Drinking Games

I've been fortunate enough to have lots of celebrations in my lifetime. Further, I've been honored to host several parties and showers for these celebrations of loved ones. From baby showers to wedding showers, including couple showers, to bachelorette parties, I've been privy to participate in several. Here are some of the tried and true games I've found to be most successful - easy set up, execution and still amusing and entertaining. Just in case any of our patrons are in a position to have such a function and are in need of some ideas:

Gift Bingo -- Use a normal Bingo sheet layout, but replace with BABY or BRIDE. Depending on the number of guests expected, you may need more or less spaces, you can use clip art to fill in more spaces if needed. Have guests either (1) Fill in the spaces with specific items they expect the guest of honor to open (diapers, onesies, toaster, wine glasses) without repeating any item and those will be marked off as gifts are opened or (2) Fill in the spaces with numbers. As guests bring in gifts, put a sticky note on each one with a number 1-x, then have guests fill in the spaces with those numbers. If you have more spaces than gifts, you can label gifts with more than one number and both numbers will be called when that gift is open. This game is just good to keep people interested during the gift opening and deflect some of the attention, especially if the guest of honor is more shy and nervous being the focus.

Questions - I've used this game at just about every shower I've had. If the shower is for women only, ask the groom/father the questions ahead of time and have the bride/mother answer the questions as she expects the groom did. If both bride and groom-to-be are in attendance, you can set it up more like The Newlywed Game and have them back to back, writing down answers and then sharing out loud once both have written down their answer. For each wrong answer that doesn't match, they have to put a piece of bubble gum (the real kind, not chewing gum) in their mouth. It can get quite amusing as they get more and more questions wrong and have a huge wad of gum in their mouths, trying to talk. If it's a bachelorette party, you can have the bride take shots rather than using the gum. You can change the questions for the theme and tone of the party, but here are some sample questions:
"What color is Bride's toothbrush?"
"Where did you go on your first date?"
"What kind of cologne does Groom wear?"
"What was Bride's first pet's name?"
"Who was Groom's first girlfriend?"

Codeword. Select a word and let guests know as they arrive that they aren't to use it - "cute" "baby" "wedding." I got several packs of baby socks and handed each guest a sock when they arrived and if they used the designated word, other guests could call them out on it and take their sock(s). The person with the most socks at the end of the shower wins a prize and the mom-to-be gets to keep all the socks. I've also heard of this concept being used for a wedding shower when guests crossed their legs (which happens quite a bit when many are wearing skirts!) It can be amusing and keep people paying attention and playing throughout the shower.

Spices. Buy several containers of herbs and spices - if you can get them in bulk containers, then remove labels and number them so you can keep up with which ones are which. Pass the containers around and have guests sniff and write down what spice they think each one is. The person with the most correct gets a prize and the bride gets to keep all the spices to complement their newly stocked kitchen!

Celebrity Baby names. Have a list of baby names to match with their famous parents.

Name Scramble. Take the names of the bride/mother and groom/father and see how many words guests can create using those letters only.

Nursery Rhymes. Make a list of questions relating to nursery rhymes and see how many people can recall.
"What time did the mouse run down the clock?"
"How many birds were baked into a pie?"

Wedding Night sayings. As the bride is opening gifts, have someone writing down what she says, then read it back as things she'll say on her Wedding Night. Or for a baby shower, can be things said on the night of conception.

More Active Games:
Pantyhose and oranges. Put an orange in one foot of the pantyhose and tie the pantyhose around your waist, so that the leg with the orange hangs down between your legs. Have another orange on the floor in front of each person (can be divided into teams, with each person on each team needing to make a lap) The object of the game is to swing your hips to get the orange in the pantyhose to knock the other orange across the floor to the designated finish line (can go down and back again if in a small area). It can get quite amusing.

TP race. One person stands with a pole between their knees (golf club, stick, broom) and the other person puts a roll of toilet paper between their knees and has to "walk" with the toilet paper between their knees to the other end and try to get it onto the pole without using hands. Once they do, they switch places until everyone has successfully put a roll of toilet paper on the pole.

Belly Balloon Shoe Race. Have everyone put a balloon under their shirt and then have a race to see who can tie their shoes the fastest. The mom-to-be should get a kick out of watching everyone else struggle like she does with a simple every day task.