23 Bachelorette Party and Bridal Shower Games That Are Actually Fun

I think many of us can agree that taking part in icebreaker games is often the epitome of awkward. And yet, despite relatively widespread hatred of such games, we’re often forced to take part in them at showers and bachelorette parties. For those who want to avoid awkward games, there are luckily a number of fun bachelorette and bridal shower games that don’t actually suck and, in fact, can be a lot of fun.

In this post, I’ll go over a list of 23 bachelorette and bridal shower games that your guests will love. Some are funny, some are heartfelt, but none are boring or embarrassing. Plus, I’ve listed a wide variety of games that you can choose depending on if you are going for a calmer vibe or want a party that is full of laughter and action.

Tips for Planning Bachelorette Party and Bridal Shower Games

Before diving into the list, a few tips on planning bachelorette or bridal shower games. First, think about your group’s personalities and preferences. If you have a group of introverts, maybe don’t force them to participate in a long series of rowdy drinking games or super interactive activities. Instead, try going for activities that involve writing, thinking, and/or opportunities to prepare. Bridal shower games 1-8 below are all great options. In contrast, if your friend group is very extroverted, they might become bored without an activity or two that allows for fun and dynamic interactions (like games 9-18).

Likewise, consider the size of your group and the presence of cliques. For example, if you have a group of people who know each other well and a few friends who don’t know anyone, pick a game or two that allow your friends to get to know one another in smaller, mixed groups. Games #2 and 3 below, for example, allow for lots of fun bonding time and good memories and conversation later.

As you are planning games, avoid the temptation to overdo it. People often enjoy having the opportunity to chat, eat, and hang out organically. For a single-day event, I like planning one more time-intensive game, a smaller optional game, and have a backup game in case things get boring. For a multi-day event, I like planning two bigger games, a smaller game, and having a couple of backups.

Your preferences may vary. However, I highly encourage having a backup game option just in case!

Active and Engaging Bachelorette Party / Bridal Shower Games

1. Find the Ring

For those who love Easter Egg hunts, this is the perfect bachelorette party or bridal shower game. You can purchase plastic rings or, my preference, purchase crease-free hairbands that people will actually use. Hide them around the venue before the party starts. Make sure to note where you have hid the “rings!” Then give people the opportunity to hunt for the rings.

I love this game because it brings back the nostalgia of childhood. Plus, it doesn’t require any awkward interactions, it gets people active and engaged, and can make for fun conversation later. I’ve used this game at a bachelorette party to great success.

My main recommendations are to hide more “rings” than you might think you need and cut people off if they’ve found a certain amount already.

2. Bride-Themed Scavenger Hunts Are Meaningful Bridal Shower Games

 This game requires a bit of planning. However, the payoff is very worth it. Similar to “Find the Ring,” a scavenger hunt is active and engaging. It also generally requires some collaboration, which can help people get to know one another, bond, and gain conversation topics for later.

When planning your scavenger hunt, try to pick hints, items, and/or destinations that relate to the bride in some way. For example, if you plan a scavenger hunt around your neighborhood, pick spots that are meaningful to the bride. Or, if you are planning a scavenger hunt around the party venue, pick hints and items to find that relate to the bride’s past or memories her guests might share with her. This will make the scavenger hunt more meaningful, thematic, and create more opportunities for conversation.

3. Design a Toilet Paper Wedding Dress

This game can feel silly, but in a really fun way. Split your group into small groups of 2 or 3. Each group gets a few rolls of toilet paper and tape. You can provide additional art supplies if you want.

One person is the model and the other person (or people) are the designers. Together, the group creates a toilet paper wedding dress that they put together on the model. When I’ve played, I like to give groups 15-20 minutes to create the dress to allow for some bonding time and creativity, but enough time pressure to make it exciting.

