28 bachelorette party and bridal shower games

Gift bingo

Players

8 to 40

Minutes

During gift opening

Ages

All ages

You need

A blank bingo card and a pen for each guest

1. Hand each guest a blank card and a pen as they arrive.
2. Guests fill every square with a gift they expect the couple to open, such as towels, a mixing bowl or a picture frame.
3. When a gift is opened, guests mark any square that matches it.
4. The first guest with a full line calls bingo and reads the gifts back to the host.
5. Keep going for second and third place if there are many gifts.

Without a printer: Guests draw a 4 by 4 grid on any paper; a small shower can use 3 by 3.

Open the material: Printable blank bingo cards

Bridal shower word bingo

Players

6 to 40

Minutes

15 to 20

Ages

All ages

You need

A different bingo card for each guest, the call list, and markers such as coins or buttons

1. Put a different card at each guest's place and keep the call list with the host.
2. Cut the call list into slips, fold them and put them in a bowl.
3. Draw one slip at a time and read the word aloud; guests cover it if it is on their card.
4. A full row, column or diagonal wins. Check it against the slips already drawn.

Without a printer: Read the whole word list aloud once while guests copy words of their choice into a hand-drawn grid, then call the words in a random order.

Open the material: Bridal shower bingo

He said, she said

Players

6 to 40

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

10 and up

You need

A numbered list of quotes from the couple, answer sheets and pens

1. Before the shower, ask both partners the same ten light questions, such as their ideal Sunday or the best meal they have cooked together, and write down what each one says.
2. Let the couple strike any answer they would rather keep private.
3. Mix the answers into one numbered list of quotes.
4. Guests write the name of the partner they think said each quote, so the game works for any couple.
5. Read the answers aloud. The guest with the most right wins.

Without a printer: Read the quotes one at a time and let guests hold up one finger for the first partner or two for the second.

Open the material: Printable trivia answer sheets

How well do you know the bride

Players

6 to 40

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

10 and up

You need

Ten questions with the bride's own answers, answer sheets and pens

1. A week before, ask the bride ten questions and let her approve each one: favorite flower, first concert, dream trip, usual coffee order.
2. Hand out answer sheets with the questions numbered.
3. Guests write what they think she answered.
4. The bride reads her real answers aloud, and guests score a point for each match.
5. Break a tie with the year the couple met. The closest guess wins.

Without a printer: Read the questions aloud while guests number any piece of paper from 1 to 10.

Open the material: Printable trivia answer sheets

Would she rather

Players

6 to 40

Minutes

10

Ages

All ages

You need

Ten either-or choices the bride has answered in secret

1. Write ten either-or choices about the bride's tastes, such as beach or mountains, cake or pie, dancing or singing.
2. Before the game, the bride marks her pick for each one where guests cannot see.
3. Read each choice aloud. Guests point left for the first option or right for the second.
4. The bride reveals her pick, and guests who matched keep a point.

Open the material: Would you rather questions for couples

Toilet paper wedding dress

Players

9 to 30, in teams of 3 or 4

Minutes

15 to 20

Ages

All ages

You need

Two or three rolls of toilet paper per team, tape and a timer

1. Split guests into teams and let each team pick a model.
2. Give every team the same supplies and ten minutes to make a dress, veil and bouquet from toilet paper and tape.
3. Models walk across the room one at a time while their team explains the design.
4. The bride picks the winner, or the room votes with applause.

Don't say wedding

Players

8 to 40

Minutes

Runs through the party

Ages

All ages

You need

A clothespin or sticker for each guest

1. Give each guest a clothespin to clip on as they arrive.
2. Announce the banned words, usually wedding and bride.
3. When you hear someone say a banned word, take their clothespin and clip it on yourself.
4. The guest wearing the most clothespins when the gifts are opened wins.

Find the guest who

Players

12 to 50

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

All ages

You need

A find-the-guest card for each guest and pens

1. Make a card of squares that fit different guests, such as 'has been to the couple's hometown', 'knows where the couple first met' or 'traveled over 100 miles today'.
2. Guests mingle and ask each other questions to find someone who fits each square.
3. The matching guest signs the square, and each guest signs a card only once.
4. Anyone can answer a question with pass.
5. The first guest with a signed line wins. Keep going if people are enjoying it.

Without a printer: Read the squares aloud. Guests write them as a numbered list and collect a name beside each one.

Open the material: Human bingo

Whose advice is it

Players

6 to 30

Minutes

15

Ages

All ages

You need

Blank cards, pens and a basket

1. Each guest writes one short piece of marriage or home advice on a card without signing it.
2. Collect the cards in a basket.
3. The bride reads each card aloud and guesses who wrote it.
4. The writer says whether she is right. The couple keeps the cards.

