Hey readers...you are in for a treat this Wedding Wednesday. Kalyn from Love. Laughter. Happily Ever After is taking over my blog! I "met" Kalyn when we co-hosted a Wedding Wednesday together and we instantly clicked. So please welcome her and check out her beautiful blog! (You may have seen her before hanging out over on my sidebar!) She is a newlywed like me and loves teal! She is very stylish, Southern and LOVES God!
Hi everyone! I'm Kalyn, a developing blogger spending time over at Love.Laughter.Happily Ever After. I am so excited to have the opportunity to take over Samantha's blog and share with you all a little about wedding shower etiquette. I love to talk about wedding planning and am blessed to be able to share a few tricks of the trade with all the lovely readers of Designer in Teal.
I have adored getting to know Samantha. I especially love that we relate so well on many topics in blog world and real life. Despite the miles that seperate us, I feel as though I have known Samantha all my life! Reading posts from her little corner of the dot com world is always a breath of fresh air for me. Also, as a new wife, newlywed world is SO much fun. It can also be difficult, confusing, scary even though love abounds. Knowing the things that my husband and I are experiencing is totally normal makes sharing and learning from others during this journey so much better, too! Today I hope to give you an insider look at wedding shower etiquette. So without further ado....
Wedding Showers. Let's talk about 'em.
We all know wedding showers can be super awkward and boring. Most of the time, many of the showers we attend are for people that we have not seen in years. Then on the flip side, if you have seen the people on occasion, things can still get awkward when mixing multiple personality types, themes, food, or activities. As couples strive to personalize their wedding more so than ever these days, many get consumed and caught up in etiquette. It seems to me that the word "wedding" tends to scare people away real fast because of many reasons. Be it emotional stress, financial woes, family dysfunction, or time crunches, etiquette should not be one though.
My husband and I had three showers, not including our Bachelor and Bachelorette parties or my Bridal Luncheon. He was given a home/garden/tool shower hosted by his childhood church family. I was given a kitchen essentials shower hosted by my college girlfriends. Together we were given a tea hosted by our home church family, which ranged from kitchen gifts to linens.
Tool/Home/Garden Shower
Kitchen Shower Hosts
Bridal Tea Hosts
I am one of those Brides who ditched tradition. Yep. There was A LOT of judgment and ridicule. But, who's to call me out when the moola was coming from my bank account? Since my husband and I were paying for the majority of our wedding, we decided everything based on our personal desires. From the planning of showers, our wedding, our honeymoon everything was extremely unique and tailored to "us" which we loved.
Thankfully, many of the hosts who asked to provide showers listened to my director as she explained our wedding theme and made our showers very successful! Today we have a home that is fully furnished and our cabinets to do hold all of the goodies we received. It was such a blessing to be able to know that we were taken care of and were provided with the essentials to start a home together.
Listed below are the main do's and don'ts of hosting, planning, attending, and begin given a wedding shower. Many of these do's and don't are common courtesy honestly.
The Do's and Dont's of Wedding Showers
- Do send thank-you notes to all shower guests—even if you thanked them in person at the shower. And don’t forget those who couldn’t attend but did send a gift.
- Don’t ask guests to address their own thank-you notes.
- Do send a thank-you note and a gift to anyone who hosts a shower for you.
- Don’t coerce anyone—especially bridesmaids—to host a shower. It’s a financial burden that many aren’t able to take on.
- Do include registry information on a separate sheet in the envelope with the shower invitation, but not on the invitation itself. The theme of the shower (Kitchen, bath, lingerie) may be noted on the invitation, but color preferences or sizes should be noted on a separate insert.
- Don’t invite anyone to a shower who won’t be invited to the wedding. Showers are intimate gatherings for people you know very well—not excuses to haul in more gifts. The only exception is a workplace shower to which a large number of coworkers contribute. (If an office shower involves only a few coworkers, thoughtful couples will probably include these colleagues in the wedding guest list.)
If anything, no matter the stage of your wedding planning, I hope that you may be able to use these skills in your lifetime. Whether it be for your shower or a shower that you host, spread the love and a little common etiquette. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post today, friends! I would love to have you visit my little corner of the internet and say "hello". Here's to love, laughter, and happily ever after- Happy Wednesday! :)
If you would like to read any previous blog post from the Wedding Wednesday series, click on the specific content of the colored text below. Happy Planning to all of the Brides and Grooms! Please feel free to contact me if I can help you in any way!
As always, until next time- Happy Blogging!
Isn't she just adorable??? Maybe I will do a post soon our wedding showers! If you are stopping in from Kalyn's blog, WELCOME! Please leave me a comment and introduce yourself :) I would love for you to stick around! You can find more about me {here}
