In the modern era of weddings, we?re leaving a lot of the traditional behind. For instance, brides these days no longer feel like they can only choose from their female friends for their bridal party. Many no longer have a bouquet toss, and even more couples are choosing to have a co-ed, or joint, wedding shower instead of a ladies luncheon-style party.
The History of the Bridal Shower
The bridal shower tradition began in 16th century Holland and was held in honor of a bride if her family didn’t have a traditional dowry (money or gifts a groom would receive from the bride?s parents upon their wedding day). Sometimes a bride would be too poor to have a dowry or her father wouldn?t approve of a marriage and would withhold the dowry as a punishment. In these instances, the woman’s friends would pick up the slack and ?shower? her with gifts and money to ensure the marriage could take place. During the Victorian period in the United States, the tradition changed from an act of charity to an opportunity to celebrate the bride-to-be and give her domestic gifts that she can use in her new role as a wife. Modern bridal showers can be anything from a small gathering of women at a bridesmaid?s home to an elaborate party with themes, servers, and live music.
More recently, some couples are foregoing the tradition of the girls-only wedding shower entirely and adding in all of their friends, male and female, to make the celebration feel more like a cocktail party. If you?re ...