Dudes can play the ol' toilet paper wedding dress couple bridal shower games too! (Photo by Danielle Walquist Lynch, used by CC license.)
I want to have a couple bridal shower. But as far as entertainment and games go, most of the internet just says very vague things like “pick games that include men, and register for tools.” And that's not helpful.
He deserves to be a part of the wedding events just as much as I, but finding activities that encompass such a vast crowd is a daunting task.
Besides a “decorate a mug/glass/picture frame/etc.” for the couple station, I can't think or find other male-friendly games that also include conservative grandma, boozy uncle, best friends, loud aunt, quiet grandpa, etc.
It would be great if you guys could help me with ideas for our celebration! -Kels
As you can see by the photo, there's no reason why a dude can't partake in ANY type of shower game — “girly” or not. But we get that not every guy is going to be stoked to play “toilet paper dress.”
Sick of those cringe wedding shower games with questions like "Who cleans more?" Not thrilled to play "Pin the peen" in front of your Great... Read more
We asked our readers what kind of wedding shower games can make everyone from the shy groom to the loud aunt get involved… and here are some of the best ideas for couples wedding shower games that people of all genders can enjoy:
At my friend's shower, it was about 50/50 guys/gals. One fun game that was a hit on both sides was a matching list of the origins of wedding traditions. We passed them out with cute personalized pens while people were eating and the guys were just as into it, and got pretty competitive about their scores, with everyone wanting to have the correct answers and be the winner. I think what did it was that most of the guests didn't think about the origins before, and the origins are very strange in some cases.
The most fun bridal shower game I ever played was a variation of the “Newlyweds game.” Three couples played, the “Nearly-weds” (Bride and groom), the couple who had been married the longest, and the most recently married couple. Questions were submitted by other guests, and a bridesmaid and best man played hosts. The winner got a huge plastic ring!
Gift bingo! You can buy ready-made bingo cards, or just use blank cards or a piece of paper and have the guests fill them out. Either way, it's a standard five-by-five bingo card, but instead of numbers, each square has a potential gift written in it (dishes, towels, art, lingerie, whatever). Then, as the bride (and/or groom) opens the gifts, you mark any squares that match the gift. So if you have, say, “pans” written in your upper left-hand corner, and I open a skillet, you mark off the square. Five in a row wins a prize, keep playing for as many prizes as you have. At one party I went to, the big prize was a candy bouquet!
The shower guests got really competitive — especially the guys! It was hilarious.
I made a movie-quote matching quiz for my cousin's couples wedding shower. It was matching famous romantic film titles with quotes from the film!
Sick of those cringe wedding shower games with questions like "Who cleans more?" Not thrilled to play "Pin the peen" in front of your Great Aunt Sue? Here are three gender-neutral wedding shower games that are actually super fun to play (without the weird sexist angle).
Comments on Couple bridal shower games: cute ideas for co-ed wedding showers!
I hosted a Jack-and-Jill shower and we played the safety pin game (you can’t say certain words like bride, groom, their names, or wedding or else the person that catches you saying it wins your pin; the person with the most pins at the end of the shower wins) and a wedding-themed Scattergories-like game where each player came up with one word for each letter of the alphabet regarding weddings and then we went around the room reading them out. Each unique answer got a point. The guys were really creative with that particular game.
Where can I find the wedding tradition game? Need more info please.. can I buy it?
At my friend’s shower, it was about 50/50 guys/gals. One thing that was a hit on both sides was a matching list of the origins of wedding traditions. We passed them out while people were eating and the guys were just as into it, and got pretty competitive about their scores to boot. I think what did it was that most of the guests didn’t think about the origins before, and the origins are very strange in some cases. I will note though that this was a more laid back shower. There was pretty much just presents and lots of good food.
is a copy of the traditions game available?
Is there a list of these traditions?
My friends had a joint wedding shower and they played games like “who knows the couple the best” with a series of questions about the bride and groom. People got competitive, and learned new things about the couple! They also had a piñata…. Which they broke open with a giant black dildo… That made for some fun pictures.
