How to plan the perfect lingerie party
From engagement toasts to bridal showers to bachelorette bashes, all of the events leading up to a wedding provide friends and family with unique opportunities to celebrate the newlyweds-to-be. But if you’re tasked with planning one of these festivities—as the maid of honor, bridesmaid, or other member of the inner circle—and are looking for a way to spice things up a bit, consider throwing the soon-to-be bride a lingerie party.
A lingerie party is a pre-wedding festivity that can double as the bridal shower, serve as the theme for a bachelorette party, or act as its own standalone event. But what is a lingerie party? Well, exactly what you’d think it would be! The bridal party or close friends of the bride gather to sip, snack, and shower her with gifts of, you guessed it, lingerie. The idea is to provide her with sultry—and even silly—gifts of intimates and other bedroom attire and accessories that she can don and enjoy on the wedding night, honeymoon, and beyond.
Similar to a classic bridal shower, a lingerie party is typically hosted by the maid of honor or other bridesmaid or BFF, and timing-wise, can take place anytime in the lead-up to the wedding.
The etiquette of planning a lingerie party, however, is slightly different than your typical pre-wedding party. The guest list is a bit more limited, the activities can be a tad risqué, and the preparations require thoughtful planning. If you’re thinking of hosting a lingerie shower for the bride-to-be in your life, read on for lingerie party ideas, etiquette, and tips, for everything from fun lingerie party games to on-theme decorations, invitations, and more, to shower any bride with lots of love, laughter, and lace.
Table of Contents
1. Choose a date
The first step in lingerie party planning will be to determine a date that works best for the spicy soirée. Together with the bride, figure out a date that’s convenient for everyone she wants in attendance, and make sure to send out lingerie party invitations with enough notice to get an accurate headcount.
If you’re combining the lingerie party with the bridal shower, you’ll most likely want to host anywhere from two months to two weeks before the wedding. If the bachelorette party is the setting for this sultry affair, host it about a month before the wedding, to give everyone ample time to rest and recover from all the excitement.
Whenever you decide to host a lingerie party, make sure to send invitations at least a few weeks in advance, ideally six to eight weeks beforehand, to make sure everyone has plenty of time to mark their calendars, and you have enough notice to plan all the details! Set an RSVP deadline with your Paperless Post invitations to close the window to respond after a certain date, so you can plan everything accordingly. But before invitations go out, you’ll first need to determine who’s making it onto the exclusive guest list.
2. Finalize the guest list
Unlike larger pre-wedding events such as the engagement party or a more casual wedding shower, a lingerie party, by nature, calls for a more intimate (no pun intended) list of attendees. Make sure to thoroughly consult with the bride to determine who she feels comfortable opening gifts of lingerie in front of, and how many people total she wants at the party. For example, she may not want her future mother-in-law sitting next to her while unwrapping, displaying, and potentially modeling suggestive bedroom-themed gifts!
With Paperless Post invitations, you can share event management and guest list access when you designate someone as the event’s co-host, which may come in handy if the shower’s guest of honor prefers full control over the RSVP list and details. Otherwise, consult with her about the guest list and planning (over drinks, perhaps) or ask her to provide you with the full list of names to invite.
3. Pick a location
When deciding on a location for a lingerie party, keep in mind that the gifts being opened and discussed will be a bit provocative, and you want everyone to feel completely comfortable and free to giggle and gab over the contents of the night. For this reason, you may want to host this gathering at someone’s home, or in a hotel room if it will be taking place on a destination bachelorette trip.
A restaurant or other public place is probably not the best choice for this type of intimate affair, unless you rent out a private room or event space. Even still, a party at home may be ideal to avoid having to bring all the sultry gifts around with you if the party moves locations throughout the night.
4. Set a theme
Spice up the festivity even further by setting a unique lingerie party theme to help inform everything from the décor to the snacks, drinks, outfits, invitations, and even gifts. Let guests know the theme in a Details Block on your Paperless Post invitation, and get everyone excited to plan (and dress) accordingly. A few lingerie party theme ideas include:
- Country Western. Giddy up, cowgirls. Tell guests to put on their best boots, saddle up, and get ready to dance the night away with all their favorite pink pony girls.
- Pajama Party. Encourage everyone to wear their cutest, sexiest, or silliest pajamas and host a slumber party to shower the bride with some sultry sleepwear she’ll enjoy for years to come.
- Tropical Theme. Make it a beachy bash full of tiki drinks and coconut bras. This theme may be especially appropriate if you’re combining the lingerie party with a destination bachelorette trip somewhere sunny.
- Honeymoon Sneak Peek. If the newlyweds-to-be have a fun honeymoon trip on the horizon, consider theming the lingerie party on that destination to get them excited for the upcoming travels, whether it’s a Paris-inspired evening or a night of Italian elegance.
- Choose a color palette. Another lingerie party theme idea is to choose a color palette to embrace. From guest attire to gifts to decorations, make it an all-white affair, a pretty-in-pink party, or even sexy black leather vibes.
5. Send out invitations
Once you’ve got the who, what, where, and when all figured out, set the tone and get guests excited for the big day with lingerie party invitations. Choose from Paperless Post’s collection of on-theme lingerie party invitation designs adorned in lovely lace or elegant florals, or customize any bridal shower or bachelorette party invitation to match the theme of your event.
Include all the relevant details in your invitation wording—the date, time, and location. Then, add everything else guests need to know with helpful Blocks on your invitation event page. As the lingerie party host, make sure to ask the bride to share her lingerie sizing details and style preferences with you beforehand, so you can communicate pertinent shopping information to guests as they start searching for their gifts.
