When Should You Have a Bridal Shower?

Those months leading up to your wedding are filled with opportunities to celebrate, and your bridal shower is no exception. Unlike your bachelorette party, it’s also a great chance to include both older and younger family members in the festivities, meaning grandma and your flower girl can be part of the anticipation and excitement. So when’s the best time to throw a bridal shower?

Tradition (and Emily Post) states that the bridal shower should take place between two weeks and two months before the wedding. Seems tight, no? Thankfully, the real requirement for planning a shower isn’t how soon your wedding is, but whether or not you have concrete plans. As long as you and your partner have started planning your wedding and have a date set, any day goes when it comes to throwing a bridal shower.

Finding the right timing is especially important if you live further away from home and would have to travel to attend. Heading home five months before the big day for a dress fitting? Host your shower on the same weekend. Planning to be in town for a week before your wedding day? Instead of making extra trips, choose a date that’s convenient for your friends and family, even if it’s the day before you walk down the aisle.

Keep your guests in mind, too. When you start looking at dates, double-check with your VIPs to see if they’ll be available to join in the celebration. If you aren’t involved in planning the shower, make sure your mom or maid of honor knows when you’ll be around. Provide them with a list of weekends when you’re free so they don’t accidentally plan a surprise shower when you’re going to be away on a business trip. And make sure they have an outfit for you so you don’t arrive at your surprise afternoon tea in workout gear.