Bridal Shower Games: What to Play, How to Run Each One and What to Print

Pick two to four games, mix one quiet paper game with one that gets people talking or moving, and run them while guests are seated or while the bride opens gifts. Here is the short list, sorted by how much prep each game needs and the group it suits. Every game has how-to-play steps further down.

If you only have time for one, run a quiz about the bride: it needs no space, works for mixed ages and makes her the center of the room.

How many games to plan

The Knot suggests at least two and at most five games, varied in skill level. Paperless Post puts it at two to four games depending on the length of the party, and Greetings Island expects two to four games for an event of about three hours, with one or two spare. Modern MOH's rule is one game for every hour, which gives three for the usual three-hour shower.

Our rule of thumb from those: one game per hour, plus a backup in your bag. A small group gets through games faster, so a shower of close friends around one table may want the spare. A big shower with a long gift opening may want only one seated game plus bingo during the gifts.

No-prep games (nothing to print)

These work when you are short on time, at a restaurant, or at a shower at work.

Two Truths and a Lie, bride edition

Good for a small, seated group who all know her.

1. Each guest says three things about how they know the bride or a story with her. One is false.
2. The room guesses the lie by show of hands.
3. A guest who fools most of the room scores a point. The bride can play too, about herself.

The shoe game

Good when the couple is at the shower; works for any group size.

1. Seat the couple back to back. Each holds one of their own shoes and one of their partner's.
2. The host reads a "who is more likely to" question: who said "I love you" first, who is the better cook, who will plan the honeymoon.
3. Each raises the shoe of the person they think fits. Matching answers get a cheer; mismatches get a story.

Write your questions on one index card so the host is never stuck.

The banned-word ring game

Good for any group, all afternoon long.

1. Hand every guest a plastic ring or a clothespin when they arrive and announce a banned word, usually "wedding" or "bride".
2. Anyone who hears another guest say it takes that guest's ring.
3. Whoever holds the most rings when gifts are done wins.

Guess the dress

Good for a group that has not seen the wedding dress.

1. Give each guest a sheet of paper and a pen, or napkins at a restaurant.
2. Everyone has a few minutes to sketch the dress they think she chose.
3. The bride picks the closest drawing (and the funniest) without giving away anything she wants to keep secret.

Print-and-play paper games

Paper games keep a seated shower moving and give quieter guests a way to join in.

How well do you know the bride?

Good for any group size, and one of the games brides list in the WeddingWire forum thread on shower games.

1. Before the shower, have the bride answer the questions privately. Her sheet becomes the answer key.
2. At the shower, guests answer as they think she would.
3. Read her answers aloud. Guests mark their own sheets, swap with a neighbor if you want honest scoring, and add up.
4. Most matches wins. Keep a tie-break question ready, such as "What did she order on her first date?"

Our question sets for the bride quiz sort the questions by type and add a scoring method.

If you would rather print it than write it, our bride quiz has a guest sheet with 28 scored questions in three sections (This or that, Has she ever…?, In her words), the bride's answer sheet used as the answer key, and a host scoring card with the tie-break rule, in US Letter and A4. It is print-only: you print the files yourself, and nothing is printed or shipped.

He Said, She Said

Good when both families are there.

1. A week before, ask each partner the same short questions and note their exact words.
2. At the shower, read each answer aloud. Guests write whether the bride or the groom said it.
3. Reveal after each one, or all at the end for speed. Most right wins.

See how to run He Said, She Said for a run sheet and question sets.

Gift bingo

Good for a medium or large shower with a long gift opening.

1. Give each guest a bingo card with gifts in the squares (a whisk, towels, a vase).
2. As the bride opens each gift, guests mark it if it is on their card.
3. First to complete a line calls "Bingo" and wins. Keep playing for a full card if you have more prizes.

Bridal Shower Gift Bingo has 40 numbered cards, all different, a page of blank cards, and a host page with a gift checklist that doubles as the thank-you list. Its cards are 5 × 7 in, 2 per landscape sheet with crop marks, in US Letter and A4. Bachelorette bingo is a different game: its squares are dares and party moments, not gifts.

Mad libs and word scrambles

Good for a seated shower with a slow start.

