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International

A Bridal Shower Theme

Is the bride a woman of mystery? Does she have eclectic taste, and expectations that not just any ordinary bridal shower theme will satisfy? Does she fancy herself as a world traveler? Look no further to find a bridal shower theme that will make her dreams come true from different parts of the globe. This is a shower that works nicely for the bride who already has many of the typical gifts that one receives at her first, second, or even third shower. Help bring different cultures into the bride's life by dividing the guests up by continents or countries. Buy the guest of honor pasta bowls from Italy, margarita glasses from Mexico, a wok, sushi kit, and chopsticks from Japan, and some fancy lingerie or wine to bring the romance of France into the bride-to-be's life. Make this bridal shower a blast heard 'round the world!

For a complete selection of Bridal Shower decorating ideas and some unusual party favors, visit Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party Decorating411.

Invitations

You may choose to assign individual countries to each guest so that a variety of places are represented. Make each invitation a colored flag of the assigned country for each guest.  If you don't like doing different invitations for each guest, find invitations with a picture of the world/globe/map on the front. If you so desire, draw an arrow to the area where the guest is assigned.

For a unique and personalized invitation that keeps with the international travel theme, send out a boarding pass invitation. These 3.25" x 8.5" invitations are available in 3 colors and come with a tan kraft envelope!

Whatever invitation you choose, attach a globe key chain to it as a fun accent. There are lots of great additional globe products that can be creatively used to make fun invitations.

Decorations

Visit import stores like Pier 1 or World Market for great ideas on decorating with an international flavor. Dress up each room of the house like the country it is supposed to represent. To make the kitchen look like Mexico, buy towels and paper goods in red, white, and green. Use items with chili peppers on it, and if the food is going to match the kitchen décor- make it hot! The living room can represent France (put dessert in the living room, because the French really know how to make dessert)! France is both elegant and trendy. Set up a string of white lights, with fun tablecloths on the tables, as if everyone is in a little streetside café. You see where we are going on this one.

Centerpieces - So many options here!

• Stand up little paper flags in the middle of each table to represent different countries.
• Find a souvenir that represents each country, and place it in the center of the table with balloons tied off of it.
• Put a globe on each table with an arrow pointing to the country/continent that table represents.

Seating Cards - Show the flag that represents each assignment on the table.

Activities

"International Activities" - Write a list of the same countries on each piece of paper. Everyone needs to write down an activity that the bride can do while she is in that country, as well as a food that the bride can eat while in that country. The catch is, that the activity and the food need to start with the same letter as each country. You can play this game in teams, or individually. The first person/team to get them all correct (within a certain time limit) wins a prize! For example: France- Amy goes to France, and she fiddles all day, and then she eats fritters! Trust me, some of the answers people come up with are good for more than a few laughs!

Party Favors

Party favors are really easy! Depending on the number of people at the shower, you can make each person a small basket of a variety of foods from the different countries--Salsa from Mexico, pasta from Italy, chocolate from Switzerland, and sweetbreads from London (OK, I was grasping at straws when I thought of sweetbreads). Everyone would probably be more than satisfied with a nice bar of Swiss chocolate!

Have fun, from Party411 and The Party Girl