Bridal shower games printable pack

What is inside

• Bridal shower bingo: 30 different cards, two to a page, from a pool of 48 squares
• Who knows the bride best: 25 questions, a guest sheet and a host answer sheet
• Bride or groom: 16 questions, plus a host key
• Wedding word scramble: 16 words, with the answer key
• Wedding tradition trivia: 12 multiple choice questions, with answers and sources
• Famous couples match up: 14 couples, with the answer key
• Fill-in love story: guest word sheet and the story for the host to read
• Advice and wishes cards: 12 prompt cards, six to a page
• Answer keys and host notes on the last page

Fitting games into a bridal shower

The Knot says bridal showers typically last between two and three hours, and suggests four or five games for a three hour party. It also advises leaving 15 to 30 minutes between games for eating and chatting, and dropping the last one or two if guests lose interest. This pack has eight games, so it is a menu, not a schedule. Here is one way to spread five of them.

• At arrival: the word scramble goes at each seat, and the advice cards go on the tables.
• After the meal: Who knows the bride best, then Bride or groom, while guests are seated and paying attention.
• Before gifts: wedding trivia in teams.
• During gifts: bingo.
• To close: the fill-in love story for a laugh, then the bride takes home the box of advice cards.

Game 1: Bridal shower bingo

Time: 20 to 30 minutes, played while gifts are opened. Best for: Any size of group. You need: One card and one pen per guest.

1. Give each guest a card and a pen as they arrive.
2. As the bride opens gifts, she says each one out loud. Guests mark matching squares on their cards.
3. Five in a row wins, across, down or corner to corner.
4. Check the winner’s squares against the gifts opened so far, then play on for a second winner.

A few squares are moments, not gifts, like "Bride cries". They keep the game moving when a present you did not expect shows up.

On the cards: 48 squares in the pool, 24 on each card plus a free space. A few of them: Kitchen towels, Serving tray, Candles, Gift card, Coffee mugs, Vase, Doormat, Pajamas, Serving bowls, Air fryer.

Game 2: Who knows the bride best

Time: 10 to 15 minutes. Best for: A mix of family and friends from both sides. You need: Guest sheets and the bride’s answer sheet.

1. A week ahead, send the bride the 25 questions. She writes her answers on the answer sheet and gives it to the host.
2. At the shower, guests write their guesses on the guest sheet.
3. Read the bride’s answers aloud. One point for each match, and the host rules on close calls.
4. The guest with the most points wins. Give the bride a veto on any question she wants to skip.

The questions say "her partner", so the sheet fits any couple without changes.

Sample questions: Where did the couple meet? Whose idea was the first date? What did they do on the first date? Who said "I love you" first? The other 21 are in the PDF.

Game 3: Bride or groom

Time: 10 minutes. Best for: Groups who enjoy playful teasing. You need: Guest sheets and the host key.

1. Text the couple the 16 questions ahead of time and ask each to answer them separately. Fill in the host key when their answers agree.
2. At the shower, guests circle Bride or Groom for each question.
3. Read out the key. Guests score one point for every question where they match the couple.
4. If the couple disagreed on a question, award the point to anyone who guessed either answer.

Keep it light. Skip any question the couple would not want read to a room of relatives.

Sample questions: Who is more likely to be late to the ceremony? Who is more likely to cry at a movie? Who is more likely to cry during the vows? Who plans the vacations?

Game 4: Wedding word scramble

Time: 5 minutes. Best for: Early arrivals or a pause between courses. You need: One sheet and one pen per guest.

1. Hand out the sheets face down and start a five minute timer.
2. Guests unscramble as many of the 16 words as they can.
3. Read the key aloud and let guests mark their own sheets.
4. The highest score wins. A tie goes to the guest who finished first.

The longer words, like DANCEFLOOR and ANNIVERSARY, are worth knowing early because they are the ones guests skip.

On the sheet: 16 scrambles, such as UUTBOQE (BOUQUET) and VAYRRNNSEAI (ANNIVERSARY). The rest and the full key are in the PDF.

Game 5: Wedding tradition trivia

Time: 10 minutes. Best for: Teams of 3 to 5. You need: The question sheet, pens and the answer key.