Once the groups are finished, you can do a runway presentation of the wedding dresses, complete with catwalk music, cheering, and lots of pictures. Guests often find this game fun and full of laughter. Plus, if you’re looking for bridal shower games that are fun for people of a wide range of ages and even genders, this can be a hilarious one. Indeed, sometimes it’s more fun when you have a wider variety of people and interpretations of wedding dresses.

4. Pass the Cucumber

I recently planned this game for my sister’s bachelorette party and it was a riot. It also happens to be an extremely inexpensive game to play. All you need is a cucumber and music.

The players stand in a circle. The bride-to-be starts with the cucumber between their legs. Once the music starts, they pass the cucumber to the next person who takes it between their legs without using their hands. They pass it to the next person, and so on. Whoever has the cucumber when the music stops is out. Just like with musical chairs, you continue going until one person is left.

Passing the cucumber is harder than you think and leads to a lot of laughs. It’s a fun option if you want to incorporate a game that is silly and a little risqué, while not being too embarrassing for your guests.

5. Spoons Can Be One of the Most Fun Bachelorette / Bridal Shower Games

Spoons was one of my favorite games growing up. If you never played, everyone sits in a circle around a table. You place one less spoon than people playing in the middle of the table. So if 9 people are playing, you place 8 spoons in the middle of the table.

Next, shuffle a pack of cards and deal 4 cards to each person. You then pass one card at a time as quickly as possible to the person to your right, with the goal of matching all 4 cards in your hand. The first person to match all 4 cards in their hand grabs a spoon from the table. As soon as the other players see that a spoon has been grabbed, they too grab spoons. The last person to grab a spoon is out.

You continue by removing a spoon from the center of the table and reshuffling and dealing the cards out. The last player standing wins. To make this wedding themed, you can use plastic rings, cake toppers, penises (for a risque touch), or anything else wedding/bachelorette party themed instead of spoons.

6. Pin the Veil on the Bride

Pin the veil is a great option for a short, easy, but still active game. You can either print a blown-up picture of the bride herself or have a cartoon cutout of a bride. You can also use a veil cutout or piece of fabric as the veil. Etsy sellers offer some cute printable options.

7. Wedding Ring Toss

This is similar to the classic carnival game many of us know and love. For this game, you can use empty wine or soda bottles. For an added touch, spray paint them to match the wedding colors, the party theme colors, or glittery gold or silver. The guests then throw plastic rings and try to get them around one of the bottle. You can assign point values to bottles that are closer and farther away, break guests into teams, and/or give out prizes for the most points earned if you want to add additional layers to this game.

8. Themed Charades

Charades are such a classic party game. And they’re a wonderful option because you can so easily customize this game. For a bachelorette or bridal shower, you can instruct guests to follow a theme like “sexy charades”, “love-themed charades”, “romance movies and books,” or whatever aligns with your group’s (or the bride’s) particular interests.

Laid Back Bachelorette Party and Bridal Shower Games

Sometimes you want fun, interactive bachelorette or bridal shower games. However, you don’t want your guests to have to be super active. This is where the games below come in handy. They all allow guests to participate but at a comfortable pace that’s easier for more introverted or older guests.

9. Bridal 20 Questions

We played this as one of my little sister’s bridal shower games and it was a lot of fun. Before the party, my mom asked my sister 20 questions such as, “What’s your favorite color?” “What’s your favorite food?” “What was your first job?”

We then had about 10-15 minutes to fill out cards with our guesses. The sisters were disqualified from receiving prizes given our unfair advantage. However, those with the highest scores won a prize.

The game was fun for everyone and we all (even the sisters) learned something new about the bride. Plus, it made for some funny and enjoyable conversations, like when one of my friends asked our 7-year-old niece what the bride’s favorite drink was and my niece said, “I think it’s wine…” She was right! Or when we all wondered whether the answer to “What would she take to a deserted island?” was her fiancée or cheese. The answer was her fiancée, but her second choice was cheese.

This article from The Knot includes a list of different question cards you can buy for your upcoming event.