Without a printer: Use any small squares of paper, or the backs of place cards.

Open the material: Printable blank playing cards

Wedding word scramble

Players

Any number

Minutes

10

Ages

8 and up

You need

A scramble sheet and a pen for each guest

1. Make a sheet of 15 to 20 wedding words with their letters mixed up, such as bouquet, veil, reception and honeymoon.
2. Add the couple's first names and the wedding city to make it their own.
3. Hand the sheets out face down and start everyone together.
4. The first guest to solve every word shows the host, who checks it against the answer key.

Without a printer: Write the scrambled words on a large sheet of paper or a whiteboard for the whole room.

Open the material: Word scramble generator with answer key

Wedding word search

Players

Any number

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

6 and up

You need

A word search and a pen for each guest

1. Make a word search from wedding words and the couple's names.
2. Leave one at each seat so early guests have something to do.
3. The first guest to find every word brings the sheet to the host.
4. The host checks it against the answer page and hands over a small prize.

Without a printer: Show the puzzle on a tablet at each table and let the table solve it together.

Guess the price

Players

6 to 30

Minutes

10

Ages

12 and up

You need

8 to 10 household items with their prices noted, paper and pens

1. Choose household items, ideally from the couple's registry, and note what each one costs.
2. Show the items one at a time while guests write a price for each.
3. Reveal the real prices in order.
4. The closest guess without going over scores the point. The most points wins.

Ask the groom

Players

4 to 20

Minutes

15

Ages

Adults

You need

The groom's answers to 15 questions, as texts or short videos, and a phone to show them

1. A week before, send the groom, or whoever the bride is marrying, 15 light questions, such as his first impression of her or his usual date-night order.
2. At the party, read each question and let the bride answer aloud.
3. Show or play his answer.
4. She scores a point for every match. The bridesmaids rule on close calls.

Bride trivia board

Players

4 to 20, in two or three teams

Minutes

20 to 30

Ages

Adults

You need

A laptop, a TV or shared screen, and 15 to 25 questions about the bride

1. Write questions about the bride in five categories, such as childhood, travel, food, music and the couple, and let her approve them.
2. Enter them in the quiz board maker, with harder questions worth more points.
3. Teams take turns choosing a square and agreeing on one answer.
4. The bride confirms each answer while the board keeps score.
5. On a video call, share the screen and let teams answer by voice.

Bachelorette bingo

Players

4 to 20

Minutes

Runs through the night

Ages

Adults

You need

A different card of possible moments for each guest, and pens

1. Fill the cards with clean moments that might happen tonight: the bride tells the proposal story, a stranger congratulates her, the group gets a photo with a statue, someone mentions the wedding date.
2. Give each guest a different card at the start.
3. Mark a square when the moment happens. Another guest has to have seen it too.
4. The first full line wins a small prize, and a full card wins the night.

Without a printer: Post the list of moments in the group chat. Each guest copies nine into a 3 by 3 grid in their phone notes.

Photo scavenger hunt

Players

4 to 20, in teams of 2 to 4

Minutes

45 to 90

Ages

Adults

You need

A list of photos to take for each team, a phone per team and a set finish time

1. List 15 to 25 photos to take, such as the team spelling the bride's initial with their arms or the bride posing like a statue.
2. Give each photo points, with harder ones worth more.
3. Keep every item possible within the group, so nobody has to approach a stranger.
4. Teams leave from the same spot and must be back by the finish time.
5. Add up the points from the photos, then send them all to the bride.

Without a printer: Post the list in the group chat.

Open the material: Printable scavenger hunt checklist

Never have I ever, without drinks

Players

4 to 15

Minutes

15 to 20

Ages

Adults

You need

Nothing, or a list of statements

1. Everyone holds up ten fingers.
2. Take turns saying something you have never done, such as 'Never have I ever been on a cruise.'
3. Anyone who has done it lowers a finger, with no need to explain.
4. The last player with a finger up wins.
5. Keep statements to travel, food, hobbies and harmless mishaps, and let anyone pass a turn.

Open the material: Never have I ever questions for families

Most likely to

Players

4 to 20

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

Adults

You need

A list of prompts

1. Read a prompt, such as 'Who is most likely to cry during the vows?' or 'Who is most likely to get lost on the way to the venue?'
2. On the count of three, everyone points at the guest they pick.
3. The guest with the most fingers pointing at them keeps the prompt card.
4. Keep prompts kind and about harmless habits. Anyone can hand a card back.