1. Guests answer the 12 multiple choice questions alone or on a team.
2. Teams swap sheets and mark them against the key.
3. One point for each correct answer. If teams tie, let the bride pick the winner.

Each answer on the key lists its source, so you can settle a dispute with a fact instead of a vote.

Sample questions:

• The old rhyme says a bride should wear something old, new, borrowed and blue. What goes in her shoe? (A penny / A sixpence / A button / A ribbon)
• In what year did Queen Victoria marry Prince Albert in a white gown, helping make white popular for brides? (1740 / 1790 / 1840 / 1890)

The other 10 questions, the answers and the sources are in the PDF.

Game 6: Famous couples match up

Time: 5 to 8 minutes. Best for: Movie fans and book lovers. You need: One sheet and one pen per guest.

1. Each guest gets a sheet with one half of 14 famous couples on the left and the other halves jumbled on the right.
2. Guests draw a line or write the matching letter next to each name.
3. Give two minutes. Read the key and score one point per match.
4. Highest score wins the best "I know my couples" bragging rights.

The couples come from film, TV, books, plays and one cartoon, so a different kind of fan wins each time.

Some of the couples: Romeo, Jack, Westley, Harry, Noah, and nine more. The other halves are mixed up on the right.

Game 7: Fill-in love story

Time: 10 minutes. Best for: Groups that like a laugh. It works with anyone, even if they do not know the couple. You need: Guest sheets, the story page for the host and a pen.

1. Write the bride’s name and her partner’s name at the top of the host page, in the spots marked A and B.
2. Pass out the guest sheet, which lists the 14 blanks as word types only. The story stays hidden.
3. Guests write a word for each blank. Collect the sheets.
4. The host reads the story aloud, using one guest’s words. Read a second sheet for a second round if the room is still laughing.

Choose the sheet to read ahead of time and check the words. Anything unsuitable for the room can be swapped quickly before you read.

The blanks: adjective, day of the week, place, article of clothing, noun, silly word, and eight more. The story itself is on the host page.

Game 8: Advice and wishes cards

Time: 10 minutes, any time. Best for: Guests who prefer a quieter activity. You need: Printed cards, pens and a box.

1. Cut the pages into cards. Each page has 6 cards.
2. Place the cards in a pile with pens and a box. Guests fill out one or two during the party.
3. Give the full box to the bride at the end, or have a bridesmaid read a few aloud.

Each card has its own prompt, from "A date night idea for the first year" to "A recipe worth learning". Guests who want an easy one can pick their prompt.

A few prompts: Marriage advice in one sentence. A date night idea for the first year. A recipe worth learning. The full set of 12 is in the PDF.

The traditions behind the trivia

The trivia sticks to traditions that have a paper trail, so you can answer a guest who says an answer looks wrong.

• Something old, something new: the earliest recorded version of the first two lines appeared in 1871 in St James’ Magazine. The first recorded full rhyme, with the sixpence in her shoe, appeared in an 1876 newspaper report in the Staffordshire Advertiser.
• White wedding dresses: Queen Victoria married in white on February 10, 1840. She was not the first royal bride in white, but she is credited with starting the white wedding tradition, and white did not become the usual choice until decades later.
• Diamond engagement rings: the first well documented one is linked to Archduke Maximilian of Austria and Mary of Burgundy, in 1477.
• The ring finger: an old belief, traced to a Roman text, held that a vein ran from the fourth finger of the left hand to the heart. Another explanation is that the heart sits a little to the left.
• Bridal showers: they began in American cities in the 1890s and had reached rural America by the 1930s, according to scholarship cited by Wikipedia. You may hear a story about a Dutch miller’s daughter. The article we checked calls it a frequently quoted legend with no citation, so we kept it out of the trivia.

Sources: Something old, something new, Wedding dress of Queen Victoria, Engagement ring, Bridal shower and Wedding anniversary on Wikipedia. Timing advice is from The Knot.

Printing tips

The PDF is set for US Letter. On A4, choose “fit to page” in the print dialog. Print the bingo cards on regular paper, or on light cardstock if you want the bride to keep one. The advice cards look best on cardstock. For black and white, choose grayscale and everything stays legible.