August 19, 2008

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Add Some Testosterone to Your Next Shower

Photo by Aubre Andrus

Hope Wallace and Adam Vanderloo celebrated their upcoming wedding at Brocach Irish Pub. Guests were encouraged to bring "Stock the Bar" gifts to appeal to both men and women at the co-ed shower.

Part of being a woman is being coerced into attending bridal and baby showers. It's exciting at first, but after spending more than a few Saturday afternoons nibbling petit fours with "the women of [insert city name here]," it gets old.

One way to break the monotony is to add a little testosterone (and I don't mean a stripper).

Co-ed showers are the latest trend in celebrating nuptials or newborns, celebrating the couple of honor with a guest list including friends and family of both sexes. The parties range from cocktail hour at a bar to a picnic at Warner Park before a Mallards game.

Joanna Farrell, age 26 of Madison, and her fiancé Wyl enjoyed a casual co-ed shower thrown by Joanna's aunt. "The traditional bridal shower is kind of awkward in my opinion," Farrell admits. "It's hard to be the center of attention all by yourself, but when it's the couple's shower then you can invite your friends and your fiancé."

Farrell was especially thankful that the shower was more than "just the ladies." With her family at the event — including her grandfather — "there was not a possibility that someone was going to show up with some lingerie," Farrell states happily.

Sean DeKok, age 27 of Madison, has attended a co-ed wedding and baby shower. DeKok explains that it's easy to forget about the husbands-to-be and the dads-to-be during a traditional shower, but a co-ed shower allows men to take part in the celebration. "If you take out the 'shower' part of it and say, 'We want to throw you a party because we care about you guys and we want to celebrate this time of your life,' then it's a cool way to bring guys into the picture," DeKok says. "Just because I'm not a woman doesn't mean that I can't be excited about a wedding or a baby."

A co-ed celebration is especially appropriate in situations where a couple either didn't have an engagement party or a traditional shower was thrown, excluding friends of the opposite sex. The co-ed wedding shower DeKok attended was for a bride-to-be with more male than female friends. Guests were invited to share drinks and appetizers at Brocach Irish Pub and encouraged "Stock the Bar" gifts, appealing to both men and women.

If you decide to throw a co-ed shower, DeKok recommends calling the celebration a "party" rather than a "shower" to encourage men to attend. Another tip: be sure to mention the gift registry on the invitation or the attendees might show up empty-handed.

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