You can make a bridal shower towel cake yourself very easily. There aren’t too many things you’ll need to gather, and you can even make it at the last minute if you have to.

You’ll need wash cloths, hand towels, and bath towels in the color the bride has registered for. Plan on having several towels in different sizes on hand so you can vary the circumferences of the cake layers. You’ll also need pretty ribbon in the bride’s colors or the colors of the shower theme. Some silk flowers will decorate the top of the cake. Choose a color that blends well with the theme or the bride’s favorite colors. You’ll also want a pedestal on which to display your creation.

First, fold each towel in half. Then begin rolling them the long way so that they look like cinnamon buns. You’ll do this for each size of towel. The folds for the bath towels will be a little tricky, but you can do it. You’ll want each towel to be approximately 6” in width when they’re rolled.

The trick is to gather each towel and form it into a roll. You’ll put all the rolls side by side to form each layer of the cake. So, starting from the bottom layer, you’ll take the largest towel rolls and stand them up next to each other until you have formed a circle. This will be the base of the cake. Secure with a length of ribbon that fits snugly around the outside layer. Tie in a bow.

Work up for the next layer. This will be the hand towels. You’ll do the same thing with the rolling and placing of each towel side by side, this time on top of the bottom layer. When you have the circumference you want, tie it off tightly with ribbon. Continue up the cake. You may want to stop with three layers, or go larger. Of course, if you want more layers, you have to start with a bigger base layer.

Add silk flowers by tucking the stems into the folds of the towels. Display on your cake stand.

If you go with white towels, the cake will look more like it is a frosted wedding cake. But you can just as easily make a lovely bridal shower towel cake with grey, brown, blue, or any color towel the bride has put on her registry. Be sure to get good quality towels so the bride and groom can actually use them and they won’t be scratchy. Top with a bridal tiara or flowers.

A bridal shower towel cake is such a lovely addition to the shower table. Display it as a centerpiece for the food. Or place it where the bride will open the wedding gifts. No matter where you display it, it will be a cute touch to your decorations that the bride, and all the guests, will just love.

More Bridal Shower Ideas:

• Free Bridal Shower Game Ideas
• Wedding & Bridal Shower Theme Ideas
• DIY Bridal Shower Invitations
• Suggested Menus for a Bridal Shower

Maid of Honor

This lady is the first mate to the captain, the bride. She’s in charge of making sure the bride has everything she needs to get ready on the morning of the wedding including her makeup and hair products, her dress and accessories. She’s also traditionally the one to throw the bridal shower and offer up the bachelorette party supplies. There are expenses that you’ll incur as the chief bridesmaid. If you can’t afford to pay for the parties as well as your dress and shoes, think about either declining to be the Maid of Honor or asking someone to share expenses for the parties with you. Often, the other bridesmaids will step in.

Best Man

The Best Man typically throws the bachelor party. On the big day, he is in charge of getting the groom to the church on time. He’s the one who drives the groom to the ceremony. He will usher family members to their seats and walk the Maid of Honor down the aisle and escort her out after the ceremony. He’s also in charge of holding the wedding rings until they are presented during the ceremony. Often, he will sign as a witness on the marriage certificate. He’s also on the front lines scouting for any problems that may creep up the day of the wedding. He may be asked to hand out checks to vendors who have to be paid such as the restaurant, pianist, etc.

Groomsmen

The groomsmen are there to stand up for the groom and offer him moral support. They help usher family and friends to their seats at the ceremony. They are also the escort for a bridesmaid and are partnered with her for the first dance at the reception. There is some expense involved in being a groomsman. You’ll need to rent a tuxedo and shoes. You’ll also need to travel to the site and be part of the rehearsal the night before. If you can't afford the hotel or clothing expenses, think about declining the offer.

