How to Host a Bridal Shower Brunch in 8 Simple Steps

When it comes to hosting a modern-day bridal shower, you can never go wrong with a classic brunch theme. Don’t believe us? Well too bad, ‘cause we did the research and the results are in… breakfast + bubbles + bloodys= bomb.com! Seriously, facts are facts my friend. So, if you wanna be the GMOHOAT (greatest maid of honor of all time), throw your bestie a boozy brunch-themed bridal shower. Now that we’ve convinced you, let us show you how. From invitations and decorations to food, favors, games, and gifts, we’ve covered everything you need to know in eight easy steps.

1. Invitations

The first step in nailing this theme is to send out invitations letting guests know to expect a brunch-style shower. As I’m sure you’re familiar with Etsy (and the internet in general), you know there are literally hundreds of different styles to choose from. After doing some searching, we’ve narrowed down the two most popular phrases to be “Bridal Brunch” and “Brunch & Bubbly”. Since we can’t do the picking for you, check out a ton of cute options here.

2. Decorations

One of the most important parts of any bridal shower is the decor, but it’s especially important for this particular theme. Lucky for you, there is no shortage of brunch-related decorations. Keep the fun phrases going with a bridal brunch or brunch & bubbly banner or switch it up with these let’s brunch balloons. Not one for catchy phrases? Then this giant champagne balloon pack might be just your thing. Finish it all off with this flute-shaped confetti and you’ve got everything you need! P.S. Add some ‘decoration’ to your photos by creating a custom bridal shower Snapchat filter (find out how here!)

3. Games

When it comes to hosting a brunch-themed bridal shower, feel free to skip the generic games and opt in for something that packs a little more punch. And by ‘packs a little more punch’ we’re talking about prosecco pong. Never heard of it? Yeah us either, but we want to seriously thank whoever came up with the idea. Let’s be real, everyone loves a competitive round of beer pong or two, but it’s not quite bridal shower appropriate. Prosecco pong, however, totally is. And if your guests aren’t really the drinking game type, how about playing  good ol’ fashioned ring toss? The best part about this brunch-themed game is that it doubles as a DIY project. Check out how to assemble it here.

4. Game Prizes

If you’re going to have brunch-themed games, then you’re gonna have to have brunch-themed game prizes to match. Keep it simple by putting together a coffee care package that includes a cute mug (like this love you a brunch option) and a bag of Starbucks breakfast blend. Or get a little boozy with it by giving out Bloody Mary in a jar kits (another fun DIY project!). Fun tip: You can do the same thing with mimosas- champagne split, OJ, and a mini Grand Marnier are all you need!

5. Food

The key to any successful bridal shower brunch is to have bangin’ food…and holy moly are there plenty of options to choose from. We love these baked French toast sticks as a quick and cute (and cheap!) finger-food choice or these mini chicken and waffle sliders for a southern-style selection. Get a little fancy with it by serving mini breakfast quiche– able to be made in 4 yummy ways- and if you’re serving dessert, these champagne cupcakes are an absolute must. P.S. Want to save yourself the time and money of having to make a bunch of brunch? Check out our four fun DIY breakfast food bars!

6. Drinks

Ok, food is important and all that, but the drinks are really where the fun begins. Get your guests buzzing with energy by setting up a DIY coffee bar (we love this “You’ve Warmed My Heart” theme) or appeal to their inner child with this easy hot cocoa bar. Because there is no such thing as brunch without bubbly, a DIY mimosa bar is total requirement (we’ll walk you step-by-step through the setup here). Pro tip: Take your booze bar game to the next level by featuring a build your own Bloody Mary station as well.

7. Favors

No good bridal shower brunch is complete without some festive favors. Keep it yummy with edible options like these unbelievably adorable coffee and donut cookies or these personalized chocolate covered graham crackers. Stick to the bubbly theme by decorating champagne splits with these fun personalized labels or send guests home with a to-go mimosa in the form of these lip balms. Really want to show off how clever you are? OPI makes a nail polish called “Be There in a Prosecco” (see what we did there?)

8. Gifts

Last but certainly not least, you must get a brunch-themed gift for your bride. If her and her future hubby like to spend their weekends out and about, keep it simple by grabbing a few gift cards to their most-frequented local brunch spots. If the couple are more the homebody type, get creative with it by having guests contribute to a personalized recipe book (check out this article to see how) filled with their favorite breakfast and brunch meals. Pro-tip: Do both! That way the couple can celebrate however they choose.

 

P.S. Don’t forget to check out our other unique bridal shower themes here.

