Festive Ideas for a Winter-inspired Bridal Shower Party

Whether you’re in a snowy location or not, you can recreate the look and feel of a wintertime festival at your own bridal shower. Start with an elegant color scheme, accented with soft decorative touches and lots of bling, sparkle, and candlelight. And finish with thoughtful bridal shower favors, presented in style. For amazingly doable decorating and packaging tips, take your cue from our fab wintertime party setting below.

Plan the Décor with an Elegant Winter-Inspired Theme

Use the crisp, pristine white of new-fallen snow to set the scene for your party tables. Then, accent this with hints of lilac and pink, soft feathers, and lots of sparkly and metallic elements.

The look to aim for on your table settings is simple and clean with a subtle hint of glamour. Set out a basic palette of pristine white—from the tablecloth, to the porcelain dinnerware and fabric napkins, paired with silver cutlery and crystal glass ware. Then, bring in the surprise of soft color with touches of lilac and pink, and hints of sapphire blue and silver.

Decorating Tip:

You can create a simple centerpiece by filling tall glass vases with plumes of feathers. Try different kinds of feathers in varying sizes from ostrich to goose feathers. For a winter scene, a combination of white and pink adds a pretty, feminine flair to a bridal shower party table. Scatter a few acrylic gems, sparkling sequins, or metallic confetti around your centerpieces and they come alive instantly!

Create your Own Dreamy Winter Wonderland Scene with Candles

Bring the dreamy feel of a winter wonderland to your party tables with whimsical touches, like rhinestone-and-silver votive holders all aglow and fanciful feather adornments for your wine glasses.

Complete the dreamy scene with more soft and romantic elements. In place of a traditional centerpiece, arrange a stunning “runner” of your bridal shower favors down the center of the table. Dress these up with delicate, pure white feathers and surround them with the glow of tealights. To mimic the glitter of snowflakes, scatter clear glass beads and silver sequins all over—even on the sparkly name cards held by jeweled card holders. Lastly, add a little flamboyance to the scene by dressing up your glassware with pink and white feathers adorning the stems.

Decorating Tip:

Create an almost ethereal look by letting the glow of candlelight illuminate your party tables. Use a combination of pillar candles, tealights, and votives. This offers a more stylish arrangement than one that uses a single style and size of candles. You may also want to decorate the ceiling with hanging string lights or white Christmas lights. Then, come party time, be sure to dim the venue lights to see the full effect!

Spread the Joy with Something Thoughtful

Make your guest favors part of the fabulous party decor! We’ve decorated these purses to mimic a graceful formation of beautiful white swans that double as the centerpieces.

Keep up the glam all the way to your party favors. Even the simplest of gift items can express your thoughtfulness and show off your decorating flair! Take your pick from our examples:

1. Dainty tulle purses – Fill these with your favorite treats and decorate them to match your party motif. For this color palette, you can nestle classic Jordan almonds and pink foil-wrapped chocolates in a bed of purple crinkle paper for a pop of color! Then, make these favors extra special by decorating the purse handles with artful feather-and-organza-flower accents. Line them up at mid-table and you’ve got a creative table runner made up of party favors. A plus factor: No floral arrangements to clean up after the guests take these favors home!
2. Glittery place card holders – In keeping with the sparkly tablescape, set out rhinestone place card holders with a charming daisy design. Tuck in equally glittery name cards to both welcome the guests to the table and serve as favor tags—letting guests know these holders are theirs to keep! After the party, they make lovely memo or photo holders on a desktop or dresser.
3. Candles wrapped in pretty fabric – Candles echo the snowy scene of your bridal shower. So give these as elegant guest favors, presented in soft pink or lilac organza wraps—or any color that highlights your party palette. Tie on a personalized gift tag with a sweet note like, “Thanks for the warm glow of your friendship!”
4. Hot cocoa mugs – These make great wintertime gifts when filled with a packet of hot cocoa mix, some mini marshmallows, and scrumptious brownie bites. Simply wrap the goodies in cello, pop them into each mug with some colorful crinkle paper, and finish the package with a striking velvet or textured ribbon.
5. Ivory frames presented in gift bags – Since this is a bridal shower party with close friends and family, delight each guest with a memorable photo of you with each of them—specially presented in an ivory picture frame. For a finishing touch, either wrap these in sheer embroidered sachets or tie on little satin bows and favor tags.

Download a Bridal Shower Invitation, Place Cards, and Favor Tags

Download for Winter-inspired Bridal Shower Party – PDF

Prepare Party Food with Simplicity and Taste in Mind

With all the feasting that accompanies the holidays, think easy-to-prepare foods that are tasteful and light. Remember, you and your bridal shower guests do want to fit into your gowns come the wedding day!

Consider soups such as tomato bisque, clam corn chowder, or French onion soup in hearty bread bowls. Perfect accompaniments would be finger sandwiches filled with roast beef, smoked salmon, or grilled chicken. Alternatively, hors d’oeuvres usually served as starters can be your simple but elegant “entrees.” Some ideas? Shrimp puff pastries, mini quiche bites, and chicken lollipops with sweet and sour sauce.

For a gourmet touch, offer up a selection of cheeses—such as brie, American smoked cheddar, havarti, and Asiago cheese—as well as savory spreads like goose liver paté, garlic butter spread, or even fresh whipped butter. To go with these, set out baskets of freshly-baked breads such as rosemary wheat bread or Italian bread still warm from the oven, along with trays of gourmet wine biscuits.

And speaking of wine, this most special occasion calls for some bubbly! After a crisp white wine to go with the light party fare, serve up a round of sparkling champagne. A toast to the bride-to-be…and to those nearest and dearest to you!

Hit Some Jazzy Notes to Set the Mood

Finally, set an ambiance that’s both cozy and classy. Play cool tunes from such jazz greats as Chet Baker, Miles Davis, and Ella Fitzgerald—plus some modern favorites, such as Diane Krall. For a hint of the holidays, have the music of the Nutcracker ballet playing in the background, or recordings of well-loved carols by oldies-but-goodies Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, or by contemporary artists like Sam Riney or Josh Groban.

More Pinterest Inspiration

Want more inspiration? Our blue and silver pins from Pinterest show you how to host an elegant winter wedding with hints of Tiffany blue!

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