Bridesmaids

After the Maid of Honor, you’re the ones who’ve got the bride’s back. Is she missing anything? Does she need anything to eat or drink? Does she want help with her veil? You’re also there to walk down the aisle in a procession before her. You’ll need to pay for a dress and shoes plus any jewelry the bride would like you to wear. It’s suggested you help pay for the bridal shower and bachelorette party as well. At the wedding, you dance with the groomsman you’ve been paired up with and mingle so the bride sees everyone mixing and having a good time.

Flower Girl

Often a niece of the bride or groom, this little girl dresses in a mini version of the bride’s gown and is the first to walk down the aisle. She throws rose petals from a decorated basket and stands with the bridesmaids. If she is very young, she may go back to her seat with her parents. Her role after that is just to be adorable.

Ring Bearer

This is the little guy who brings the rings down the aisle, typically with or behind the flower girl. He carries them on a pillow with strings attached to hold the rings. Often he’s given plastic rings and the Best Man holds onto the actual rings. Once he makes his entrance, he usually sits down with his parents. Then, he gets to show off his dance moves at the reception.

Don't forget the bridal party gifts. Find some fun ideas on Wedding Party Gifts.

Best Friends

If you are the bride’s best friend and/or maid of honor, you might feel like you should offer to throw her bridal shower. If this is within your means, it is certainly one of the expected jobs of the head bridesmaid. First, though, you’ll want to check with both the mother of the groom and the mother of the bride to see what they had in mind. Although tradition dictates it’s the maid of honor’s call and she should host (and pay for) the shower, moms may assume they are naturally involved in the planning and cost-sharing. However, with so many nontraditional families these days and family members living farther away from each other, there are no hard and fast rules. Just be sure to check what the others are doing before you plan anything. If you get the green light, have a ball! If your means will only allow you to have a small number of close friends, offer to throw a friends night out shower at a local restaurant. Alternately you can ask the other members of the bridal party to chip in on unique bridal shower favors or food so you can include everyone that you’d like to. And if you’re financially unable to shoulder the cost of the party, be honest with others. They may offer to step in and cover the whole cost.

Mother of the Bride

Traditionally the mother of the bride does not offer to throw a shower. The idea being that it would look as though she were asking for gifts for her daughter, and that would be in poor taste. But often, she will be the only one available, or her home is the only place available to host it and that’s okay too. But where possible, a friend or someone from the bridal party should step up and offer to at least co-host and thereby split the cost. The bridal shower invitations should come from someone other than the mom. Traditional wording might say, “You’re invited to Laura’s bridal shower compliments of Suzie, her maid of honor, and held at Brenda, her mom’s house.” The mother of the groom is also exempt from having to throw the shower, although chances are she’ll want a front row seat in the planning. Depending on if there are step-moms in the picture, be sure to check in with everyone so feelings aren’t hurt.

Co-Workers

Here’s where it gets a little tricky. Are co-workers of the bride expected to throw a separate shower? Yes and no. Co-workers are not required by any means to host an expensive off-site shower with the bride’s family and friends. That’s the job of the maid of honor. But, if you and a group of co-workers are very close to the bride, you might offer to throw a small bridal shower during lunch hour in the company break room. You can include everyone from your department (or those at work who are close to her). Simply purchase a sheet cake or make cookies or muffins and decorate with streamers and balloons. This will, of course, depend on the workplace atmosphere and protocol. Do as much or as little as you like. And if you feel your workplace is not the best atmosphere to host a small fete for the bride, offer to take her out for drinks or dinner with the people she’s close to at work and you can give her your gifts there. Sometimes, depending on how close you are to the bride, you will also be invited to the family’s shower. If so, you may want to keep it under your hat, as surely some folks from work will not be invited and you want to avoid hurt feelings.

More on Bridal Showers:

• How Many Bridal Showers Should a Bride Have
• Free Bridal Shower Game Ideas
• Most Popular Wedding Registries
• Wedding & Bridal Shower Theme Ideas
• Unique Bridal Shower Favor Ideas
• Fun Bridal Shower Themes

Know their Tastes

If you know the bride and groom well enough to be throwing them both a shower, you surely have some great ideas in your head already. How did they meet? Where do they like to spend their free time? What are their hobbies? You might have a bicycle themed party if they love to ride bikes or a tennis party if they hit the courts every weekend. Did they meet on a cruise? Have an ocean liner shower. Ask around. Family and friends who know them will have ideas to offer as well. Don't forget to incorporate your theme into your wedding shower invitations, it will set the stage for the events to come!