I threw a couple’s shower for my best friend last March, and we had a Japanese theme to correspond with their honeymoon destination. We had a few activities like an origami station, a guess who game where we put stickers on people’s backs with the names of famous couples, and we did a Japanese themed Pictionary that went on much longer than we thought it would. Just a dry-erase board and cards with words to draw. It was definitely a gender-friendly party and everyone had a lot of fun.
We didn’t have games and the only prize-winning thing for my shower was that we marked a couple of plates and awarded small gifts to those who had the special cake plates.
My shower was a cookout at my aunt’s backyard with a pool and it was the best thing ever because I’m really not a fan of shower games.
I have played a version of the clothesline game you play as a kid, but modified, so there were parts of the different gendered wedding attire in hoops in a line in the venue, and different team members had to run to the hoops, bring back the item then dress a team member, and whoever did it quickest won. It is fun and silly for both genders, if you have the space.
I have also done bride trivia, which is easily transformed in to bride and groom trivia, and trivia is non-gendered?
I would say that step 1 is make sure he wants to come. I’m assuming he does or you wouldn’t have asked, though, so step 2 is ask him if there’s anything in particular he wants to do. Some guys are more traditional about wedding stuff than some girls are and he may be way excited to wear a toilet paper dress or help you get gussied up in one.
Assuming he’s like, “Yes, I want to be there, but only if we don’t do anything gross like wear a toilet paper dress,” you have some awesome option here already. I’ll add: games. Board games, video games, charades, word games, etc. Who says they have to be wedding-specific? Apples to Apples is my personal favorite.
If you want something more couple specific, you could do the shoe game that couples often do at weddings. You could even expand it and give every couple in the room a chance to play (although you want to careful if you have a lot of single friends there too).
Trivia! I did a shower where the bride and groom created trivia questions about themselves for the guests to answer (where’d they meet? who’s their shared celeb crush?), and I created trivia for the couple that they had to answer about each other (shoe size? first car? what book would your spouse-to-be take to a desert island?). Comparing their guesses to answers was pretty fun.
I hosted a “family” baby shower for my sister a few years ago. Most of the games can be adapted to a wedding shower. We played Bingo and had scratch-off cards.
Other games I’ve seen work well are: creating a hula dance story about the couple’s courtship; and Name That Tune using all love songs.
I made a movie-quote matching quiz for my cousin’s wedding shower. It was matching famous romantic film titles with quotes from the film! Clearly non-gender, and not all personal and awkward for the bride (or groom) but still has a “romantic” twist 🙂 I also included old movies to appeal to the old grannies, and newer movies like some 90’s stuff and The Great Gatsby for the younger folk, and it worked out really well! The prize was a DVD of Casablanca, which was only $7.99 on Amazon.
I am also interested in this game. If you do have a copy, I would appreciate a copy.
Please email the guts of the game. I would be so grateful!
I too, would really appreciate your script for the romantic movie guessing game!
Thank you!
Would you email us all your information if this game you created ,questions answers, anything you still have ? Love this ! So creative ! That is a gift, which I don’t have , ha ha ha ! Grateful for any help you choose to share. Perfect for
couples shower ……. Thank you !
I would love a copy of this for our upcoming shower!
Could you email me a copy of the movie quote game?
Does anyone still have a copy of this game.
I too would love to try it out at a mixed shower we are planning.
Thanks, Kim
This is an awesome idea and since this commentary has been going on for a couple of years everyone seems to think so. I too would love the information about the quotes you used if you still have it.
Hi! I would also love to receive an email of your movie quote game, if possible! Sounds like a creative and fun game! Thank you!
Hi People,
I haven’t seen the comments on here (black hole email address = no notifications), but wanted to let y’all know that I just shared the documents with Ariel, and hopefully she can share them with you! I appreciate the interest in my game – I hope it works for those of you who are still looking for something!
My husband and I did this as part of our engagement party! All of our family and friends came and thought the games were great! We had a round with 10 pictures of things we own; the teams had to say which were mine and which were his (make it hard!). We had a trivia game, stuff like middle names, where we met, your jobs, etc. the last round I got my sister who is handy with photoshop to make. We made 2 generic face shapes, and cut out pictures of our faces and 3 celebrities each (3 male/ 3 female). We cut out all of the noses, mouths, eyebrows, eyes and hair. Our families had to assemble our faces from the mix of features, and also name the celebrities. It was super fun! Name sure you have a good mc to keep everyone on track and keep score!
