Host a Stunning Italian Themed Bridal Shower on a Budget
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Italian themed bridal showers are stunning, to say the least.
Hosting a gorgeous blue and yellow bridal shower that perfectly encapsulates the Italian countryside doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. With some creative planning and attention to detail, you can host an Italian themed bridal shower that fits your budget.
This post teaches you how to host an Italian themed bridal shower.
Who should host an Italian themed bridal shower?
Italian themed bridal showers grew in popularity over the last few years. Pinterest is full of bridal showers featuring blue, yellow, lemons, and garden-inspired venues that perfectly encapsulate the Italian countryside.
If you have Italian heritage, an Italian themed bridal shower is perfect for you. Bridal showers host family members from several generations – meaning the entire family will get to enjoy the focus on your family’s heritage.
Destination weddings in Italy are to die for gorgeous. Depending on your family’s budget, it’s not guaranteed everyone will get to join you in Italy. Throwing a bridal shower that features characteristics of your destination wedding is the perfect way for everyone to enjoy a taste of Italy.
What makes a bridal shower Italian themed?
All bridal shower themes are expressed through invitations, decor, favors, and the menu. Coordinating these key items ensures that your theme is clear for all guests. If possible, you can further emphasize the theme with your venue. This is harder to accomplish, but it creates a gorgeous, seamless party when it’s done well.
Italian bridal showers tend to use blue and yellow as their primary colors. They also feature lemons and lots of greenery. These features reflect the Italian countryside, but remember, you are not restricted to them. You can choose colors and items that work better for your space or preferences while still portraying an Italian theme.
Sticking to a Budget
Sticking to a budget is one of the most critical components of bridal shower planning, alongside choosing a theme.
Hosting a bridal shower on a budget is all about prioritizing where you want to spend money and where you want to be more frugal. On average, you can expect to spend $50-$100 per person on a bridal shower.
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Invitations
Invitations set the tone for guests and play as the introduction to the theme.
By now, you’ve selected a color palette and decided how to highlight Italy. Use these colors and items to design your invitations.
To save a bit of money, you can make the background of the invitations white. This cuts down on printing costs considerably. If you want to make your invitations even more budget-friendly, print them one-sided. All of the extra details should be on the wedding website, anyway.
If you’re designing on your own, consider getting a Canva Pro account. It’s under $15 for a month, you can cancel anytime, and you can use all of their templates and graphics.
On the other hand, if designing invitations yourself isn’t your style, Etsy has plenty of customizable templates that are already Italian themed.
Venue
When choosing a venue, you have two main options – you can find something that emphasizes an Italian theme, or, pick something that’s a blank slate that you can make Italian themed.
To start, look for upscale Italian restaurants with private rooms. If they exist in your area, the menu and potentially some decor will be included automatically.
If an Italian restaurant isn’t an option, you can try to find a cozy, mostly private garden or park setting. This type of venue is especially relevant if your theme portrays the Italian countryside. Larger cities sometimes have businesses that provide a “fancy picnic”—if this is an option, you’d be able to host a pretty spectacular Italian bridal shower in a park that’s just as glamorous as a venue you would have had to pay for.
Attire
The bride should determine the guest’s attire – or it should at least be run past them for approval.
Typically, cocktail attire is the best choice for an Italian theme. It’s dressed up enough to highlight the glamour of Italian fashion but not so much that it’s out of place for a bridal shower.
Depending on the guest list, you can even go as far as to ask guests to wear a specific color palette or shade range of colors. This doesn’t land well with all groups, so talk it over with the bride if it’s something you think the shower should have.
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Italian Themed Bridal Shower Menu
Aside from your decor, the menu is where your Italian bridal shower theme shines!
If you’re hosting the shower at an Italian restaurant, you’ll work with them directly to create your menu. Alternatively, if you’re creating your own menu, feature the bride’s favorite Italian foods.
Rather than providing guests a full meal, you can offer an array of light appetizers or a grazing table. Your theme is still the focus as long as you’re choosing Italian foods. Be sure to shop around a few different caterers and price out the food yourself to give some wiggle room in the budget.
Decor
The decor is where you let your theme shine!
While shopping, try to expand beyond decor items marketed to bridal showers. Specific bridal shower decor tends to be overpriced and limited in selection. Instead, search for “yellow party decor” or “lemon-themed party.” These general terms will give you a much larger and budget-friendly selection.
To save some money in the decor department, get creative. What do you or your immediate family members already have? Is there someone who hosted a bridal shower recently that had cute decor you could borrow? Can you purchase decor items that will also be used in the wedding? Taking time to work through these questions can save a ton of money.
If you live in a large area, it’s worth sifting through Facebook Marketplace for some decor. Remember to search general terms, like “party decor,” if a specific term like “bridal shower decor” isn’t producing great results.
Activities
Depending on the bride and guest list, you may not even want activities. Bridal shower activities need to be catered to the guests. Try to determine what they would enjoy doing most, and make sure your activities reflect this.
If you’d like your theme to be all-encompassing, you can try to make the activities Italian-themed, too. Remember that “activities” aren’t restricted to just bridal shower themed games. There are a ton of unique bridal shower activity ideas that are a perfect fit for an Italian-themed bridal shower.
For example, you could have a DIY flower bouquet station to highlight the Italian countryside theme. You could also have a wine or olive oil tasting or even a private cocktail-making class.
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Favors
Finally, your bridal shower favors are a great place to let your theme shine.
Italy is known for its cuisine – consider gifting guests mini bottles of gourmet olive oil or balsamic vinegar or even giving them a nice bottle of wine.
No matter what you choose for a bridal shower favor, make sure it’s something that guests can use. Too often, guests are gifted “bridal shower” themed items that are honestly just junk and a waste of money. Giving guests something they look forward to using is a much better way to show your thanks.
Italian Themed Bridal Shower FAQ
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