Cake Topper Found at Wedding Favors Unlimited

The Sports Shower

This theme works well if both the bride and the groom are interested in sports. Do they both love Hockey, Basketball, Baseball? Put together a sports-themed shower! You can base your party around the game and have everyone come in hockey jerseys. Or if they love the Red Sox, have everyone come in team attire. Order up some golf wedding favors for a special touch. Again, this is a fantastic theme to keep the guys involved, but if it’s a sore point with the bride to be, don’t go this route.

Luau

Go Hawaiian! Everyone loves a luau. You can get the honeymoon mood started early by hosting a shower complete with grass skirts and drinks in coconuts. There are some fun decorations and props that will make having this theme a cinch.

Guys and Dolls

Go musical. Have everyone come in costume from West Side Story or Guys and Dolls or South Pacific. Choose a movie or musical that everyone will know. You can have costumes on hand for the bride and groom if it’s going to be a surprise. Carry your movie theme out with popcorn and DVDs playing in the background. Have fun snacks on hand like movie candy and paper cups with straws.

Karaoke Party

You can keep the fun going all night with a Karaoke shower theme. Serve the food on old records and offer props like giant cutouts of microphones and song lyrics. If you’re having it at a restaurant with a Karaoke system, make sure there are songs everyone will feel comfortable singing. If you’re bringing in your own machine, you’ll definitely want a selection of songs that span the ages. You can go wild with this theme. Have singing notes on paper plates and napkins. Add a disco ball and have someone come as Elvis to kick off the fun.

Little Rascals

If you’ve got a fun loving bride and groom to work with, this theme is a good idea. Base the shower around baby pictures of the couple. Ask the moms or other family members to dig out some cute or embarrassing baby and youth photos. Then go to town. Have an elementary school classroom set up. Set up a table to look like a teacher’s desk. Serve the food on chalkboards. Offer kid-friendly snacks like Oreos and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. If you can find old lunch trays, or borrow them from a school, that would make the day even more authentic. Get smaller milk cartons and provide open lunch boxes to hold chips. If you can, have the bride and groom’s baby pictures printed on napkins or labels or favors to tie the theme together. You might even want to use iron on transfer paper and make the bride and groom t-shirts with their baby pictures on them.
Would you consider having a couple's wedding shower? Or maybe you've already had one. What are your thoughts?

More on Couples Wedding Showers:

How To Plan A Co-ed or Couples Baby Shower

Couples Shower Theme - Home Improvement

This cheap bridal shower games lens at Squidoo gives instructions for several bridal shower games including Don't Say Wedding, Wear The Teddy and several more.  These games aren't printable, but the instructions appear to be clear and easy to follow.  There are also detailed instructions for one of my favorite games - the Candy Bar Memory Game (kind of like wedding themed concentration).   Another site that gives instructions to tons of different games is Abbee.  The have four free game lists along with detailed instructions to each of the games on the lists.  They include sample trivia questions when necessary.

Finally if you are running short on time or want something quick and easy.  Consider buying some cheap printable games from Bridal Shower Games A to Z.   They have over 75 different bridal shower games that you can just print and play.  Games cost about $7 each or you can buy an unlimited number of game downloads (prints) for around $20.  Obviously if you are hosting several showers or you are planning to try 3 or 4 games, the unlimited games purchase is a much better value. And don't forget the unique bridal shower favors for all the winners to take home.

More Bridal Shower Games:

Free Bridal Shower Game Ideas - http://hubpages.com/hub/Free-Bridal-Shower-Game-Ideas

Cheap Bridal Shower Games - http://www.squidoo.com/cheap-free-bridal-shower-games