Wow, I am a huge fan of this blog and opening up my Feedly Reader to find a photo of two of my best friends was an amazing surprise!
I am actually the guy in that photo! How it ended up here, I have no idea. The bride fought to have guys at her shower, even though the groom’s mother did not want it. Thankfully, the bride won out. I didn’t mind doing the paper dress thing, and everybody seemed to be fine with it. I’m just sad I didn’t win. I was in the bridal party, so it seems fair that I should be at the shower. The groomsmen and groom were there, too. I can’t remember if any other games were played.
Hey Nhan! The photo ended up here because it was listed as a Creative Commons image on Flickr and came up when I was searching for the perfect pic. You looked so smashing in that toilet paper dress that I just had to choose this one! 😉
I also fought hard to have guys at my shower. Glad y’all fought the good fight too! 😉
The most fun co-ed game I ever played was a variation of the “Newlyweds game”. Three couples played, the “Nearly-weds” (Bride and groom), the couple who had been married the longest, and the most recently married couple. Questions were submitted by other guests, and the MOH and best man played hosts.
Also, the games you play don’t need to be “wedding shower” themed. There are tons of games that are great for parties and guests of any gender. You can play apples to apples, battle of the sexes, or hedbanz…Or you can create your own versions of party games that are wedding themed, or contain inside jokes about you as a couple.
Kira, do you have the questions you asked? I am planning a party and I would love to use them!
Me, too! Can you please send me your questions, too?
Thank you!
Can you send me the questions as well
Hi can you email me the questions if you received them please.
Can you send me the questions you used also having coed shower sunday
Can you expand on this game? I love the way it sounds and I am hosting a couples shower this Saturday!
Hi Kira,
I too would appreciate any and all info for this particular game, sounds like great fun! 🙂
Having a wedding shower for my niece and it will be c0-ed as well.
Thanks, have a great day.
I would be so grateful to have a copy of the Nearly-Wed questions for our upcoming shower.
I would love a list of questions to use as reference, thanks so much!
I would really love a copy of the game instructions . A great idea for guest participation of all generations!
I agree, games just need to be fun. It doesn’t have to be “wedding” games. We’re doing a couple’s shower with a sic-fi/fantasy theme, and we’re having a costume contest and will probably be doing some nerdy trivia games – we’ll be sure to put in some well known stuff so everyone can have fun, but we’ll put some more challenging obscure stuff in there too for out friends and family who are also from the dork side…
I threw a co-ed wedding shower for some friends of mine years ago. I’ve also coordinated several co-ed baby showers. First, let me point out that guys (and young people in general) tend to want activity – something physically active and/or mentally active. However, older guests tend to want low-key, more traditional activities. Second, men rarely get to participate in these typically women-only events, so they usually haven’t played the traditional bridal shower games a thousand times, like the ladies have. Third, men tend to be competitive, and women tend to be more competitive (with men and each other) when men are around.
I’ve had a lot of success with traditional games like the toilet paper dresses, “Don’t Say” safety-pin game (hint: try something fun other than safety pins, like mini-button pins tied to the couple’s interests/wedding theme), and table-trivia (I stole this from a pre-wedding guest party where the trivia was wrapped around treats at each table setting). Non-traditional favorites have included cross-gender karaoke (guys sing ladies’ parts and visa versa), video game competitions, and geeked-out photo stations (think Star Wars meets Harry Potter meets 80’s hair-bands).
Food is key. I stick to hands-only: make-your-own sandwiches with dinner rolls, burgers and corn-on-the-cob, pizza and hot wings, etc. Same for desserts: brownies, ice cream (cones, bars or sandwiches), cookies, candy buffets, etc. Add easy, casual beverages like bottled beer and adult sodas (like micro-brewed sarsaparilla), spa water and lemonade.
