asked questions and answers to the most typical invitation dilemmas. Let’s dive in!

Should I Invite My Whole Wedding Guest List to My Shower?

Your wedding party, close friends, and family members reign supreme in this area. But at your wedding, there are likely far more people invited beyond these groups. Therefore, it isn’t necessary to invite every single person on your wedding guest list. It’s absolutely alright and you shouldn’t feel guilty. You do not need to feel bad about wanting to keep your shower intimate. In fact, many of the famous wedding shower traditions and games don’t go well with too large a guest list. A small, intimate bridal shower is more special and enjoyable.

What About Those Not Invited to the Wedding?

One of the most significant rules answering, “Who should I invite to my bridal shower?” is that all invitees should also be invited to the wedding. Therefore, double-check your guest list and make sure you’re not accidentally offending someone. It’s not nice to do so and may also look like you’re pandering for gifts. However, it’s okay to invite guests to your shower if they have RSVP’d to say they can not be at your wedding. They may love the opportunity to celebrate with you, particularly if they wanted to attend your big day but simply can not make it happen.

Should I Host Multiple Bridal Showers?

To make the guest list more manageable, and to make it easier for everyone to attend, many brides today decide to throw more than one bridal shower, and, generally speaking, it’s perfectly fine to do so. Brides frequently find themselves in circumstances where multiple people want to throw her a bridal shower. Moreover, sometimes it is difficult for many guests to travel to a bridal shower. If half of the guests live in another part of the country, it is totally okay to have a second shower in that area for those friends and family to celebrate. For example, mom may host a shower for relatives and her friends in the bridge’s hometown, but close school friends may host one where she currently lives.

Having a second shower is also a great option for brides who feel more comfortable having a family-only shower followed by a friends-only shower at a later date. Multiple showers may seem excessive while you plan the rest of your big day, but they allow you to invite more people, especially if you have a big family and group of friends.

However, some niceties are essential when you’re having more than one bridal shower. Follow these critical rules of etiquette:

• Make each guest list unique depending on the host or hostess.
• Update your gift registry after each event.
• Do not pressure people you are not close with.

Who Do I Invite?

To help you figure out your bridal shower guest list, here are the people who should definitely attend and those you can potentially skip.

• The Wedding Party

The wedding or bridal party includes some of the bride’s most beloved people, so it’s natural that they are first on the list for the bridal shower. Most often, the wedding party is involved in the actual planning of the shower. So, their invitation is already confirmed. Still, sending bridal shower invites to everyone associated with the planning is a recommended practice. In the case of combined wedding showers, you’ll want to involve both sides of the wedding party.

• Close Family

After the wedding party, the easiest names to add to your invite list are close family members. If you are having a traditional bridal shower, it’s conventional to invite women from both sides of the family (grandmothers, cousins, siblings, etc.) However, every family is different, so consider your relationship first and make sure you are inviting only those with whom you actually want to celebrate. Bridal showers are meant to be intimate. You do not need to fill the invite list with people with whom you aren’t particularly close, even if that includes your family members.

• Close Friends

The bride is the star of the show. Therefore, all of her close pals must be a part of the celebration. This may or may not go past the bridal party. If some of your best buddies are not part of the wedding party, they too deserve an invitation. Their presence will make the wedding shower activities and games all the more fun, enhancing the celebration factor!

• The Groom

It’s become quite common for the groom to make a special appearance at the end of the shower to say hello and thank everyone for their gifts and well wishes. However, many grooms do not love this attention, which makes it something to discuss openly as a couple.

• Male Friends

Traditionally, men don’t go to the bridal shower. However, etiquette surrounding marriage and all of its events are constantly changing to keep pace with modern times. Therefore, if you have male best friends, and want to celebrate this key milestone in your life along with them, feel free to invite them to your bridal shower.

Inviting male friends may seem to spark a bit of drama between you and your traditionalist family members. Whatever you decide about inviting friends of the opposite sex, ensure that you are true to yourself. Abandoning connections to please traditionalists may appear to be the easier option, but it could jeopardize a strong relationship. Moreover, combined wedding showers, celebrating both the groom and the bride, are becoming increasingly common. Maybe arranging an event together with your soon-to-be husband is the ideal solution to keep all of your friends close at hand.

• Male Family Members

Inviting male family members does not come with the same stigma that inviting a male friend does, but it may still seem odd as bridal showers are an all-women event traditionally. However, if you’re really close with one of your male cousins, or feel inspired to include your dad or uncles in your shower, go for it! There is no reason to exclude your close one from your bridal shower.

• The Groom’s Close Female Friends

If you’re close with the groom’s female friends, it’s customary to include them in your celebration. However, if you’ve never met these friends, or you simply don’t get along well, it won’t be rude to leave them off the guest list.

• Co-Workers

If you are really close with your boss, assistant, or other colleagues that are invited to the wedding, then you may definitely consider inviting them to your bridal shower. It’s not mandatory to invite them all but just if you have room leftover.

Be considerate if you decide to invite only a few coworkers and do not intend to extend an invitation to a bigger group. Try not to talk too much about your wedding shower around anyone not invited. It’s your shower, but there is no need to talk it up around someone who isn’t coming. Moreover, your co-workers may decide to host a private shower for you at work regardless of whether you invite them to your wedding.

• Children

A bridal shower is more of an adult celebration with activities that kids may not have fun with. But if you still want to invite the children and possibly soon-to-be step-children, or other kids like nieces and goddaughters, make sure the event is kid-friendly and has a kid’s menu.

• Long-Distance Family and Friends

Just because some family and friends live far away doesn’t mean they do not deserve an invitation. Even if you’re quite sure they won’t be able to make it, it’s nice to send an invitation and show them you’re thinking of them You can always include a virtual component so your long-distance friends and family can join the celebration from home. Open a Zoom meeting and set up your tablet or computer in a prime location so they can enjoy the festivities. Enlist a bridesmaid or other attendee to play tech support in case of any issues.