What to Wear to a Large, Restaurant Wedding Shower

[snibor]

OMG, so you have the bachelor/ette party, the wedding shower, and then the actual wedding? All in different dates?
And it is not like the divorce/remarriage rates in the US are low…
How do people manage any socializing outside all this I wonder ?

Lol. I have been to wedding showers where the bachelorette party is the same day but in the evening, after the shower. But yes some people do it all separate. Some may skip bachelorette all together, (or shower for that matter). Lots of partying going on. Ha!

 

[HauteMama]

Often the shower involves lots of older, more traditional family members and friends of the family who will not be invited to the bachelorette. And in my area, bachelorette parties are usually later the day of the shower so no one has to travel twice. This varies from region to region, though, of course, and most people in this area don't have elaborate or destination bachelorettes.

 

[katev]

I ask on behalf of the non-US-understanding population of the world:

What is a wedding shower?

Is that like 'our' hen party (women's equivalent of a stag party/bachelor party)

I don’t think that it’s like a Hen Party. Friends/relatives of the Bride host a party and invite women close to the Bride and Groom to participate.

In this case the party is a luncheon at a restaurant but it can be at someone’s home, etc.

The purpose of a shower is to assist the Bride fill her new home with useful objects to help her embark on her new role as a wife.

Showers may have started back in the days when girls kept a Hope Chest and lived at home until their wedding day, but the tradition still continues today.

Brides usually “register” on Amazon and at stores that carry a lot of shower gift merchandise. That way buyers will know what she needs and wants (china, linens, small appliances, etc.) but you can also buy a different gift of you own choosing.

Work colleagues may hold a small shower at work and girlfriends may have a small “personal shower” with gifts of lingerie and sleep ware.

It’s just people pitching in to help the Bride and Groom start their life together.

I should have also mentioned that there is another occasion during a young woman's life when her friends and family are likely to throw a shower for her. When a woman is expecting her first child she often receives a Baby Shower and her friends "shower her" with baby clothes and baby gifts. The idea is the same, to help a young woman/couple get started when entering a new phase of life.