Lastly, if you’re going to have prizes, make them fun and appealing to both genders. No candles or frilly pieces. iTunes cards, movie tickets, and bookstore gift cards are great, as are food baskets (BBQ sauces, homemade cookies, etc.). A large crown, award ribbon or badge for the grand-prize winner also appeals to guys, who often like to show off their winnings.
Gift bingo! My husband and I had a co-ed shower, and absolutely everyone got really into gift bingo.
Please expand on gift bingo!
Sure! You can buy ready-made cards, or just use blank cards and have the guests fill them out. Either way, it’s a standard five-by-five bingo card, but instead of numbers, each square has a potential gift written in it (dishes, towels, art, lingerie, whatever). Then, as the bride (and/or groom) opens the gifts, you mark any squares that match the gift. So if you have, say, “pans” written in your upper left-hand corner, and I open a skillet, you mark off the square. Five in a row wins a prize, keep playing for as many prizes as you have.
The guys got really competitive, it was hilarious.
Can you expand on the newlywed game where the couple, the newest married couple and the longest married couple played? You passed out paper and had each guest make a question, but how does it work? Do you ask each couple the question, or each person? Thanks! I am having a couples shower for my friend on Saturday! Also, could I get the movie trivia game as well? I’m so busy but really want to make this shower fun!
i would love the guys of the newly wed game as well as the match that movie quote game if anyone could email it to me I would be forever grateful!
Posted by
4 unexpected gender-neutral wedding shower games that actually don't suck
I hosted a Jack-and-Jill shower and we played the safety pin game (you can’t say certain words like bride, groom, their names, or wedding or else the person that catches you saying it wins your pin; the person with the most pins at the end of the shower wins) and a wedding-themed Scattergories-like game where each player came up with one word for each letter of the alphabet regarding weddings and then we went around the room reading them out. Each unique answer got a point. The guys were really creative with that particular game.
Where can I find the wedding tradition game? Need more info please.. can I buy it?
At my friend’s shower, it was about 50/50 guys/gals. One thing that was a hit on both sides was a matching list of the origins of wedding traditions. We passed them out while people were eating and the guys were just as into it, and got pretty competitive about their scores to boot. I think what did it was that most of the guests didn’t think about the origins before, and the origins are very strange in some cases. I will note though that this was a more laid back shower. There was pretty much just presents and lots of good food.
is a copy of the traditions game available?
Is there a list of these traditions?
My friends had a joint wedding shower and they played games like “who knows the couple the best” with a series of questions about the bride and groom. People got competitive, and learned new things about the couple! They also had a piñata…. Which they broke open with a giant black dildo… That made for some fun pictures.
I threw a couple’s shower for my best friend last March, and we had a Japanese theme to correspond with their honeymoon destination. We had a few activities like an origami station, a guess who game where we put stickers on people’s backs with the names of famous couples, and we did a Japanese themed Pictionary that went on much longer than we thought it would. Just a dry-erase board and cards with words to draw. It was definitely a gender-friendly party and everyone had a lot of fun.
We didn’t have games and the only prize-winning thing for my shower was that we marked a couple of plates and awarded small gifts to those who had the special cake plates.
My shower was a cookout at my aunt’s backyard with a pool and it was the best thing ever because I’m really not a fan of shower games.
I have played a version of the clothesline game you play as a kid, but modified, so there were parts of the different gendered wedding attire in hoops in a line in the venue, and different team members had to run to the hoops, bring back the item then dress a team member, and whoever did it quickest won. It is fun and silly for both genders, if you have the space.
I have also done bride trivia, which is easily transformed in to bride and groom trivia, and trivia is non-gendered?
I would say that step 1 is make sure he wants to come. I’m assuming he does or you wouldn’t have asked, though, so step 2 is ask him if there’s anything in particular he wants to do. Some guys are more traditional about wedding stuff than some girls are and he may be way excited to wear a toilet paper dress or help you get gussied up in one.
Assuming he’s like, “Yes, I want to be there, but only if we don’t do anything gross like wear a toilet paper dress,” you have some awesome option here already. I’ll add: games. Board games, video games, charades, word games, etc. Who says they have to be wedding-specific? Apples to Apples is my personal favorite.
