How To: Throw a unique bridal shower

Is your BFF getting married? Looks like you have a bridal shower to plan! Organize a bridal bash that people will actually want to attend using these innovative ideas.

You Will Need:
• The bride's likes and dislikes
• A theme

Step 1: Don't get hung up on rules
Throw out any old-fashioned notions of what you "have" to do. Let the bride's personality dictate the theme.

Step 2: Focus on food
If she or her future husband loves to cook, consider a recipe shower, where everyone brings a favorite recipe & a kitchen item that's helpful in preparing it. Ask several guests to make their dish & it becomes a potluck supper. Or hire a local chef to give guests a cooking lesson.

Step 3: Lift her spirits
If pre-dinner cocktails are more her thing, have a "stock the bar" party, where everyone brings two bottles of liquor – one for the couple's liquor cabinet & one to use as you all learn to make classic cocktails. For the vino-loving bride, throw a wine-tasting party; guests bring one bottle for tasting, & one for the newlyweds' wine collection.

Step 4: Soothe her frazzled nerves
Does the bride like to be pampered? Hold the shower at a local salon, where everyone can enjoy spa treatments. Or set up a private yoga class for the gang. Don't forget the champagne!

Step 5: Have a slumber party
Consider a throwback slumber party. Make it grown up by holding it at a hotel, where you can all pile into adjoining suites, order room service & laugh the night away.

Step 6: Sex it up
For the frisky bride, throw a lingerie party with a twist: Hire someone to teach pole dancing or striptease skills.

Step 7: Do some good
For the community-minded bride, why not turn the shower into an opportunity to help others? Spend a day helping build a house or cleaning up a local park. Reward yourselves with a relaxing dinner afterwards.

Trivia: Bridesmaids spend an average of $163 per person hosting the bridal s