Bridal shower bingo

Bridal shower bingo, or wedding shower bingo, is usually played during the gift opening. Guests mark squares as the bride opens her presents. It also works with wedding words or as an icebreaker. The 77 ideas here cover all three, ready to copy onto printable bridal shower bingo cards.

Blank or prefilled bridal shower bingo cards?

Blank cards. Each guest writes their own gift guesses into an empty grid before the opening starts. Many shower guides describe this version. But guesses tend to overlap, so cards can look alike and several guests may call bingo together. Our generator doesn't make blank cards: for this version, print blank bingo cards instead.

Prefilled cards. You write one list of likely gifts and registry categories, and each guest gets a different card from it. Nobody fills in squares at the party.

Don't know the registry? Use broad, easy-to-spot categories like "Bath towels" or "Sheet set", not exact models.

How many gifts it takes to win gift bingo

In gift bingo, each opened gift that matches a square counts as one call. Smaller grids and bigger showers need fewer matches. Each number is the median count of matching gifts to the first row, column or diagonal.

With 10 guests on 5×5, at least 9 games out of 10 had a winner by the 18th matching gift. By the 12th, most of those games still had no winner, so a small shower plays better on 3×3.

We simulated these games on our own deck engine: 10,000 decks per setting, 100 games each, with a free space on 3×3 and 5×5. The numbers assume a list of about 40 items, where every opened gift matches one item on the list and each item is equally likely. Real gifts aren't, so treat this as a rough guide. It doesn't apply to blank cards.

Ties and other gift-opening calls

No two cards in a deck share a winning line. Two guests can still bingo on the same gift with different lines. In our simulation, that happened in about 12% to 18% of games with 10 to 30 guests. Decide before you start: split the prize, or give both winners one.

Does a gift count when a greeting card mentions it, or only once it's unwrapped? Can one gift basket cover two squares? Let the bride make the final call, and say so before the first gift.

Find the guest bingo while people arrive

Find the guest bingo works as an icebreaker before the gifts. Each square describes a guest, like "Owns a dog" or "Flew in for the shower". Guests mingle and write a name in each square that fits. Nobody calls items, so the first full line of names wins.

Make printable bridal shower bingo cards

Start your bridal shower list: describe your shower in one sentence, with the registry, theme or colors. You get a list written for it. "Write my list" gives 30 items, and "Suggest 6 more items" adds more, up to 60. Aim for about 40, the list size our numbers use. Then pick one of 5 picture styles, from Watercolor to Vintage.

Words-only cards are free and unlimited, with a small logo on the PDF. Your first illustrated set is free to preview in full. Its PDF takes an Event pass ($4.99 once, per set) or a Pro plan.