 

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What to Bring to a Bachelorette Party: The Ultimate Packing List

If you’re anything like us here at Modern MOH, packing for a 3-day weekend is the equivalent of packing for a cross-country move (and yet somehow we always manage to leave something behind). So to keep you from being charged an overweight baggage fee (and having to borrow from your fellow bridesmaids all weekend), we’ve put together a list of bachelorette party packing essentials. Whether you’re celebrating at the beach or headed to chillier temperatures, we’ve included everything you could possibly need for your girls’ getaway .

Clothes:

• Custom tee or tank
• Little black dress (fancy)
• Swing or shirt dress (casual)
• Romper or jumpsuit
• Jeans or shorts
• Yoga pants or leggings
• Comfy tee or top
• Blouse or tank top
• Sweater or jacket
• Bathing suit
• Coverup
• Pajamas/Sleepwear
• Bras and underwear
• Socks

Shoes:

• Wedges or heels
• Sandals or flip-flops
• Slip-ons (e.g. Vans or Toms)
• Boots or booties

Accessories:

• Sunglasses
• Jewelry (necklaces/bracelets/earrings)
• Purse/Clutch/Crossbody
• Sun hat/Floppy hat/Baseball cap
• Beanie/Gloves/Scarf
• Hair ties/Headbands
• Belt

Toiletries:

• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Deodorant and body spray/perfume
• Shampoo and conditioner (if not provided)
• Body wash/Soap (if not provided)
• Hair brush or comb
• Hair straightener and/or curling iron/wand
• Dry shampoo and/or any other hair products
• Face wash and moisturizer
• Makeup and brushes/blending sponges
• Makeup remover
• Razor and tweezers
• Q-tips and cotton balls
• Tampons/Pads

Technology:

• Phone/device charger(s)
• Headphones/AirPods
• Portable speaker
• Kindle/iPad (for the flight)

Documents:

• Driver’s license/ID
• Passport (if travelling internationally)
• Debit and/or credit card
• Cash (if preferred)
• Any tickets/confirmation documents (flights/shows/games/etc.)

Extras/Misc:

• Contact lenses/glasses
• Beach bag and towel
• Sunscreen
• Bug spray
• Any medication(s)

Bachelorette necessities:

• Drinking games- check out our top picks here
• Survival kits- we’ve got everything you need to include here
• Decorations- take a look at our favorites here

P.S. Keep in mind that in this case, less is more. In other words, don’t pack 20 different outfit variations or you’ll be spending hours deciding on what to wear each day. Limit yourself to one or two choices and you’ll cut your getting ready time in half.

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How to Create a Custom Wedding Snapchat Filter

The Greatest Getting Ready Wedding Day Playlist

When it comes to the morning of the wedding, there is nothing more important than having a blast while getting ready with your bride-to-be and fellow maids. And by ‘having a blast’ we mean sipping on bubbly and shaking your booty to a kickass playlist. With a bit of the 80’s, a ton of the 90’s, and a healthy mix of the 21st century, our wedding morning playlist is perfect for ladies of all ages (including the MOB and MOG!). From classic love songs to popular party starters, you’ll go from singing your heart out to dancing your butt off (sometimes simultaneously).