Add a Links Block to share links to the bride’s favorite stores or items, a Registry Block if she went so far as to set up a registry online, or a Photo Gallery Block for visual inspiration and potential lingerie party gift ideas. You can also add a Schedule Block to lay out the timing plan for the day.
Enable Guest Questions with your invitation as well to collect helpful planning information with your RSVPs in multiple-choice, checkbox-style, or open-ended formats, like dietary requirements, drink preferences, or even everyone’s favorite shower games.
6. Plan the menu
Once you have the date, headcount, and location set, it’s time to prepare the lingerie party menu. Your food and drink offerings may depend on the theme and time of day of the event—for example, it may be a boozy brunch affair full of mimosas and waffles, or you may be going for more of a nighttime cocktail vibe along with easy-to-serve light bites.
For a tipsy time full of martinis, margaritas, Moscow mules, and more, read our comprehensive guide for how to make all the classic crowd-pleasing cocktails, and then pair them with cheeky snacks and appetizers, like a cheese and charcuterie platter, mini quiches, deviled eggs, pigs in a blanket, or a delicious dip, like this fittingly spicy jalapeño popper dip by Love and Lemons.
And don’t you dare forget dessert! Add a little sweetness to this spicy event with frosted cupcakes decorated with icing lingerie, or go bold and whip up a full-on corset-shaped cake creation, like this impressive (and bodacious) dessert.
7. Decorate your space
Whether you’re hosting the lingerie party at home, in a hotel room, or in a separate event space, make it feel festive with lingerie party decorations that set the tone for a sultry soirée. If you’re combining this lingerie gift gathering with the guest of honor’s bridal shower, adorn your space in classic and cute wedding shower décor in pinks, whites, and pastels, complete with accents of ribbons, bows, frilly lace, and other ultra-feminine accessories.
Or if the event is falling during the bachelorette party, you may want to go a little more risqué in your décor and party supply choices. Provide things like naughty-shaped straws, sashes and headbands, and other fun and unique decorations you can find at Paperless Post Party Shop.
8. Prepare games and activities
Unboxing naughty gifts will be plenty of fun in itself, but planning a few additional activities and lingerie party games will add even more entertainment into the mix, for a truly memorable pre-wedding experience.
To spice up the gift exchange, collaborate with other guests to plan some lingerie party gift ideas on the sillier side, like comically oversized underwear for two people to share, “granny panties” with funny phrases emblazoned on them, or even undies printed with photos of your soon-to-be newlywed’s face.
Add some interactive games onto the agenda as well, such as:
- Guess the Gift. Keep each gift’s sender a secret, and have the bride make her best guess as to who brought each one when she’s finished opening them all.
- Bedroom Tips. Either anonymously or not, have each gift giver also provide a silly or sexy tip for the bedroom that the bride reads aloud to the group.
- DIY Designs. Using household items and arts and crafts supplies, have each guest compete to cobble together the best DIY lingerie set, using things like toilet paper, lace doilies, paper plates, and more. As a bonus, have the bride serve as the model for each ’fit, or put on a full fashion show of all the looks.
- Bridal Bingo. Hand out bingo cards to everyone at the beginning of the party, with the board full of classic lingerie gift items, along with a few wild cards, and see who wins as the gifts are unveiled.
- Stick to the classics. Play party games like truth or dare, two truths and a lie, Champagne pong, or organize the iconic bachelorette party scavenger hunt for everyone to participate in following the lingerie exchange.
9. Make a playlist
Looking for more lingerie party ideas to keep the evening’s energy high? Put together a designated lingerie party playlist full of the group’s favorite bops. Include classic hits that everyone will be belting at the top of their lungs (after a few cocktails, of course), mix in some nostalgic throwbacks, and add anything else that gets everyone into a confident, sexy mood.
Share a link to your party playlist in a Links Block on your lingerie shower invitations, and encourage everyone to add their own favorite songs or suggestions. Alternately, include an open-ended Guest Question with your invitation to collect song suggestions that you can curate and add to the playlist yourself. Who knows, maybe a little impromptu late-night karaoke will even find its way onto the party’s agenda.
10. Give out party favors
Everyone will already be taking home plenty of wild memories (and hopefully, photos!) from the night, but gifting each guest with a little token of your appreciation for attending will make them feel even more special. Give each partygoer a cute and on-theme party favor or goody bag at the end of the night, with lingerie party gift ideas like miniature bottles of liquor, scandalously-shaped candy, suggestive stickers, or even some lingerie or a sleepwear item in their size.
You can survey everyone for their sizes in an open-ended Guest Question on your invitation, or keep it a surprise and provide either one-size-fits-all or find-your-own-size options. Whatever you choose to gift, sending guests home with their own little trinkets from the night is a thoughtful lingerie party idea that everyone will appreciate.
From sultry soirées to elevated events, plan it with Paperless Post
Whether you’re hosting a provocative lingerie party for a bride-to-be or organizing an elegant black tie gala for charity, Paperless Post has the customizable invitation templates and helpful management tools you need to plan it all with ease and style.
Browse invitations for weddings, birthdays, baby showers, and beyond. Deliver invitations your way, via email, text message, or link, and manage your guest list as RSVPs roll in with our advanced Analytics view to track opens and responses in real-time. Party planning is made simple with the help of Paperless Post’s intuitive features and beautiful designs that will get your guests excited for any get-together.
Find beautiful, customizable shower invitations the bride-to-be will love.
