Amazing Bridal Showers

Put a personal twist on the shower you’re planning for a bride with modern or big-city tastes, and try hosting a party with Asian influences. A sushi themed shower can be a chic and memorable alternative to more traditionally themed bridal showers. With a little planning and some amazing carry-out menus, you can easily be on your way to hosting a sushi soiree!!

Start Setting The Theme With Invitations

Begin with a bang and select a great invitation. We found this cute sushi themed invitation at Madi and Company. It’s perfectly festive and features little rolls of sushi at the bottom. And, priced at only $46.00 for 20 invitations, it’s easy on the checkbook too. If you’re up for digital invitations, try Evite.com, where the invitations and postage are free! Evite had several cute ideas to go along with the sushi party theme. While their current selections are not designed specifically for a bridal shower, the overall design definitely communicates the sushi theme, and you convey shower details in the invitation copy. And if a themed invitation is a bit much for your tastes, a traditional shower invitation is always appropriate, and just add the event details!

Is There Special Sushi Music?

You bet! We found a neat playlist perfect for sushi parties at Imeem.com. Have this great playlist going in the background to add ambiance to the hip, urban feel of your shower. As far as decorating, colorful paper lanterns will look fabulous hanging throughout your house, across your deck or porch. There’s an amazing selection of affordable paper lanterns and accessories at AsianIdeas.com. Check out the site for lots of great decorating ideas incorporating an Asian theme!

Try Making Your Own Sushi!

My first inclination would be to order several beautiful sushi trays from my favorite restaurant. Sushi making seems like lots of work. After mulling it over a bit, I thought that with a little advance prep work on your part, maybe the girls would enjoy learning to make their own sushi rolls for dinner—kind of a shower activity in itself. Plus, you will be getting help in the kitchen without people feeling like they are working. Food Network provides some simple, basic sushi recipes, including the popular California Roll. This is one you should definitely plan on serving. Since it’s mainly cucumber, avacado and rice, it’s a great “starter” roll for novices! It’s not as threatening as some of the other offerings. One thing common to any sushi recipe is well-made Sushi Rice. Here’s one from Alton Brown:

2 cups sushi or short grain rice
2 cups water, plus extra for rinsing rice
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt

Place the rice into a mixing bowl and cover with cool water. Swirl the rice in the water, pour off and repeat 2 to 3 times or until the water is clear. Place the rice and 2 cups of water into a medium saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, uncovered. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.

Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl and heat in the microwave on high for 30 to 45 seconds. Transfer the rice into a large wooden or glass mixing bowl and add the vinegar mixture. Fold thoroughly to combine and coat each grain of rice with the mixture. Allow to cool to room temperature before using to make sushi or sashimi.

If you decide to make sushi-making part of the evening’s activities, have a designated hand-washing station for everyone to use. Make sure you have plenty of countertop or table space, since people will be actively rolling their dinners! Provide multiple plates of ingredients to choose from, grouped around each area where your guests will be assembling their sushi. You’ll also want to have dishes of pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce for dipping, when everyone is ready to eat.

Sake Anyone?

And, what would a sushi meal be without sake? Sake is a traditional - and potent - rice wine. You can purchase bottles of sake at most liquor stores. Glass or porcelain sake cups are usually 2 inches tall, and can be found at stores like the Cost Plus Market. Offer drink alternatives too, because not everyone will want sake, and it’s definitely not something that people will drink exclusively throughout the night! Pitchers of jasmine or other flavored iced tea might be a nice touch.

Typically, people enjoy a cup of hot green tea after a sushi meal. This is called agari in Japanese cuisine. You could have a pot of tea brewing and serve something cool and light for dessert. Fresh fruit and sorbet would be nice, and if you want to do a cake, consider a zesty lemon cake.

Gifting the Guests

This theme seems to be growing in popularity as evidenced by the many different kinds of favors available for purchase! I especially liked these individual Japanese incense kits. Apparently, others like them, too—they have recently been featured in both InStyle and Cosmopolitan. At $1.80 each, they are a great price point for a unique, trendy gift. You could also look into purchasing beautiful silk hand fans or even personalized sake cups for each guest to take home.