Shower Me With Love
Whether you're having an all-girl shower or a couple's shower at a private residence, country club or restaurant, showers are really all about celebrating your engagement with friends, so make it special!

By Merry Grace McLeroy

"F�te Accompli! The Ultimate Guide to Creative Entertaining," by Lara Shriftman and Elizabeth Harrison, owners of Harrison & Shriftman — a publicity, special events and marketing company with offices in Miami, Los Angeles and New York — is a complete guide for special events and includes the duo's favorite recipes and secret sources, replete with photos, gleaned from 10 years of organizing celebrity events. It's a "This is how we did it, and this is how you can do it at home book," says Shriftman. I refer to it religiously.

MIX IT UP - COUPLE'S SHOWERS

Private Wine Tasting.
This is perfect for the couple that loves food and wine: create a theme based on wines from the couple's heritage, honeymoon destination or home state. You can plan a wine tasting at a private home or, for a more exclusive evening, arrange to meet at a local wine boutique or a restaurant with a wine room and enjoy a Grand Tasting with a master sommelier. Wine World and the trendy new Tara Steak & Lobster House, both in Fort Lauderdale, have private wine rooms and you can arrange to have dinner with different wines served with each course. Something Different Events, created by the producers of Savor Fort Lauderdale, arranges these and also customizes in-home private chef cooking classes, wine tastings and cook-along dinner parties at an average cost of $50 per person for the wine tasting; $125 per person with dinner. "It all depends on the wines and menu chosen," says co-owner Ari Glassman. "We arrange the chef and/or sommelier and servers, guests enjoy an interactive evening, purchase wine selections for the couple, then leave with recipes and tasting notes - whatever the host wants."

OTHER THEMES TO CONSIDER FOR COUPLE'S SHOWERS

Poolside Luau.
Serve lobsters and oysters, tropical drinks, hand out floral leis to your guests and hire a band to play Hawaiian music (or just play a CD with luau music). You can enhance the surroundings with tiki torches, pineapples, coconuts and hula dancers.

Raft Up.
If you're boaters, raft up the boats on a nearby lake and have a cookout.

Stock the Bar.
Ask guests to bring gifts to help stock the bar. This includes liquor, wine and bar accessories such as wine racks, martini glasses, coasters and drink recipes.

Playboy Party.
Turn the VIP room at a posh nightclub into your own playground — this also works for a Studio 54, Moroccan Night or any other decadent theme that goes with the décor of the room. Make sure guests are guaranteed to get past the Velvet Rope — give them a themed card to present to the doorman. In deciding on a theme, consider your hobbies, professions, passions, etc., so that the theme somehow relates to the couple.

NO BOYS ALLOWED

Lingerie Shower.
Guests can shower the bride with sexy lingerie, lace and frills — or whatever the bride's preference may be. You can even make it a pajama party if you prefer. Ideas for gifts include lingerie, a robe, slippers, candles, massage oil, a travel bag and sachets. You can also ask guests to write down their advice for the bride-to-be on her wedding night.

Mani-Pedi Beauty Party.
This is one of my favorites from Fête Accompli! Just for the girls, this theme is perfect at a spa, salon or in a private home. If at the spa or salon, try to negotiate an after-hours private event. You can send a nail file and nail polish with the invitation; go with the beauty theme on your menu — salad, crudités, etc. — and serve champagne and cucumber water. Serve food on trays so guests can eat during their pedicure, and follow up with sweets like crème brûlée or sugar cookies, tea and coffee.

Wedding Planner Peggy Russell of Personally Yours, in Key West and Chicago, specializes in destination weddings, and in the process, has planned many a shower for her brides-to-be. "I try to tie the generations together," says Russell, "including moms and grandmas who give fun marital advice." Since most of her clients are traveling in, and many of the guests may not know each other, she plans activities that help them get acquainted.

All Aboard.
Russell's favorite shower is wrapped in a three-day Caribbean cruise weekend, replete with spa day and a bridal brunch for bridesmaids, close friends and family. Talk about a captive audience! I wonder if you're adventurous enough to spend three days at sea with your future mother-in-law! This is also a great idea for couples' showers.

High Tea — Key West Style.
That means it features tea laced with rum, followed by mani-pedis at The Pier House Spa. This would be especially fun the morning after her popular Girls-Night-Out Pub Crawl (Grand-ma might want to bow out of this one). On this occasion, the wedding party is treated to a night out at the legendary local pubs for an evening they'll not soon forget.