If you want something more couple specific, you could do the shoe game that couples often do at weddings. You could even expand it and give every couple in the room a chance to play (although you want to careful if you have a lot of single friends there too).
Trivia! I did a shower where the bride and groom created trivia questions about themselves for the guests to answer (where’d they meet? who’s their shared celeb crush?), and I created trivia for the couple that they had to answer about each other (shoe size? first car? what book would your spouse-to-be take to a desert island?). Comparing their guesses to answers was pretty fun.
I hosted a “family” baby shower for my sister a few years ago. Most of the games can be adapted to a wedding shower. We played Bingo and had scratch-off cards.
Other games I’ve seen work well are: creating a hula dance story about the couple’s courtship; and Name That Tune using all love songs.
I made a movie-quote matching quiz for my cousin’s wedding shower. It was matching famous romantic film titles with quotes from the film! Clearly non-gender, and not all personal and awkward for the bride (or groom) but still has a “romantic” twist 🙂 I also included old movies to appeal to the old grannies, and newer movies like some 90’s stuff and The Great Gatsby for the younger folk, and it worked out really well! The prize was a DVD of Casablanca, which was only $7.99 on Amazon.
UPDATED TO ADD
Now you can download the game:
http://offbeatwed.com/wedding-shower-for-couples-game
Do you still have a copy of this game?
I am also interested in this game. If you do have a copy, I would appreciate a copy.
Please email the guts of the game. I would be so grateful!
I too, would really appreciate your script for the romantic movie guessing game!
Thank you!
Would you email us all your information if this game you created ,questions answers, anything you still have ? Love this ! So creative ! That is a gift, which I don’t have , ha ha ha ! Grateful for any help you choose to share. Perfect for
couples shower ……. Thank you !
I would love a copy of this for our upcoming shower!
Could you email me a copy of the movie quote game?
Does anyone still have a copy of this game.
I too would love to try it out at a mixed shower we are planning.
Thanks, Kim
This is an awesome idea and since this commentary has been going on for a couple of years everyone seems to think so. I too would love the information about the quotes you used if you still have it.
Hi! I would also love to receive an email of your movie quote game, if possible! Sounds like a creative and fun game! Thank you!
Hi People,
I haven’t seen the comments on here (black hole email address = no notifications), but wanted to let y’all know that I just shared the documents with Ariel, and hopefully she can share them with you! I appreciate the interest in my game – I hope it works for those of you who are still looking for something!
Here it is!
http://offbeatwed.com/wedding-shower-for-couples-game
My husband and I did this as part of our engagement party! All of our family and friends came and thought the games were great! We had a round with 10 pictures of things we own; the teams had to say which were mine and which were his (make it hard!). We had a trivia game, stuff like middle names, where we met, your jobs, etc. the last round I got my sister who is handy with photoshop to make. We made 2 generic face shapes, and cut out pictures of our faces and 3 celebrities each (3 male/ 3 female). We cut out all of the noses, mouths, eyebrows, eyes and hair. Our families had to assemble our faces from the mix of features, and also name the celebrities. It was super fun! Name sure you have a good mc to keep everyone on track and keep score!
Wow, I am a huge fan of this blog and opening up my Feedly Reader to find a photo of two of my best friends was an amazing surprise!
I am actually the guy in that photo! How it ended up here, I have no idea. The bride fought to have guys at her shower, even though the groom’s mother did not want it. Thankfully, the bride won out. I didn’t mind doing the paper dress thing, and everybody seemed to be fine with it. I’m just sad I didn’t win. I was in the bridal party, so it seems fair that I should be at the shower. The groomsmen and groom were there, too. I can’t remember if any other games were played.
Hey Nhan! The photo ended up here because it was listed as a Creative Commons image on Flickr and came up when I was searching for the perfect pic. You looked so smashing in that toilet paper dress that I just had to choose this one! 😉
I also fought hard to have guys at my shower. Glad y’all fought the good fight too! 😉
The most fun co-ed game I ever played was a variation of the “Newlyweds game”. Three couples played, the “Nearly-weds” (Bride and groom), the couple who had been married the longest, and the most recently married couple. Questions were submitted by other guests, and the MOH and best man played hosts.
