Easy Wedding Shower Ideas

Recipe: Raspberry Beer Cocktail

Serve a beverage such as Raspberry Beer Cocktail in chalkboard-style glasses with each guest’s name.

Make your own glasses with chalkboard spray paint and painter’s tape. They can double as a special gift for the bride and groom after the shower.

Recipe: Chilled Cucumber Soup

Recipe: Cantaloupe Soup

Recipe: Chilled Strawberry Soup

These chilled soups—strawberry, cucumber, and cantaloupe—create a trio of beautiful spring colors. Serve them in tiny demitasse cups for an elegant touch or in clear plastic tumblers, available at party stores, for easy cleanup.

Recipe: Easy Cheesecake Bars

Recipe: Luscious Lemon Bars

Recipe: So Good Brownies

Recipe: Mom’s Brown Sugar Bars

Add a personal touch to bars, such as Easy Cheesecake Bars, by piping on the couple’s monogram. Just fill a zip-top plastic bag with store-bought frosting and pipe.

Monogram How-To: Snip a corner of the filled bag (not too big, not too small), and squeeze. Practice first on a piece of paper. Use lowercase letters for a modern look, or get fancy with cursive.

Let partygoers fill a memory jar instead of signing a guest book to leave special notes for the bride and groom.

Visit your local crafts store to find card stock, ribbons, and pens. Pull out any other scrapbooking supplies you have at home, and make a few samples for guests ahead of time.

Recipe: Shrimp-Pesto Pizza (pictured)

Recipe: Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Recipe: Greek Caesar Salad

Anchor your party menu with personal pizzas from a grill. Guests will gather around the grill once they catch the irresistible scent of fire-baked flatbread and fresh toppings.

You can easily prepare pizza toppings and salad such as Greek Caesar Salad ahead of time, leaving you plenty of time to mingle with guests and celebrate with the lucky couple.

Recipe: Simple Antipasto Platter

For a simple yet impressive starter, arrange a colorful antipasto platter. Roll a log of goat cheese in fresh chopped parsley and set out sliced salami, pickled okra, kalamata olives, and roasted red bell peppers. Serve with assorted crackers and breadsticks. Prepare the platter in advance and pop it out of the fridge at party time.

Recipe: Easy Egg Salad Crostini

Recipe: Chicken Salad Crescent Rolls

Impress guests with dainty pickup foods, such as Egg Salad Crostini and Chicken Salad Crescent Rolls. These recipes work well for both late-morning and afternoon showers.

For an easy shortcut, purchase egg salad and chicken salad from your favorite deli to use for these recipes.

Recipe: Frosted Sandwiches

Recipe: Chicken Salad

Recipe: Egg Salad

Recipe: Pimento Cheese

Frosted Party Sandwiches create a unique presentation for our favorite classic cold spreads: egg salad, chicken salad, and pimiento cheese.

The preparation is simple. Make a triple-decker crustless sandwich and spread a cream cheese mixture over the top and sides. Garnish with celery leaves, paprika, or Cheddar cheese.

Make the sandwiches the night before and chill. To save time use a serrated knife to cut the sandwiches into slices at party time.

Recipe: Blue Cheese-Walnut Finger Sandwiches (pictured)

Recipe: Bacon-Olive Party Sandwiches

Recipe: Curried Chicken Tea Sandwiches

Recipe: Goat Cheese-Pecan Finger Sandwiches

Recipe: Smoky “Pimiento” Cheese Sandwiches

Recipe: Checkerboard Cheese Sandwiches

Endless varieties of finger sandwiches are classic shower fare. Serve them on cake plates alongside fresh fruit for an elegant presentation. Try one of our favorite recipes or improvise with your own.

Serve cold foods outdoors on a flower-filled ice tray. Here’s how to make one easily:

Fill a 13- x 9-inch pan with water. Cover top of pan with self-sealing plastic wrap. Place 2 strips of tape about 1⁄2 inch apart on the plastic wrap 1⁄2 inch from inside edge on each short side of pan. Using the paring knife, evenly cut Xs, smaller than the diameter of the carrots, in between strips of tape on each side. Fit carrots into Xs; secure with tape, if necessary.

Place pan on level rack in freezer, and freeze at least 24 hours. Remove plastic wrap, carrots, and, if necessary, tape. Run tap water over ice block to remove from pan. The frozen carrots will be soft and easy to dig out of the ice with a small spoon, if necessary. Place your choice of flowers in ice cavities.

Recipe: Sparkling Punch

Recipe: Blackberry Iced Tea

Recipe: Governor's Mansion Summer Peach Tea Punch

Recipe: Lemonade Iced Tea

No shower is complete without a refreshing drink. Sparkling Punch (pictured) is a fruity combination of pineapple juice, strawberry daiquiri mix concentrate, pink lemonade concentrate, and ginger ale.

For your bridal wedding shower, tuck colorful flowers inside napkin rings to brighten up neutral linens. You can also use greenery and other elements, such as tassels or beads to liven up the look.

Start with white or off-white serving pieces and linens. White is versatile no matter the color scheme or theme of the shower. Play with different color palettes that would best fit the bride's personality while also keeping it elegant and sophisticated. Play with the flower types as well; for a more traditional shower try roses or calla lilies, but for a more playful theme consider sunflowers or zinnias.

Recipe: Cherry-Pistachio Bark

Recipe: Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Recipe: Vanilla Sugar Cookies

Prepare heart-shaped cookies or bars ahead of time. Cherry-Pistachio Bark (pictured) looks elegant on a party tray without any frosting.

You can also use heart-shaped or letter cookie cutters (for the couple’s initials) to cut out homemade or refrigerated sugar cookie dough. Set out different colored icing and candies for guests to decorate the cookies. For a fun game, let the bride judge a cookie-decorating contest.

Recipe: Small Tiered Cluster Cakes

Guests will love having their own personal wedding-like tiered cake. These have a 3-inch-round base and are perfect for an intimate party.

How-To: Poppy Seed Cake was cut into three graduated circles with cutters. We then stacked the layers on a wire rack, coated them with Poured Fondant, and piped a border with Buttercream Frosting. Garnish with ribbon, fresh rosebuds, or pansies. One recipe makes about a dozen cakes.

Let guests at your bridal shower help themselves to their beverage of choice. Simply display small carafes—filled with iced tea, water, lemonade, or juice—nestled in ice in a large serving bowl. Look for carafes at kitchen shops or restaurant supply stores.