1. Write a short story of how the couple met with blanks for adjectives, places and verbs, or scramble wedding words (bouquet, veil, honeymoon).
2. Hand them out as guests arrive.
3. Read the funniest story aloud or give a prize for the first correct scramble sheet.

Games that need the couple's help in advance

The newlywed game

Good when the bride is the player and the groom is not in the room.

1. Ask the groom a list of questions before the shower: on video, on a voice memo or on paper.
2. At the shower the bride guesses each of his answers, then you play his.
3. Count her matches. Some hosts give her a candy or a sip for every miss.

Where in the world is the couple?

Good for any group, with a screen or printed photos.

1. Collect photos of the couple from trips, dates and family visits.
2. Show each one; guests write where they think it was taken.
3. The couple reveals the place and the story. Most right wins.

Team and big-group games

These suit a larger shower where guests do not all know each other.

Toilet paper wedding dress

1. Split guests into teams; each picks a model.
2. Each team gets a few rolls of toilet paper and some tape and a short time limit.
3. The bride chooses the winning dress. Photograph every model first.

How many kisses?

1. Fill a jar with wrapped chocolate kisses and count them as you go.
2. Guests write a guess and their name on a slip when they arrive.
3. Closest guess wins the jar.

What's in your purse?

1. Write a list of things guests might carry, from ordinary (lip balm) to odd (a hotel key card, a safety pin collection).
2. Read each item; guests score a point for each one they have.
3. Highest total wins.

What's in the sock, and the apron game

1. For the sock game, put small kitchen or household items into socks or cloth bags and number them. Guests feel each one and write what they think is inside.
2. For the apron game, clip kitchen tools to an apron, have the bride model it for a minute, then take it away. Guests write every item they remember.
3. Most right answers wins either one.

Find the couple (scratch-off)

1. Hand each guest a scratch-off card.
2. Everyone scratches at the same time.
3. Whoever finds the groom wins.

Who Has the Groom? Scratch-Off Cards has 32 scratch-off cards: 1 groom card and 31 decoys drawn from 16 original illustrated characters. Each card measures 3.5 × 2.5 in (89 × 64 mm), printed 8 per sheet with crop marks. Stickers, cardstock and envelopes are not included.

Games for small groups, couples showers, work and video calls

Small group (one table). Play the quiz about the bride, Two Truths and a Lie, and guess the dress. Small groups go fast, so add a story round: each guest tells how they met her.

Couples or co-ed shower. Use the shoe game, He Said, She Said and a couples quiz where guests score both partners. Questions couples can ask each other in front of the group: What did you think the first time you met? What is one habit of mine you have picked up? What is our next trip? Who apologizes first?

Shower at work. Keep each game short enough for a lunch break: the ring game during the day, a word scramble at desks, and a quick quiz about the couple during cake.

Virtual shower. Share bingo cards or a quiz sheet as a file a day ahead so guests can print or write on paper. On the call, read answers aloud and let guests type scores in the chat. The newlywed game and Where in the World work well on screen.

Prizes for bridal shower game winners

Set the budget first: decide a cap per prize, multiply by the number of games (plus one spare for a tie), and shop to that total. A cap of ten dollars a prize, for example, is a host's choice, not a rule; prices vary by store, so check them where you buy. Then pick small, useful things that are easy to carry home: a candle, hand cream, a small plant, good chocolate, a coffee-shop card, nail polish or a mini bottle of something sparkling. Greetings Island suggests little gifts under $5 for second and third place so more guests go home with something. Wrap all prizes in the same paper so the prize table looks planned, and keep one aside for a tie.

Activities instead of games

Some brides would rather skip games. Fill the time with an activity guests can join when they like:

• An advice or date-night-idea station with cards and a jar.
• A photo corner with an instant camera and a board to pin the pictures on.
• A flower-arranging, bracelet or cookie-decorating bar.
• A slideshow of the couple, with guests guessing the year or the place.
• A recipe-card swap, so the bride leaves with a box of family favorites.

For more activities that are not the usual ones, read unique bridal shower games. To fit games into the day, our bridal shower checklist puts them on the plan with food, gifts and decor, and bridal shower wish cards covers the card station.

A limit worth knowing

Game advice is general. The right number and mix depend on the bride: a private bride may want one quiet quiz and no spotlight games, so ask her (or her closest friend) before you print anything.