10. Know Ya Boo Bridal Shower Games

If you’re familiar with Parks and Rec, then the title of this game makes extra sense to you. It’s also called the Newlywed Game. This game works best if both the bride and her fiancée are present. However, that doesn’t need to be the case. For this game, the maid of honor, best man, mother of the bride, or other host asks the bride 10 (or more or fewer) questions similar to the 20 questions above, like “What’s your favorite color?” “Who is your favorite band or artist?” They then do the same thing for her fiancée.

At the party, the bride then has to answer what she thinks her partner answered and her fiancée has to do the same for her. You might even give the guests the opportunity to shout out or make guesses as well.

We played this game at my sister-in-law’s bridal shower and it was a fun opportunity to see what we all knew (and didn’t!) about the bride and groom.

11. Best Wishes for the Couple

I love this as an easy, low-key game option that guests can complete any time. You can buy or make your own notecards where guests can write down best wishes for the couple. You can provide guests with prompts like, “I hope you always ______” or “Don’t forget to______.” Or guests can simply fill out blank notecards with their best advice.

As an added bonus, provide a cute mason jar, box, or vase for guests to put their advice in and for the bride to have as a keepsake later. Once everyone has completed their advice, the bride reads out the advice anonymously (or not anonymously depending on preferences). Often, people have beautiful and thoughtful advice that guests can all benefit from hearing. Or they share funny advice that makes for a good laugh.

You can find cute card options on Etsy and other online retailers.

12. Bingo for Bachelorette Party/Bridal Shower Games

Create and/or print out bachelorette party- or bridal shower-themed bingo cards. For a bachelorette party, you might have answer choices like, “bride gets drunk,” “someone suggests shots,” or “the bride gets embarrassed”. For a bridal shower, you might go for more family-friendly and gift-themed answer choices. To encourage interactions between guests, you can even have guest-themed bingo where guests have to, for example, “find a guest who lives out of state” or “find a guest who is a doctor.”

The first person who completes a row, column, or diagonal and shouts “Bingo!” will then get a prize. Bingo games are good options for large groups if you don’t want to try to coordinate a big game. Plus, they help keep guests engaged and interested and are a nice option for introverted guests or guests who don’t know many people.

13. Wedding-Themed Ad Libs

Do you also miss filling out Mad Libs cards on road trips and sleepovers? If so, this is a great option for you. There are lots of wedding-themed printable ad libs cards out there. Or you can make your own! Have guests split into teams of 2 and fill in their ad libs cards. Guests can then vote on the funniest one and they win a prize (or bragging rights!)

14. Show and Tell

One of the great things about bridal showers and bachelorette parties is that they give guests the chance to reminisce about their relationship with the bride and reflect on old memories. Having a show and tell game is a great way of giving space for that. It also gives guests the opportunity to learn how each person knows the bride.

For this, ask guests to bring a picture or memento that represents a memory they have with the bride. Each guest will then show their picture or memento to the group and describe the memory it made them think of. Be prepared for lots of laughter and maybe a few tears.

15. Guess That Love Song

For music buffs, this game is a fun, low-key option. Simply put together a playlist of love songs. On the day of, play a 30 second snippet of the song. Guests have to guess the band or artist (bonus points for the name of the song). The person with the most points at the end wins.

16. Video Messages

I actually did this at my 16^th birthday party. However, it made for such a funny and amazing keepsake, I’d love to do this for a bridal shower or bachelorette party. Each guest (or groups of guests if they prefer), records a video message for the bride.

You might wonder, how is this different from writing a card? However, the messages feel even more real and heartfelt via video. Plus, video messages often lead to funnier candid moments than you’d get with cards. This is even more likely to be the case if alcohol is involved and/or if multiple guests record a message together.

17. Panty Game

The panty game is a great option for a bachelorette party, especially one where you don’t want the guests to feel obligated to buy big presents. Each guest brings a pair of underwear as a present for the bride. She then has to guess who brought each pair.

