We live in crazy times right now – there’s no denying that. Many of us haven’t seen our families in months if they don’t live really close by. Right now, there’s not really an end in sight with the global pandemic as I write this.

Today’s post is a little different than my normal posts. I’ve had the chance to be on the other side of things as my sister’s maid of honor. It has been so fun getting to plan her bridal shower and bachelorette party. But as more time goes on, more things are getting cancelled, and unfortunately it includes some of these fun gatherings.

My sister’s bridal shower was supposed to be in Southern California – we had a super fun theme picked out, had figured out all the food, and I was working on all the fun details. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse. We were only a month away from the shower and it became clear that the wise decision was to take the shower virtual. So I immediately got to planning. Here’s what I learned about planning a virtual shower!

Skip the Paper Invite

In sticking with the virtual theme – the invite can be virtual as well! I made a google doc with a cute graphic on it. The google doc had all of the info that people needed – links to games (AKA google forms), links to join zoom calls, and even a link to their wedding website! You save money on postage and people won’t have to ask you a ton of questions if you have everything in one spot.

Gather Emails Early

If you think that you might have to take your in person gathering virtual, it’s a good idea to gather emails ahead of time! Email is the easiest way to mass communicate on short notice. It’s always good to have a backup plan if you’re still not sure if you’ll be able to host your gathering in person.

Your Guests will THANK you

I’m not gonna lie. I was so bummed when the in-person gathering was cancelled. But let me tell you – the response that I got from people when I informed them the shower was moving virtual totally changed my mind. People were incredibly relieved. Guests were anxious about being in a large group – even if they didn’t have to travel far and even if it was all extended family that everyone knew. Not to mention, people were able to attend virtually who might not have been able attend in person!

You’ll Save Time and Money

When the shower was over, there was no mess to clean up. We didn’t have to feed 50 hungry adults and buy a bunch of alcohol. Planning a virtual party was SO much easier than I thought it would be! Sure, there was still a lot of work that went into planning the virtual games but it way easier than cleaning up after a large party. Something fun we decided to do was drop off food, drinks, and decorations to the bride and groom’s house the day of the shower – I highly recommend doing this!

Size Matters!

Something that I’m really glad we did was have multiple, 30 minute zoom calls instead of one massive zoom call. Have you ever been on a conference call with 50 people? Someone’s dog starts barking or someone forgets to mute themselves while having a conversation on their cell phone. It can be a mess. We tried to keep our zoom calls ~10-15 people so that everyone could interact with each other. I assigned each person to a zoom call, but sent out all the links to everyone in case people couldn’t make their assigned time (or just wanted to join multiple times!).

Make it FUN!

We had a lot of games for the shower! Some of the games were things people could do on their own time – I made these into google forms for people to submit their answers. One of these included pictures of the bride and groom at various ages and people had to guess their age! Another was similar to the “shoe game” you see at weddings where you have to guess which person a statement applied to most. For example: who is more of a morning person? I had the bride and groom fill out their answers in advance and had everyone else guess!

On each of the zoom calls we had a different game – including wedding bingo, marital mad libs, name that tune (all of the songs had “love” or “marry” in the title), and heads up wedding edition! In addition to the games, each zoom call had a different theme. People dressed up to the theme or changed their zoom background. Plus, each theme had its own signature cocktail for those adventurous enough to make it at home (ie. Hakuna Matata for the Disney theme).

Don’t forget about the prizes!! You can email gift cards from someplace as a prize!

Overall, the virtual shower was a success! If you’re torn about taking your bridal shower virtual, know that’s it’s possible to still have a TON of fun!

*Note all photos were taken by my lovely sister – Jeanette! Congrats to the bride and groom to be!!