Modern MOH Wedding Morning Playlist

“Love On Top” by Beyoncé
“Halo” by Beyoncé
“Crazy In Love” by Beyoncé and JAY Z
“I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” by Whitney Houston
“Bang Bang” by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj
“Always Be My Baby” by Mariah Carey
“Say My Name” by Destiny’s Child
“Fergalicious” by Fergie and will.i.am
“Don’t Cha” by The Pussycat Dolls and Busta Rhymes
“Wannabe” by Spice Girls
“Run the World (Girls)” by Beyoncé
“Milkshake” by Kelis
“Bootylicious” by Destiny’s Child
“Work It” by Missy Elliott
“Confident” by Demi Lovato
“Anaconda” by Nicki Minaj
“Independent Women, Pt. 1” by Destiny’s Child
“Only Girl (In The World)” by Rihanna
“Wild Thoughts” by DJ Khaled, Rihanna, and Bryson Tiller
“Come on over Baby (All I Want Is You)” by Christina Aguilera
“What a Girl Wants” by Christina Aguilera
“Ain’t No Other Man” by Christina Aguilera
“Soldier ft Lil Wayne” by Destiny’s Child, T.I., and Lil Wayne
“Lady Marmalade” by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa, and P!nk
“My Boo” by Usher, Alicia Keys
“Toxic” by Britney Spears
“Fallin'” by Alicia Keys
“You Da One” by Rihanna
“Drunk in Love” by Beyoncé and JAY Z
“Spice Up Your Life” by Spice Girls
“PYT (Pretty Young Thing)” by Michael Jackson
“All My Life” by K-Ci & JoJo
“All of Me” by John Legend
“Lucky” by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat
“Talking Body” by Tove Lo
“Let’s Get Married-Remix” by Jagged Edge
“Lovefool” by The Cardigans
“Marry You” Bruno Mars
“Happy” by Pharrell
“Can’t Stop the Feelin’” by Justin Timberlake
“What I Like About You” by The Romantics
“Despacito-Remix” by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber
“We Can’t Stop” by Miley Cyrus
“TiK ToK” by Kesha
“Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars
“That’s What I Like” by Bruno Mars
“Starving” by Hailee Steinfeld
“Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran
“Classic” by MKTO
“Show Stopper” by Danity Kane
“I Think I’m in Love with You” by Jessica Simpson
“This I Promise You” by *NSYNC
“Him & I” by G-Eazy and Halsey
“Where My Girls At” by 702
“We R Who We R” by Kesha
“Finesse (Remix)” by Bruno Mars and Cardi B
“Poison” by Bell Biv DeVoe
“Whatta Man” by Salt-N-Pepa
“All For You” by Sister Hazel
“Wild Ones” by Flo Rida and Sia
“How We Do (Party)” by Rita Ora
“No Diggity” by Blackstreet
“Dark Horse” by Katy Perry and Juicy J
“Fantasy” by Mariah Carey and Ol’ Dirty Bastard
“Señorita” by Justin Timberlake
“Luv Me, Luv Me” by Shaggy and Samantha Cole
“Rather Be” Clean Bandit and Jess Glynne
“Talk That Talk” by Rihanna and JAY Z
“Cheap Thrills” by Sia
“Dangerous Woman”by Ariana Grande
“This Is How We Do” by Katy Perry
“Timber” by Pitbull and Kesha
“Love On The Brain” by Rihanna
“Make You Feel My Love” by Adele
“Fancy” by Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX
“This Feeling” by The Chainsmokers and Kelsea Ballerini
“The Middle” by Zedd
“I Want It That Way” Backstreet Boys
“Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” by Backstreet Boys
“My Life Would Suck Without You” by Kelly Clarkson
“Love Shack” by The B-52’s
“We Belong” by Pat Benatar
“Walk This Way-Remix” Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith

You bet your booty we premade this playlist for you on Spotify.

If you don’t already have an account, simply download the free mobile app or desktop software to get set up today. If you do,  just click on the symbol in the top right corner to go straight to the playlist… and don’t forget to hit the ‘follow’ button so you have it queued up for the big day!

P.S. Don’t forget to check out our wedding day emergency kit checklist!

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The Ultimate DIY Wedding Gift

You’ve successfully managed to pick the perfect engagement and bridal shower gifts, now what in the world do you give your BFF on her wedding day? Instead of trying to outdo yourself yet again, we have a better idea: Team up with the rest of the bridal party and put together the ultimate group gift. Ok great, but we all know that the bride and groom really just want money, right? Yeah, we know this, but you’re the maid of honor for goodness sake, so a check just ain’t gonna cut it. However, a DIY honeyfund will.

What’s a honeyfund?

Like the name suggests, a honeyfund is a way to raise money for the couple’s honeymoon. A traditional honeyfund is set up like a registry by the bride and groom themselves, where all wedding guests can gift money in various ways. As these are becoming more and more popular, we suggest you double check to make sure your Mr. and Mrs. don’t already have one set up before you decide to do it yourself.

Steps to making a DIY Honeyfund

1. Decide who’s going to be involved in this gift

We suggest keeping it to just you and your fellow bridesmaids, but feel free to include the groomsmen and/or parents of the couple as well. Obviously you are not expected to fund the whole honeymoon, so you only need to include enough people to cover the cost of a few meals and activities.

2. Research the location of the couple’s honeymoon

If they are staying at a resort, look up the different dining options available as well as any extracurricular activities they may enjoy (couples massages, water sports, etc). If they are exploring a certain city/state/country, look up tourist attractions that may cost money, as well as dining and extracurricular activities.

3. Break down the approximate cost of each activity

Do some math when looking over restaurant menus to determine how much the average bill for two people will be, including tax and tip. Calculate any fees that go along with visiting a tourist attraction, rental costs for any recreational activities, and hourly rates for spa services.

4. Have each contributing member select an activity

Create a shared Word document that includes a chart that lists each activity and how much it costs, with a blank column for whoever wants to claim that slot. If a certain activity is pricier than another, splitting the cost between two or more girls is encouraged. While it is up to each girl to choose an activity that fits comfortably in their budget, no one person should be paying a substantial amount more than another.

5. Purchase the materials to create your DIY honeyfund

We suggest using the following:

• A personalized travel scrapbook
• Coin envelopes
• Glue or tape
• An assortment of markers
• Any other decorative scrapbook materials (stickers, stamps, etc.)

