This past weekend I had the honor of hosting a bridal shower in honor of my brother and future sister-in-law. I have been to quite a few bridal showers in my day, but I have never hosted one so this was quite an experience but one I was ready to take on head first! I didn’t have quite the amount of time or money that I believe normally goes into an event of this importance, but I still wanted to make the day special and personal for those attending. So, I headed over to the bridal mecca which is Pinterest and found some great inspiration for a few DIY projects I took on for the party!
DIY #1 Initial Letter Blocks
While I was browsing around Michael’s Arts & Crafts one day, I came across an end cap of wood block letter initials and symbols. I was immediately drawn to them because I thought they were the exact sort of sentimental DIY decor that I could use for the party and that the guests of honor could then take home and have as a memory of the event. So, I picked out the letters I needed plus an ampersand, some bottles of acrylic paint that coordinated with the wedding theme, some sponge brushes and of course a pack of sand paper!
This DIY was pretty simply but turned out lovely! All I did was sanded down the letters (they had rough edges) until they were nice and smooth, and then painted the letters. I ended up doing about three coats of paint and let the letters air dry for about an hour in-between coats. I then let them dry out overnight before packing them away for the party. I ended up using them as decor on the cake table and they were a big hit!
DIY #2 Date Night Jar
I found the inspiration for this DIY on Pinterest! Basically, the Date Night Jar is something of an activity for the shower guests and again, another sentimental take home for the couple. You take a decorated mason jar, and fill it with large popsicle sticks that guests at the shower will write date night ideas on. When the couple gets the Jar home and want an idea for date night, they pull a stick out of the jar at random. Obviously, this isn’t something the couple have to use, but I think it’s a super cute idea and it was an activity everyone enjoyed participating in.
Assembling this DIY was super simple and I was easily able to find all the items I needed from my local craft store. For this DIY you will need a mason jar, popsicle sticks (I suggest the wider sticks that are easier to write on), embellishments (ribbon, twine, labels, etc), and then markers for the guests to write on the sticks during the party! I used a label to name the jar, wrapped yarn around the neck of the jar and added a custom little poem I made up to piece of craft paper that I then threaded through the yarn. Again, super simple, very inexpensive, but highly personalized and a fun activity for the guests!
DIY #3 Marriage Advice Box
Again, I found the inspiration for this DIY on Pinterest. The idea behind this activity is to put out a pretty box where guests can leave notes filled with their marriage advice for the couple. This is pretty self-explanatory, but once the couple return home after their wedding, they now have a treasure trove of advice from their friends and family waiting for them in a lovely box!
This was probably the simplest of the three projects, because I really didn’t need to do very much except arrange the elements. In the original pin online, a large trunk style box was used, but I knew that would be too large for my needs, so I picked up one of those lovely book shaped boxes from Michael’s in their home decor section. Once I picked out the box that fit with the wedding and shower theme, I picked up a few packs of blank notecards from the dollar bins at the craft store to go inside. I found lovely monogram cards that were perfect and seemingly personalized! I then took a small journaling card and embellishment sticker from my own craft supply collection and fashioned a little sign inside the box so that people knew what it was! On the day of the shower, I displayed the book box open on an inexpensive frame stand also purchased at the craft store. I passed around the notecards and guests deposited their words of advice in the box throughout the event. Super simple, and yet super sweet!
Do you have any other simple and inexpensive DIY ideas for a bridal shower that you could share this wedding season? Let us know in the comments below!
You did a great job!! Filed these ideas for the next shower I host!
Great ideas! I did a similar DIY to the Marriage Advice one, it was a big hit with the bride. I’ve got a great DIY/ice-breaker game I did at my friend’s Bridal Shower. All you need is a ball of yarn (you can do it in the wedding theme colors) and scissors. I stood with my ball of yarn in front of the party and greeted everyone as they came in, asking them to pull some yarn from the ball. I told them to tell me ‘when’ and I would cut the yarn. I asked everyone to keep their piece of yarn with them as they mingled with everyone, grabbed food, and chatted. Once everyone was settled, the real fun began. I told everyone that they had to give us a quick introduction on who they were and how they knew the bride — the catch, they had to talk for as long as it took them to wrap their piece of yarn around their fingers. So, some of the ladies who grabbed a ridiculous amount of yarn had to chat for a while. Everyone thought it was hilarious, was a great icebreaker, and we learned how everyone knew the bride. Highly recommend!
That’s an amazing icebreaker idea! I am going to have to save that one for my next party or event! Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi there! Thanks so much for sharing this =) My sister is getting married and these would be great for a more intimate get-together.
I especially love the Marriage Ideas box. It’s wonderfully personal and allows people to really feel a part of the process.