Kitchen teas and baby showers are a rite of passage to many, but thank goodness, gone are the days where embarrassing the mom to be or bride-to-be was top of the agenda. A few months ago I planned a kitchen tea for my sister and got a little creative with the game idea.
Wearable guest book
I cut out a super-basic apron design (you can buy a plain one fairly cheaply) and instructed my sister to wear it. She then walked around the room greeting her guests with a jar of fabric markers.
Each guest signed or drew a picture on the apron and she was left with a one-of-a-kind memento of the big day.
Pass the parcel ice breaker
I wrapped small gifts like you do for the traditional pass the parcel game with a biggish gift as the last prize and every layer offering something small from little makeup brushes to lotion samples.
(I asked the bridesmaids to check their drawers for those samples you get in magazines but never get around to using and bought a few mini things).
Then you pass the parcel by literally throwing it across the room to the person of your choice who needs to introduce themselves with a little anecdote about the bride and they get a little gift for their efforts.
Handbag treasure hunt
This is an old favourite and a quick Google search would give you a bunch of printable options.
Basically, each guest gets a list of items to find in their bag. Each item is allocated a number of points and the one with the most points at the end wins. You'd be surprised at what people have in their bags!
Gift bingo
Hand out blank bingo cards and have guests fill in items they expect the bride to receive. This might be glasses, spoons, whatever (and yes, people do tend to "cheat" and write down what they brought).
Then as the bride opens her gifts people tick off what she received and you give out prizes accordingly.
This is a nice alternative to the awkwardness of "guess who bought you this" ... “omgosh Eleanor did you buy me this washing machine?!"
"Nope my gift is the mugs in the back." You know what I'm talking about!
Trick or treat
Another alternative is to take dice and stick blank stickers over the numbers. Now write in the words trick and treat on alternative sides. Every time the bride opens a gift the gift givers says "that's from me" and the bride then rolls the dice and gets a trick or a treat from the gift giver.
A trick would be something ridiculous like rock out to the Paw Patrol theme song or rap the lyrics to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and a treat would be a word of encouragement or some advice.
What are your favourite kitchen tea activities? (Oh, and stuffing your face doesn't count ... I lie it totally counts!)