Halloween Themed Bridal Shower

From LoveToKnow Weddings

A Halloween themed bridal shower can be a fun and inventive way to celebrate the bride-to-be, as long as the event doesn’t scare her away from the altar.

A zombie bride is perfect for a Halloween theme.

When Is a Halloween Theme Appropriate?

Most bridal showers have innocent, romantic themes: tea parties, butterfly themes, spa getaways, and so forth. A Halloween theme is more exotic, but it can be entirely appropriate in the right circumstances. If the couple is planning a late October or early November wedding, a Halloween shower can be a fun prelude to that event, especially if they plan on incorporating a spooky motif into the ceremony or wedding reception decorations. Because bridal showers are typically held one or two months prior to the wedding, a Halloween theme can also work for a late fall or winter wedding as well.

A bridal shower theme should be fun for both the guests and the bride, and women who enjoy the sultry spirit of Halloween may enjoy a spooky theme no matter what time of year the shower is scheduled. It is even more meaningful if Halloween is a significant holiday for the couple – if their first date was a masquerade ball or if they got engaged in October, for example.

Halloween Themed Bridal Shower Details

A good bridal shower theme will incorporate many details into a coordinated event, including decorations, food, games, and even the gifts for the bride.

Decorations

Halloween decorations are easy to find as early as the end of August, while party supply stores stock a limited range of creepy accents throughout the year. Bridal shower decorations that can be useful for a Halloween themed bridal shower include:

Themed invitations with ghosts, witches, black cats, pumpkins, or other Halloween icons
Black and orange candles or candle holders
Silk or paper colored leaves to scatter
Jack-o-lanterns carved with wedding symbols, such as a silhouette of a bride and groom, wedding bells, or a tiered cake
Clear pumpkin dishes filled with treats in the wedding colors
Masks for guests to wear
A witch hat accessorized with a black wedding veil for the bride-to-be
Miniature pumpkins or squashes
A heart-shaped honeymoon coffin

Guests can also be part of the decorations if the party is arranged as a masquerade. Corpse or zombie bride costumes, bridezillas, and evil bridesmaids are popular choices to add to the theme and the fun of the event.

Food

Spider Web Cupcakes

Halloween is always associated with treats, and there are many sweet options for bridal shower themed food. A bridal shower cake could offer a taste of autumn with apple, spice, pumpkin, or carrot flavors, and it could be shaped as a tombstone, arranged as a black wedding cake, or decorated with icing spider webs for added flair. Caramel apples, favorite snack size candies, candy corn, popcorn, and Halloween specialty candies are other appropriate treats. Bloody Marys are a perfect drink option, or any punch can be augmented with novelty eyeballs and severed fingers for a scary touch.

Games

Bridal shower games can be controversial, but for parties that include them, there are several options that are well suited to a Halloween theme. The evening could begin with a rented hearse rather than a limousine, and games may include pumpkin carving, costume makeovers, making up marital epitaphs and eulogies, or sharing marriage “tricks” with the bride-to-be. The party could even visit a haunted house or corn maze for other seasonal fun.

Gifts

The purpose of a traditional bridal shower is to literally “shower” the bride with gifts she will need for her wedding and her home. Any Halloween shower can incorporate the idea of “tricks” with the gifts – tricks for the kitchen, for example, would imply culinary gifts, while tricks for the bedroom may refer to a lingerie shower.

Problems with Halloween Showers

Halloween themed bridal showers are not always suitable, however. Because the guest list will include many women invited to the wedding beyond the bridal party, whomever is planning the bridal shower should be aware of conservative, older attendees who may be offended by the implications of a Halloween shower. The bride herself may not appreciate the themed event if she is planning a very formal, religious ceremony. The date itself could even be a problem – if a Halloween shower is planned for October 31, trick-or-treaters may be a continual interruption in the festivities.

A wedding, with its elaborate attire and specialized rituals, may have a lot in common with Halloween’s costumes and customary tricks. A Halloween bridal shower theme is a fun way to celebrate the bride and her impending nuptials while showering her with tricks and treats that will last far longer than one scary night.