In the old days, wedding showers were not quite the elaborate affairs that they have evolved into within the past few decades. They once were small events, just small gestures of love shown for the bride and from the bride for her friends. As a result, the bridal shower favors were not very elaborate either. Today’s wedding party, though, knows that without a bride’s friends and family, the event wouldn’t be nearly as memorable or special. Therefore, the ladies in attendance at the shower are to be treated with much more appreciation. Hence the importance of wedding shower favors.

This stands in stark contrast to the old days, when you could almost predict ahead of time what kind of wedding shower favors would be given away to the party guests. Typically these bridal shower favors might include something such as a bouquet of flowers or a gift bag with chocolates. And true, these gifts are still offered as wedding shower favors. But the savvy bridal party will offer them with a bit more flair. There are lots of possibilities to totally customize even these traditional ideas so that they coordinate with the overall wedding theme and with the needs and wants of the guests.

Remember that today, the wedding shower has become an event in itself. From the food to the games and entertainment to the decorations, the shower rivals the wedding reception itself. And so, just as the wedding favors at the reception are important, so too are the bridal shower favors. You want to be sure that your guests look back on this evening in years to come and have fond memories of it. So your wedding shower favors should do a few things: They should remind the guests of the couple, they should be useful enough that the guest will keep it, and they should evoke fond thoughts.

So how do you ensure that your wedding shower favors will do this? There are any number of ways. First,get gifts that have a real function: bottle openers or wine glasses, candies that come in boxes which can be reused. And then perhaps incorporate a message from the couple on the wedding shower favors, or if not, then include a special card of thanks with the gift. This will attach a special meaning to the gift. And for the sake of lasting memories, something about these bridal shower favors should tell the guest that this was a gift from your friend during her wedding. A wedding design or motif. Something should say wedding about it.

So start brainstorming. Pull out some paper and pen and write down your thoughts. How do you want people to remember your wedding? Is there something about the couple you want the wedding shower favors to communicate? Perhaps you’d like to coordinate the gifts with the wedding theme. Jot down all your thoughts and then have a friend help you select the best one. Then put them with a nice card from you and the groom. With determination and creativity, you can come up with bridal shower favors that will have all of your guests fondly recalling your shower for years to come.