Open the material: Most likely to questions for groups

Two truths and a lie about the bride

Players

4 to 20

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

Adults

You need

Nothing

1. The bride says three things about herself or the couple: two true, one made up.
2. Guests vote on which one is the lie.
3. She reveals the lie, and everyone who spotted it scores a point.
4. Then each guest gives three statements about how they met the bride, and the group guesses.

Open the material: Two truths and a lie ideas

Slideshow night

Players

4 to 15

Minutes

30 to 60

Ages

Adults

You need

A laptop and a TV or projector

1. A week before, each guest who wants to join makes three to five slides on a light topic, such as the bride's best travel moments or a ranking of her go-to songs.
2. Set a limit of three minutes per talk. Guests can present in pairs.
3. Present one at a time while the others cheer.
4. The bride hands out made-up awards at the end, such as best chart.

Lip-sync contest

Players

6 to 20, in teams

Minutes

20 to 40

Ages

Adults

You need

A speaker, a phone for music, and props from around the house

1. Each team picks a song, ideally one that means something to the bride or the couple.
2. Give teams 15 minutes to plan moves and gather props.
3. Teams perform in turn, mouthing the words to the recording.
4. The bride awards first place, or each guest votes for a team other than their own.

Question block tower

Players

3 to 12

Minutes

20 to 30

Ages

Adults

You need

A wooden block-stacking tower game and a fine marker

1. Before the party, write a light question or small task on each block, such as 'Tell how you met the bride' or 'Do your best impression of the groom.'
2. Build the tower and take turns pulling out one block with one hand.
3. Read the block aloud and answer or do it, or pass and pull another.
4. Place the block on top. Whoever topples the tower rebuilds it for the next round.

Ring hunt

Players

4 to 30

Minutes

Runs through the party

Ages

Adults

You need

20 to 50 plastic toy rings, with one painted gold

1. Hide the rings around the house or rental before guests arrive: in cups, on shelves, under cushions.
2. Tell guests how many rings are hidden and that the gold one counts for five.
3. Guests wear every ring they find.
4. At the end of the night, the guest with the most points wins.

The shoe game

Players

The couple, with any number watching

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

All ages

You need

One shoe from each partner and 15 questions

1. Seat the couple back to back, each holding one of their own shoes and one of their partner's.
2. The host reads questions such as 'Who takes longer to get ready?' or 'Who plans the trips?'
3. Each partner raises the shoe of the person they think fits.
4. Nobody keeps score: the fun is in the matches and the splits.

Lawn games tournament

Players

8 to 16, in pairs

Minutes

60 to 90

Ages

Adults

You need

Bean bag toss boards, a ring toss or ladder toss set, and a bracket sheet

1. Pair up the players and write the pairs into an eight-team bracket.
2. Each match is one game of bean bag toss. The first pair to 21 points wins.
3. Winners move along the bracket. Switch the semifinals to ring toss or ladder toss for variety.
4. Play the final with everyone watching. The winners choose where the group eats.

Without a printer: Draw the bracket on a large sheet of paper or a whiteboard.

Open the material: 8 team printable tournament bracket

Bowling challenge cards

Players

4 to 12

Minutes

About 60

Ages

Adults

You need

A booked bowling lane and a stack of challenge cards

1. Write one challenge per card: bowl with your other hand, bowl facing away from the pins, spin around three times first, or bowl with both hands.
2. Before each frame, the bowler draws a card and follows it.
3. A strike or spare on a challenge earns a bonus point on a separate tally.
4. The bride or groom can veto one card per game.

Without a printer: Keep the challenges as a numbered list in a phone note and let each bowler call a number.

Open the material: Printable blank playing cards

Beach team challenge

Players

6 to 20, in teams of 3 or 4

Minutes

45 to 60

Ages

Adults

You need

A flying disc, buckets, a towel, a strip of cloth for tying legs, and a score sheet

1. Set up four short events: a ten-minute sandcastle, a disc throw onto a towel, a bucket-of-water relay and a three-legged race.
2. Teams choose a name and a color.
3. Give 3, 2 and 1 points to the top three teams in each event.
4. Add up the score sheet and crown the winners.

Without a printer: Keep score in a phone note.

Open the material: Printable team score sheet

One-minute party challenges

Players

4 to 20

Minutes

20 to 30

Ages

Adults

You need

Plastic cups, balloons, ribbon and a timer

1. Choose four or five tasks that each take one minute: stack 21 cups into a pyramid and back down, keep two balloons in the air, tie ribbon bows along a chair back.
2. Players take turns, or two go head to head.
3. Start the timer. A task counts only if it is finished before time runs out.
4. Score a point per finished task. The most points wins.

Open the material: One-minute party games