Funny Bridal Shower Games for Large Groups

When they're done well, bridal showers can be a great time. Think: fun bridal shower games, learning more about the love story that inspired the wedding, every guest getting to know the others a bit better so the actual wedding day has a cohesive, friendly vibe.

But when they're under-planned? We all love cocktails and cake, but nothing says dullsville like a bridal shower that has no structure and culminates in the bride-to-be awkwardly unwrapping gifts as the guests look on in silence.

But you already know that. After all, that's why you're here: to find ideas to liven up the bridal shower with wedding related, classic games with a fun twist. If you scatter a few of these games throughout the event (try one every 20-30 minutes or so, just so you don't overwhelm the guests), you'll be well on your way to creating a thoughtful, fun, entertaining event that your guest of honor will remember for years to come.

Create Bridal Shower Mad Libs

There are so many ways to do this. You could order some online (search for love story mad libs, or wedding mad libs, or bridal shower mad libs). In the pre-written mad libs, one guest simply reads out the part of speech or descriptor (noun, verb, adjective, place, name, date—you get the idea) and others at the table take turns calling out random responses. Then the guest writes down the response. There's no correct answer, of course—just a lot of goofiness when the guest reads the responses out loud! The wilder the responses, the funnier it will be! If you're the creative type, you could wow the bride-to-be and write a mad lib or two yourself. The name of the game is writing a short script (think: 250 words or so) where you can easily eliminate a word or two per line. Then—and think back to eighth grade English here—you'll have to write out the part of speech so that the guests can correctly answer the prompt. To start out, take a traditional set of wedding vows and block off a few words per line. Or you could grab a famous love poem (Shall I compare thee to a {adjective}'s {noun}?). Or—if you know the love story that inspired the wedding—take a stab at writing a brief summary of it! It's all in good fun when the guests sub in random adjectives to describe the groom, or name random places they (fictionally, of course) met!

Guess that Romantic Love Song

Who doesn't love a feel good love song? And what better time to play a love song than at a bridal shower, to celebrate the bride and groom? Before the shower, gather a list of the bride's 10 favorite love songs. Then cue them up on your digital device—whether that's your laptop, iPhone, or tablet—and cut only a 10 second clip of each. Hand out index cards, and then play the short clip of each song. Guests guess which song it is and then each guest writes their answer on card. The guest who provides the greatest number of correct answers wins a prize! Just make sure you have some music-themed prizes on hand! (Try: a CD of romantic love songs, or perhaps a digital download of the same).

Who said it: the bride or the groom?

Before the shower, interview the bride and groom about their love story and their wedding related plans. Draft up 8-10 questions. Any more than that can be overwhelming, and remember: this is all in good fun! Whatever you do, make sure you tell the bride and groom not to tell each other what you're doing—and especially make sure they don't share their responses with each other! Be creative! Ask things like: when did you first kiss? What is the color scheme for the wedding and who chose it? The sky's the limit! Just make sure the questions are playful and will yield somewhat funny answers. At the bridal shower, read out the questions and then the two responses. Guests guess who said what: was it the bride or the groom? The guests that correctly wins with the most right guesses gets a small prize!

How old was the bride here?

For this fun bridal shower game, you'll need to team up with the mother of the bride, or the sister of the bride, or an aunt, or a really old friend—or maybe all of the above! You'll want to collect a dozen or so photos of the bride at various points in her life (bonus points if you get an especially cute or especially funny photo in there). Paste the photos onto a poster, making sure they're not all in chronological order. Then give each a letter or number (A, B, C... or 1, 2, 3) and hand out small sheets of paper to all the guests. Each guest writes their best guess for the bride's age in the photo. Before the bride opens her gifts, you go through and read out the correct ages for all the photos. Make sure every guest jots down their best guess because there's a fun twist: each table becomes a team, and the guests sitting at the table are the team members. The table with the most correct answers tallied up at the end wins a small prize! (Think: chocolate or something small like that).

Bridal Shower Ring Toss

This is a classic game that anyone can prepare with ease before the shower. But that doesn't make it any less of a fun bridal shower game! If you want to DIY it—because we all know that makes it fun, special, and more meaningful, which is why DIY weddings are so popular—head to a local craft store and buy a small wooden crate. Then gather some empty wine bottles—six to nine works best, depending on the size of the wooden crate—and find yourself a plastic ring that can easily fit over the mouth of the bottles. Soak the wine bottles in water and a half cup of baking soda over night, and the labels should come right off. If there is any stick residue left, try spreading peanut butter and waiting five minutes—whatever is left of the label will come right off. You can leave the bottles plain or find out the color scheme for the wedding and spray paint them that color (chalk paint works, too) to add some color. Then just set it up at the shower! Guests will know what to do!

