Bridal shower bingo cards

Word bingo or gift bingo?

Word bingo works at any shower, including ones where gifts are opened later or not at all. Each guest gets a different card from the lists below. The Shower moments list (52 items) needs no caller: guests mark things as they happen around them, like "Proposal story retold", "Champagne cork pops" or "Veil tried on for fun", so the game runs quietly through brunch, toasts and games. The Wedding words list (60 items, from "veil" to "Dutch oven") plays as a called game: print the caller sheet and read one word every 20 seconds or so until someone has a line.

Gift bingo turns the gift opening into the game. Choose Gift bingo (blank cards) above and the page makes empty cards. Before the first present is unwrapped, each guest writes a gift they predict in every square: "cast-iron pan", "wine glasses", "a framed photo", "matching robes". As the couple opens each gift, a helper reads it out and anyone who guessed it crosses off that square. First full row, column or diagonal wins. Agree on how strict a match is before you start; "same kind of thing" works best, so any set of glasses counts for "glasses", but colour and maker never matter.

In gift mode the caller-sheet button becomes Gift tally sheet: one page of numbered lines (50 on Letter, 54 on A4) with a tick box, for writing down each gift and who it came from. It settles bingo claims during the game, and afterwards it is the thank-you note list. Download PDF puts the cards and the tally sheet in one file.

How many cards, and 2 or 4 per page

Print one card per guest plus three or four spares for late arrivals and the guest who wants to start over. Every card is different, so with 30 cards no two guests share a layout. For gift bingo, print 2 per page: a 5x5 square is about 22 mm wide at 2 per page and room for a short handwritten guess, but only about 16 mm at 4 per page. For word bingo, 4 per page is fine for 3x3 and 4x4 and halves the paper; keep 5x5 at 2 per page so longer phrases stay readable.

Small shower or large shower

At a small shower of 8 to 12 guests there are usually fewer than 15 gifts, and a 5x5 gift card needs five correct guesses in one line, which may never happen. Use 3x3 or 4x4 cards for gift bingo, and if the gifts run out first, the guest with the most crossed squares wins. At a large shower of 30 or more guests, use 5x5 cards and play for a full line first, then four corners or a full card with the remaining gifts, so the game lasts as long as the opening does. With a big crowd, Shower moments word bingo also works well because nobody has to see the gift table to play.

Prizes that are not money

Keep them small: a bud vase from the table flowers, a jar of the shower's favours, a candle, or the job of choosing the first song at the reception. The point is the laugh when someone calls bingo on "Mother of the bride cries".