A Cinco de Mayo Bridal Shower! What Could Be More Festive?

Planning a bridal shower in May? Great! Not only is that a fun and sunny time of year, it’s also right around the Cinco de Mayo festival. Combine the two reasons to celebrate in an ultra-festive event decked out in vibrant fiesta-style decorations!

If you’re not quite sure how to capture that Mexican flair, we’d like to assure you it’s actually simpler than it looks. This is one occasion when “more is more” and over-the-top is just fine, so be prepared to have fun. So for your bridal shower party, we’re thrilled to share some ideas with you. They’re sure to get you excited about dressing up your own Cinco de Mayo-inspired party tables!

Set a Colorful Cinco de Mayo Tablescape

Who needs a color palette when a Cinco de Mayo scene calls for “all colors”? Pull out all the stops from a festive print table cloth to a piñata ball centerpiece!

This is not a time to be bashful with color. Give vent to your hidden “color craziness” with a party palette and centerpiece that just scream fiesta!

What color scheme? If “every color in the rainbow” can be called a scheme, then this is one.

1. The table cloth alone is not only multi-colored to the max, it also has “party” printed all over it—in flowers and fruits to be exact!
2. The hand-painted plate chargers echo the entire palette as well, as do the adorable bead napkin rings. Sleek square plates and fringed napkins in crisp white provide a stark—and welcome—contrast! Wondering what to eat and drink? See our Mexican-inspired appetizers’ and tequila bar post.
3. Festive streamers in colors of orange, fuchsia, and pink add a fun look when strewn on the party chairs.

Cinco de Mayo Crepe Paper Ball Centerpieces!

Piñata balls made from crepe paper add a spectacular touch of whimsy and fun as table centerpieces.

Who doesn’t love a piñata? Don’t worry, you don’t have to craft a whole donkey, pig, or parrot! You actually get to cheat a little with simple piñata balls.

1. If your crafting skills aren’t too shabby, you can go the authentic route by making a hollow papier maché shell for each ball. Or you can simply use styrofoam balls in different sizes, or even inflated balloons!
2. Cover each ball (or balloon) in strips of different colored crepe or tissue paper, cut in fun fringes.
3. Then, line the piñata balls down the center of the party table for an undeniably eye-catching centerpiece!

Give Fun Cinco de Mayo Party Favors with Flair!

Talk about a ready-made favor display! Use giant Mexican sombreros to present your bridal shower favors—all bundled up in colorful fabric wraps.

Sombreros “brimming” with party favors. What would a Mexican-style celebration be without sombreros? Lucky for everyone, these are such distinctive decorations on their own, you need just a couple to make a Cinco de Mayo statement.

1. Look for the biggest sombreros you can find and in the most festive colors.
2. Lay one at each end of the party table and use their wide brims as handy favor displays!
3. Pile on the party favors packaged in the most vibrant colors, and toss in some bright straw pompoms for good measure.
4. And what are those ruffly wraps hiding? Heart-shaped favor boxes filled with goodies such as famed Mexican wedding cookies. Other Mexican goodies would be nutty bunuelos, polvorones de canele (cinnamon cookies), Mexican cookie rings, and biscochitos.

Special Feature: Original Creations from Some Very Cool Blogs

Hola! We found even more decorating ideas from some of our favorite blogs that would be great for your Cinco de Mayo-themed bridal shower! Check them out and maybe choose a couple.

1. Here’s a great alternative to our piñata balls centerpiece! It’s an equally colorful and festive Cinco de Mayo-inspired centerpiece from Susan of Entertain Exchange. Her tutorial shows how she took glass cylinders and vases in various sizes, and wrapped them around with multi-colored bands of tissue with cute little cutout designs and fringes. Just add tea lights inside of them, and they become glowing table-top luminaries for your bridal shower party!
2. Having an outdoor venue for your bridal shower? Actually, even if you’re not, these Mexican-print pinwheels from Abigail of Paper and Cake would make the cheeriest decorations stuck just about anywhere at the party! Don’t you just love the reversible-print paper and the striking colors?
3. Again, whether outdoors or indoors, the traditional Mexican bunting known as papel picado would really get the fiesta look going at your party! Usually made of the brightest colored paper available, this sweet, vintage-style version from Para Ti Novia could be just the thing for a bridal shower. The post includes a how-to, so you can recreate this yourself!
4. And if you just want festive, festive, festive!—bring out the scissors plus rolls of tissue in the loveliest colors, and snip away! That’s how Jordan of Oh Happy Day crafted these fun “fringey streamers” for her son’s birthday, then shared the tutorial for all to enjoy. Come to think of it, it doesn’t even have to be Cinco de Mayo—these would be fabulous for any occasion!