The following are a few suggestions for non-traditional wedding showers you could give for a friend or family member:

PAINTING/DECORATING/GARDENING/LANDSCAPE PARTY

This is a perfect opportunity to get the guys involved.

Activity: Everyone comes dressed to work and brings the appropriate tools: paint brushes, rollers, wallpapering tools, or gardening tools— whatever the situation requires. Expertise and elbow grease are the greatest gifts given at this shower, but guests may also purchase tools for the couple or pool resources to pay for materials. This fun party is an occasion you and your friends will thoroughly enjoy and remember for years.

Food: Guests work hard at this party and should have a substantial meal when the work is done or during a break in the action. A potluck meal is best— each guest brings a salad, a casserole, a beverage, or a dessert. Coordinate the menu to ensure variety, and don’t forget to supply disposable plates, cups, flatware, serving pieces, and trash bags for cleaning up.

Decorations: Because this is a working party, decorations other than a simple centerpiece are in the way.

BOX SHOWERS

These showers supply gifts— anything that comes in a box, including such things as laundry soap or macaroni. Or the idea can be stretched to include small appliances or a box of handkerchiefs.

Activity: Off a prize for the gift that is boxed in the cleverest way; have guests vote for the winner. Give the bride a decorative storage box to hold the gifts at the shower and store blankets or other items later on.

Food: Serve as many items as you can that either come in boxes or are made from ingredients that come in boxes, keeping track of those ingredients. After the food has been served, ask the guests to name as many of these items as they can. Give boxed prizes.

Decorations: Let the wrapped gift boxes in the room carry out your theme in your decorating.

KITCHEN SHOWERS

Kitchen showers take many forms: be as general or as specific as you wish. Some kitchen shower themes are suggested below; others you might try include brushes, cutlery, soaps—anything you use in the kitchen. The more showers a bride is given, the more specific you can be with your theme.

[A few other suggestions the author gives are “Spice Showers” where “each guest brings a spice, along with her favorite recipe using that spice. Also, you can give a “Breakfast Shower” where guests “give gifts for making or eating breakfast.” Another suggestion is a “Gadget Shower” where”each guest must include some kind of kitchen gadget as part or all of her gift.”]

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