Showers and Parties

Must All Female Guests Get Shower Invites?

Do I have to invite all of my female guests to my shower and bachelorette party?


Let’s start with the bridal shower. Along with your ’maids, relatives and tight gal pals, you should include your fiancé’s close women friends. Also, your mom and future mom-in-law will probably have some friends they’d prefer make the cut. As for the significant others of your male guests—if you don’t know these women very well, it’s not necessary to include them at your bridal shower. This is especially the case if they live far away from the shower locale.

For your bachelorette party, this gig’s all about spending a night out with your bridesmaids and your close girlfriends. However, if you’ve got some crazy relatives or your grandmother’s young at heart, by all means include them, too. This may be the one time in your life when you get to witness grandma shakin’ her thang!

One final tip: For both of these celebrations, don’t include someone who’s not guaranteed to get an invite to your wedding. Although you might know lots of people who are great fun at a party, if they aren’t invited to the main event, leave them off these preparty guest lists. After all, you wouldn’t invite someone for cocktails and then tell them they can’t stay for dinner, right?