It's no secret that every bride dreams of her bridal shower. This special time is spent with family and friends, celebrating the moment a bride chooses to wed that wonderful man in her life. A bridal shower has long been a way to prepare a young woman for married life. From the very practical – of giving her gifts such as a blender or a quilt for her new home – to those time honored words of wisdom that will help get her through the sweet and sometimes bitter times of married life. But best of all, a bridal shower is a great time to gather with your new family members such as your mother in law and sister in law and simply to have fun. A little "girl time" together!

But planning a bridal shower can often be stressful. There are so many details and everyone wants the bridal shower to be perfect. We'll let you in on some great tips here that make planning any bridal shower easy and well organized. Don't stress or worry about planning that bridal shower. Just follow our guidelines and you'll soon be enjoying that great bridal shower with the bride and family and friends.

Always remember that time is on your side. The more time you have, the more advantages you have. When you've got short notice you have less options. Try to give yourself as much time as possible to plan a bridal shower. This means when the bride announces her engagement start planning the bridal shower if you can. Even if you just outline what you'd like to do – then you are way ahead of the game. The ladies who wait and wait are the ones who will be sadly mistaken that things will be easy. Locations and food get more expensive when you only have short notice. You also often have far less choices. So do your best to have as much time as possible if you can.

Try to narrow down the location of the bridal shower first. This is often one of the hardest things you'll do. Holding a bridal shower at someone's home can be a great choice or even at a local restaurant. Gather the group of ladies planning the bridal shower and plan the shower for the ideal location. Choose among the dates available. Once you have the date available then start sending out invitations. You can use an online invitation service that will easily manage the invitations. Remember that sometimes these invitations wind up in the Junk Mail filter so you should call someone if they don't respond within a week. Assume the invitation got lost in their email box. Getting confirmations that people are coming helps you move onto the next step – planning the food.

Food can often be expensive for bridal showers if you don't quite know how to plan. Many women get overwhelmed and simply call a caterer. You can do a lot of your bridal shower ordering from your local grocery store if you are willing to delegate and organize responsibilities. But this does mean that someone will have to pick up the cake, pasta salad or other food items. Decide if your group is open to these choices. Otherwise work with a caterer to get food cooked and brought to the home.

Decorating can be a lot of work. Most bridal showers you do the decorating yourself. You actually don't have to do a lot. Add some bouquets of fresh flowers and some bunches of balloons and any location you choose will seem charming and well decorated. Compliment the location you choose. If it is modern, choose modern styled flower arrangements. If it is old fashioned, choose classic flower arrangements.

Delegation is actually the biggest tip we can give you. One of the most frustrating things that will happen with a bridal shower is that one or two people wind up doing all of the work. If you divide the responsibilities then things will go much smoother. The challenge is that most bridesmaids and bridal parties don't quite know how to divide things. The best way is to go according to people's strongest skills. The one with an artistic eye should be in charge of decorating. The one with business skills should be in charge of the budget. And so on. You'll have a beautiful bridal shower the bride will always remember!

When it comes to bridal shower etiquette, it is important to know who to invite and when and where to hold the celebration. Traditionally, bridal shower etiquette suggests that the bridesmaids are responsible for throwing a bridal shower. Close family members are not supposed to handle the celebration, but some brides simply do not have anyone else who is willing to host the party. In this scenario, anyone can give a bridal shower, but close family should generally step back if there are other people would wish to organize the bridal shower.

Bridal shower etiquette suggests that the bridal shower should be held 30-60 days prior to the ceremony. However, there is no rule that says a shower cannot be held earlier, with the most important deciding factor being whether or not the bride can attend.

As for where to send the invitations, bridal show etiquette confirms that both the mother of the bride and groom are to be invited, along with sisters of the bride and groom, friends, relatives, etc. Even relatives who live too far away to travel in for the bridal shower should be acknowledged with an invitation. Anyone who is not invited to the wedding should not be invited to the bridal shower. Bridal shower etiquette recommends that the hostess and bride work together on the invitation list, which should be planned according to the hostess’s budget.

When it comes to addressing the invitations, each one should be personally addressed to the invitee. Even if several invitations go to the same household, each one should be addressed separately as opposed to one single invitation being sent for everyone. Bridal shower etiquette suggests that invitations should be mailed at least one month in advance and should include directions to the shower and a telephone number incase further directions are needed.

When it comes to location, bridal shower etiquette does not single out any one specific place to hold the shower. Ideally, however, bridal showers that are held at a restaurant must be fully paid for by the hostess. If this is beyond the budget, plan another location as bridal shower etiquette does suggest that guests should never be asked to pay for their own meal.

When the bridal shower has concluded and all of the guests have gone home, it’s time to begin working on the Thank You notes. Bridal shower etiquette suggests that all Thank You cards should be mailed within one week of the shower.