Also, the games you play don’t need to be “wedding shower” themed. There are tons of games that are great for parties and guests of any gender. You can play apples to apples, battle of the sexes, or hedbanz…Or you can create your own versions of party games that are wedding themed, or contain inside jokes about you as a couple.
Kira, do you have the questions you asked? I am planning a party and I would love to use them!
Me, too! Can you please send me your questions, too?
Thank you!
Can you send me the questions as well
Hi can you email me the questions if you received them please.
Can you send me the questions you used also having coed shower sunday
Can you expand on this game? I love the way it sounds and I am hosting a couples shower this Saturday!
Hi Kira,
I too would appreciate any and all info for this particular game, sounds like great fun! 🙂
Having a wedding shower for my niece and it will be c0-ed as well.
Thanks, have a great day.
I would be so grateful to have a copy of the Nearly-Wed questions for our upcoming shower.
I would love a list of questions to use as reference, thanks so much!
I would really love a copy of the game instructions . A great idea for guest participation of all generations!
I agree, games just need to be fun. It doesn’t have to be “wedding” games. We’re doing a couple’s shower with a sic-fi/fantasy theme, and we’re having a costume contest and will probably be doing some nerdy trivia games – we’ll be sure to put in some well known stuff so everyone can have fun, but we’ll put some more challenging obscure stuff in there too for out friends and family who are also from the dork side…
I threw a co-ed wedding shower for some friends of mine years ago. I’ve also coordinated several co-ed baby showers. First, let me point out that guys (and young people in general) tend to want activity – something physically active and/or mentally active. However, older guests tend to want low-key, more traditional activities. Second, men rarely get to participate in these typically women-only events, so they usually haven’t played the traditional bridal shower games a thousand times, like the ladies have. Third, men tend to be competitive, and women tend to be more competitive (with men and each other) when men are around.
I’ve had a lot of success with traditional games like the toilet paper dresses, “Don’t Say” safety-pin game (hint: try something fun other than safety pins, like mini-button pins tied to the couple’s interests/wedding theme), and table-trivia (I stole this from a pre-wedding guest party where the trivia was wrapped around treats at each table setting). Non-traditional favorites have included cross-gender karaoke (guys sing ladies’ parts and visa versa), video game competitions, and geeked-out photo stations (think Star Wars meets Harry Potter meets 80’s hair-bands).
Food is key. I stick to hands-only: make-your-own sandwiches with dinner rolls, burgers and corn-on-the-cob, pizza and hot wings, etc. Same for desserts: brownies, ice cream (cones, bars or sandwiches), cookies, candy buffets, etc. Add easy, casual beverages like bottled beer and adult sodas (like micro-brewed sarsaparilla), spa water and lemonade.
Lastly, if you’re going to have prizes, make them fun and appealing to both genders. No candles or frilly pieces. iTunes cards, movie tickets, and bookstore gift cards are great, as are food baskets (BBQ sauces, homemade cookies, etc.). A large crown, award ribbon or badge for the grand-prize winner also appeals to guys, who often like to show off their winnings.
Gift bingo! My husband and I had a co-ed shower, and absolutely everyone got really into gift bingo.
Please expand on gift bingo!
Sure! You can buy ready-made cards, or just use blank cards and have the guests fill them out. Either way, it’s a standard five-by-five bingo card, but instead of numbers, each square has a potential gift written in it (dishes, towels, art, lingerie, whatever). Then, as the bride (and/or groom) opens the gifts, you mark any squares that match the gift. So if you have, say, “pans” written in your upper left-hand corner, and I open a skillet, you mark off the square. Five in a row wins a prize, keep playing for as many prizes as you have.
The guys got really competitive, it was hilarious.
Can you expand on the newlywed game where the couple, the newest married couple and the longest married couple played? You passed out paper and had each guest make a question, but how does it work? Do you ask each couple the question, or each person? Thanks! I am having a couples shower for my friend on Saturday! Also, could I get the movie trivia game as well? I’m so busy but really want to make this shower fun!
i would love the guys of the newly wed game as well as the match that movie quote game if anyone could email it to me I would be forever grateful!
Guts* sorry for the typo!