I'm just there for the free food really j/k

well, I had two bridal showers - one with games and one without. the one with games was more traditional -- like older ladies there and petit fours. The other one was my friends and good food and wine. I have to say I enjoyed the latter more, but I was honored by both. I can tolerate some cheesy games, but I don't think they are necessary.

I went to one where they made the games traditional games with a wedding twist - taboo, scattergories, pictionary - after a couple of glasses of wine, it was actually a lot of fun

Maybe after some drinks I could get more into it but normally I'm eh.

I don't mind a few games. I think they can be fun if they're not too tacky etc.

Please no. I'm just there because I have to be

Only if they're not the typical, lame ones! Get creative! My friends and I always come up with our own original games and the guests get into it.

Otherwise, with NO games or any sort of entertainment for the guests, bridal showers are a huge bore. Trust me...I've seriously been to 20+ bridal showers in my life. No one wants to just sit and watch someone open gifts for 3 or 4 hours. And games also create more interaction between guests.

Most of the showers I've gone to have CHEESY games, but I think with a little creativity, you can come up with something fun to entertain the guests in the "downtime".

MindayH, that's exactly what my friends and I have done...we do trivia-type games based on TV/movies, etc. and the guests love it. I love it too!

Taboo would be awesome too..I LOVE that game.

I recently went to a wedding shower and we played an "ultimate bride & groom quiz", it was really fun and we got to know the bride and groom better.

eh, i hate this part of bridal showers! since i have to be a bridesmaid 3 times (THREE!!!) this summer, that means i have to play a lot of games. not my idea of fun...

Baby shower games are more fun thank bridal shower games.

We played pictionary near the end of our last bridal shower, so people who wanted to leave could, and people who were excited to play could win some prizes!

We did that activity where the bride gets tested to see how much she knows about her husband to be, which is usually a hoot, as well as some other small things, like door prize, guess the jellybeans and the activity where everyone gets a clothespin and you can't say "bride."

Everyone thought it was a good mix of mingling, games, food and so on.

I haaaaate them. But, my then-fiance's aunt planned my shower and she wanted to do games, so I pretended to love them and didn't complain My second shower was a formal brunch and that was really fun.

Now that I think about it, one of the games we played wasn't bad-- the host handed out a sheet of multiple choice questions for me to answer, and everyone guessed what I would pick. They weren't trivia questions, just random things like "Which color would you rather paint your front door: Red, Blue, Green, White" and "If you were a perfume would you be: Romance, Happy Heart, Truth, White Diamonds", etc. It was cute, and my mom won!

i went to a bridal shower (for a relatively young bride) where the host handed out plain cotton white undies in the brides size and then gave us all kinds of crafty things- funky colored feathers, puff paints, glitter, etc and had us decorate them for the bride. that was really fun. people were talking and laughing the whole time. at then end, the bride picked the one she liked the most and that girl got a prize.

I'm not into bridal/baby shower games! I think most ppl feel obligated to play them but not really jumping at the opportunity to be part of them (at least that's how i feel)...so i would rather get creative and do something different! I love Taboo and games of that sort...so maybe that...!

I have played some TERRIBLE bridal shower games, but I think the hostess' just lacked the creativity for something fun.

At one we had to be blindfolded and draw a picture of the groom in his underwear. Being that I'd never met him, I didn't do so well. And it was awkward.

Then we had to be blindfolded and see who could get the most cotton balls on their head with a wooden spoon in a minute. At least I'd had enough margaritas by then to just laugh through it, but it was not wedding related at all.

The games are kind of cheesy, but the behaviour of the people playing them can be hilarious! I remember one shower where they were playing some kind of game involving clothespins pinned on guests' shirts - if you caught another guest doing something (can't remember what!), you could claim their clothespin. The lady with the most pins at the end of the party won a prize. This one fussy woman was perched on her chair, watching everyone like a hawk - she even watched the little girls who were there, and took their pins! Best part was that she didn't win. In any case, they can be funny. Would be great if someone could post a collection of wedding/marriage related games. I love the underwear idea!

I for one do not enjoy cheesy games, corny music, making small talk with extended old people family etc. If bridal showers are so boring and stuffy, it's like being tricked into going to a wedding twice. I went to a bummer bridal shower recently and it inspired me to write this "Four Fresh Themes for Your Bridal Shower" article, including using a National Geographic animals mating video as your soundtrack and other original ideas (including a SEPARATE friends/family shower). Check it out if you like http://www.bridezilla.com/2008/04/bridezillas_guide_to_bridal_sh.cfm