6. Assemble the honeyfund

Because this is a gift from all of the bridesmaids, feel free to have them help you during this process. Not only is this a great opportunity to bond with one another, it makes your gift all the more personal. We suggest having each bridesmaid decorate her page of the honeyfund with whatever personal notes or embellishments she chooses. If you can’t get all of the bridesmaids together for this, you can still have each girl sign her name on her page before you give it to the bride and groom.

The key to making this the “best wedding gift everrrrr” (real quote from the bride who received this particular honeyfund) is to make it as personal as possible.  So like the photos above, feel free to include fun extra pages for the Mr. and Mrs. to fill out during their travels (top 5 “must-dos”, favorite moments, etc.)

Our last tip is to make sure all of the contributions are in cash. Chances are the couple is taking off the day after their wedding and won’t have time to deposit or cash in any checks!

The post The Ultimate DIY Wedding Gift appeared first on Modern MOH.

Maid of Honor Speech Dos and Don’ts

When it comes to delivering an epic maid of honor speech, there are a few must-do’s and even more please don’ts. While these dos and don’ts may seem pretty obvious to most people, you’d be surprised at how many speeches are ruined by too little of the former and too many of the latter. To ensure that your maid of honor speech goes off without a hitch, we’ve put together a list of our top heck yeses and hell nos.

 

DO introduce yourself

Unless you’re somehow acquainted with every single family member and friend of the bride and groom, chances are that there will be many people attending the wedding who will have no idea who you are. To give some context as to why you’re the one delivering the maid of honor speech, take a minute to introduce yourself and talk about your relationship with the bride.

DON’T tell your life story

Seriously, don’t make this about you. The hundred-something people in the audience don’t care that you broke your arm when you were 7 or that you’re scared you’ll never meet the man of your dreams. The only thing they care about is the love between husband and wife, so stick to that. Any talk of yourself needs to be in relation to an experience or memory involving the bride and groom.

DO talk about the couple

Too many MOHs make the mistake of talking about the bride the entire time and fail to ever mention the groom or the two as a couple. We get it, you’re the maid of honor and you’re supposed to talk about your experiences with the bride… but that’s not all you need to cover. The sole reason you are delivering a maid of honor speech is in celebration of the new Mr. and Mrs., so make sure actually acknowledge the couple and their matrimony.

DON’T tell inside jokes

The problem with inside jokes is that only a select few are actually on the inside, leaving everyone else wondering what the hell you’re even talking about. So unless your goal is to make people feel excluded, we suggest ditching them altogether. Instead, give your stories the background and context needed to make your audience feel included enough to find your jokes funny.

DO be yourself

The bride asked you to be her maid of honor for a reason, so don’t do her a disservice by not being your true self. A genuinely great maid of honor speech is one that is spoken from the heart and in the words of the person delivering it. Which leads us to this…

DON’T copy off the internet

We repeat: speak from the heart!! Yes, it’s okay to use a nice quote or toast that you find online, but don’t copy and paste the entire speech. Not only is that extremely lazy, it’s totally messed up. If you can’t be bothered to take the time or make the effort to write a personal and heartfelt speech, you should consider stepping down as maid of honor.

Lastly, DON’T

…tell any extremely embarrassing stories about the bride or groom

…mention any exes or past romantic relationships

…say anything that about the wedding “finally” or “actually” happening

…ramble on without a clear ending

…even think about using the word “divorce”

…get drunk before delivering your speech 

 

Having some trouble putting pen to paper? Check our our 20 questions to help you conquer your maid of honor speech. 

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20 Questions to Help You Conquer Your Maid of Honor Speech

When it comes to writing a maid of honor speech, the hardest part is knowing where to start. To help you put pen to paper, we’ve come up with a list of prompting questions that are sure to get the ideas flowing.

1. How did you meet the bride?
2. How did you meet the groom?
3. How did the bride and groom meet each other?
4. What’s your favorite memory with the bride?
5. What’s your favorite memory with the groom?
6. What’s your favorite memory with the couple?
7. What 3 words would you use to describe the bride?
8. What 3 words would you use to describe the groom?
9. What 3 words would you use to describe the couple?
10. How did you know the groom was “the one”?
11. How did the groom propose?
12. What do you admire most about the couple?
13. What milestones have the couple celebrated?
14. What challenges or hardships have they faced?
15. What are their hobbies and interests?
16. What are their likes?
17. What are their dislikes?
18. What makes them unique?
19. What are your hopes for their future together?
20. How have they made an impact on your life?

Answering all of these questions will allow you to sort through personal memories and help you decide exactly what you want to include in your maid of honor speech.  If you’re still feeling a little lost, check out our 5 D’s to writing a killer maid of honor speech.

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