Not only does the bride get fun new underwear, it’s also a funny opportunity to pair guests’ personalities with the panties they brought. Adding the guessing game also makes the process of opening the presents more fun for the guests to watch.

18. Love-Themed Trivia Bridal Shower Games

If your group loves trivia, try putting together a love-themed trivia game. You could ask questions about great romances through history, classic romantic movies or books, or include a music round using the love songs game idea mentioned above. Guests can play individually. However, it’s generally more fun if they are split into groups.

Bachelorette / Bridal Shower Games You Can Buy For a Large Group

Games that are specifically tailored to bridal showers and bachelorette parties are great. However, sometimes it’s nice to fall back on a classic, pre-made game that doesn’t require you to prep or DIY anything. The games below are fun, easy to play, and great conversation starters.

19. Voting Game

You can find the Voting Game at a wide variety of retailers for about $15. This game is best for a group that knows each other at least reasonably well. In this game, each card has a superlative on it. They range from serious-ish, like “who would be most likely to survive an apocalypse”, to silly, like “who is the most likely to clog a toilet at a friend’s house and not say anything.”

Each person puts a card facedown in the middle of the table indicating which person in the group they think best fits that superlative. The person with the most votes “wins” that superlative. When I’ve played this game with friends, the game prompts a lot of laughter and reminiscing.

20. Cards Against Humanity

Cards Against Humanity is a classic for a reason. It’s easy to play, most people are familiar with it, and it often leads to a lot of hilarity. For those who might be a little sensitive or young for this game’s raunchy cards, try playing Apples to Apples or a family-friendly themed version of Cards Against Humanity. For example, I have a Harry Potter version that is slightly more family friendly than the original. If you’re extra concerned, you can go through the deck and remove cards that you think might be awkward or triggering for people.

21. Tenzies

Are you looking for a game that’s easy to explain, fast-paced, and fun for a wide range of people? Tenzi is your game. Each person gets 10 dice. In the most basic version, everyone rolls all 10 of their dice until they get them to match the same number (you can set aside dice, you don’t have to roll 10 matching numbers in one go). The first person to yell “Tenzies” after getting 10 matching dice wins.

Once your group understands that basic version, there are dozens of variations. I recommend getting the Tenzi cards to take the guesswork out of choosing variations. The variations range from building a tower of dice that all match the same number to making an animal noise after each time you roll.

Each round goes fast, so it’s perfect if you need to fill a little time. It’s also great if people are *ahem* a little tipsy and so might struggle to focus on a complex game. And it’s a good mix of exciting and fast-paced, while still not requiring people to move around or socialize more than they might want to.

22. Catchphrase

Catchphrase is another classic. The electronic version makes it an easy option to play with a large group. The handheld game will show you a word and you have to get your group to guess the word without using the word itself (or any hints like “sounds like” or “rhymes with”). Once they guess your word, you pass it to the next person who has to do the same thing. The trick is that the game is timed. If you are holding the console when the timer is up, you (or your team) loses.

23. What Do You Meme

Similar to Cards Against Humanity, What Do You Meme is all about trying to get the biggest laughs. The rules are similar to Cards Against Humanity as well. The judge will put a card in the middle of the table that has a caption for a meme. Each participant has 7 meme cards in their hand that represent the image for a different popular meme. They’ll choose which meme picture best aligns with the caption. The judge choose the answer they like best.

Final Thoughts on Bachelorette Party and Bridal Shower Games That Are Actually Fun

Bachelorette Party and Bridal Shower games provide great opportunities for guests to bond, have fun, and celebrate the bride. Unfortunately, they can also be super awkward and unenjoyable if not planned right. The key is to plan games that align well with your guests and their preferences, avoid overplanning games, and have a backup game or two if things get stale.

I hope this list of games provi/imageded helpful inspiration for your own bachelorette party or bridal shower planning. If you try any of these games, let me know how they go in the comments! Or if you have other games you love playing at these kinds of events, feel free to comment below! I’m always excited to learn fun, new games that can make future parties even more fun.

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