Bridal showers signify the pinnacle of a single woman’s life. They’re just there on the transition to marriage. Bridal showers stand at the precipice, chronologically, of a soon-to-be-married woman’s life. They’re the time when old friends can get together, share drinks, and think about the old times. They’re the time to give heartfelt gifts to the bride to help her in her new married life. This is girls’ time, make no mistake about it. Men are not usually present. Sometimes, a good old-fashioned chick flick is watched at the end of the celebration. All the while, the husband is in the other room cooking up refreshments and appetizers for the bridal shower troops. Troops is not too far off in terms of meaning because the bridal shower is usually composed of committed, firm bridesmaids that have done everything to assure a great bridal shower party. A bridal shower, however, wouldn’t even exist without bridal shower invitations.

Bridesmaids send out the bridal shower invitations to the majority of the bride’s friends and female relatives; other close relatives are just told face-to-face; they buy the gifts, set up the decorations, and make the bride feel like a star at her bridal shower.

In the case of large extended families of immigrants and other cultural groups across the world, there are cases where bridal shower invitations are a must. For example, in some South American countries, upwards of 200 people attend the shower, all of them females. The bride won’t just get showered with gifts; the torrential gush of gifts will drench her from head to toe! The importance of the term shower signifies the bride being showered with gifts. It has nothing to do with a shower involving water in the bathroom, nor are there metaphors for cleanliness. This is a gift-giving time, and the bride gets the best of both worlds: she gets to spend time with her friends and accept wonderful and expensive gifts from them. Oftentimes, women spring more for bridal shower gifts because it’s a more intimate setting to hand gifts than impersonally at a wedding. The bride actually gets to sit down with, and look at, the person that gave her the gift. It’s a great treat.

Some sociologists think that bridal showers are just a way for women to get used to assuming the traditional wife role. Others think it is purely a time for girls’ self-reflection, camaraderie, kinship, and social drinks. Some communities have small intimate bridal showers and others have hundreds of guests with banquet halls.

In either case, bridal shower invitations are a must because people need reminders of when the event’s going on. This simple courtesy can save a lot of heartache if one guest forgets to show up. Yes, bridal shower invitations are a modern-day invention that’s the result of necessity.