Wedding Words, A Through Z

For this game, you'll need an index card or two—or maybe a larger sheet of paper—for each table. You'll want to list out all the letters of the alphabet, A through Z, on the left hand side of the paper or index cards. The goal? Each table works as a team, and team members come up with a bridal accessory, marriage essential, or other wedding related word that starts with each letter of the alphabet. For example, they could go basic and write "bride" for B. Or they could go all out and write something funny like "cold feet" for C. The sky's the limit, as long as it's not offensive and it's all in good fun! The team who comes up with the most words for the alphabet and manages to make everyone laugh wins.

Toilet Paper Couture

All you need for this one is a few rolls of toilet paper—and two teams with a good sense of humor! Split the group into two teams. Each team will designate one person the model, and the rest will work with their two to three rolls of toilet paper to design the perfect bridal gown. They can do whatever they want: construct a veil with layers of toilet paper for a long-flowing design, wrap the model in toilet paper to get a form-fitting look, or tie the toilet paper into bows and faux flowers. The goal is to involve all the guests and to come up with the most fun, intricate, and beautiful toilet paper couture! See if the group can come to a consensus about whose dress is the best. If they can't decide, designate the bride to choose!

Guess how many...

Here's the fun part: ask the bride what her favorite candy is. M&Ms? Skittles? Jolly Ranchers? Chocolate? Whatever the answer, grab a few bags of the bite-sized versions and fill a jar. It works especially well with jelly beans or other small candies! Then, place the jar on the head table or near the door when people enter. If you want to make this as painless as possible, before the shower, fill the jar slowly and count the number of pieces you have inside. Then write it down on a slip of paper you won't lose or jot it down on a memo app on your phone. This way, you won't waste time counting the candies at the bridal shower itself! Hand guests an index card when they enter and have guests guess how many pieces of candy are inside! The guest who guesses the closest number correctly wins and gets to take home the jar of treats!

Bridal Shower Bingo

This might be the most classic game out there, but bridal shower bingo is a crowd pleaser, especially if you have you have lots of grandparents and older aunts in attendance! You can purchase pre-made bingo cards with all the related accessories that have the traditional gifts on them. Or you can scroll through the bride's registry and add items that you see to your own DIY bingo cards. A note of warning: if you put specific items (like 'toaster oven'), it will be hard for people to get bingo. It can be better to use a slightly more vague descriptor, like 'electric kitchen appliance' so that more people can score points! Or, if you want to give the game a fun twist, you can even add reactions to the bingo card—such as 'ooh and ahh from the crowd' or 'laughter.'

Guess that celebrity groom!

Another fun bridal shower game: taking a look back at famous brides and grooms throughout the ages! You can either create a slide show or print out photos of famous brides, from today (think: Meghan Markle) to the past (think: Grace Kelly). Then have guests guess the famous groom! Choose a range of brides so that every guest will know at least one or two! It's always fun to see who comes up with the right answers—and what hilarious wrong answers are shouted out! Side bonus: If you choose a range of brides from the past 30 or so years, it can also be a great way to get a sense of the evolution of bridal gowns over the years! That's enough to spark a conversation among guests who otherwise might not know how to start a conversation!

Garter Toss, Shower Edition

We all know how the garter toss goes at the reception. But did you know you can also use a garter for a fun bridal shower game, too? Grab a bottle of champagne or sparkling cider, and place it part way across the room. Then invite guests to line up and try their hand at tossing the garter at the bottle! It's a slightly different variation on a traditional ring toss, but with a fun twist. If the garter becomes too flimsy, you can bring a plastic ring and fasten the garter to the ring so that it has more weight and structure. But give it a try with a cloth garter first and see if someone cane get it over the top of the bottle! That guest can win the bottle as a prize, or they can be the one to pop it open and pour everyone a glass—your choice.

Guess that romantic movie quote!

This game is a variation on the romantic song game, but with movie quotes. Try to find about a dozen well known romantic movies (they can be dramatic or the best romantic comedies!) and jot down the most iconic line from each into sheets of paper. Then distribute them to the guests and have guests guess which movies the quotes come from! To make it super hard, don't give them the movie names. To make it a bit easier, you can hand out a sheet of paper with all of the possible titles (plus one or two extra) scrambled in a random order so that they at least have a word bank. Bonus points of the number of movies that have the word "wedding" or "bride" in them, like Father of the Bride, or Wedding Crashers.

These are just some ideas for wedding related, fun bridal shower games. But the sky is the limit! As long as you get every guest involved, you'll be sure to have a good time and to entertain everyone who attends!