The Rules of Work-Related Wedding Parties

Among the other pre-wedding parties to look forward to, your co-workers might be excited about throwing you a shower. Although office parties are by no means a necessity or inevitable, should someone at work tell you she’d like to have one, by all means go for it.

Office showers are not much different from other showers, except that they usually take place either at the office (if there’s room for it, and your supervisor approves), or after work at a local bar or restaurant. They can be a surprise or not, and, yes, your co-workers will bring gifts. Anyone can host, be it your boss or one of your best work friends.

As far as proper etiquette, whoever throws the party needs to make sure that everyone from your department or floor is invited.  “Otherwise,” says Danielle Bobish of Curtain Up Events in New York City, “use common sense. Just like a regular shower, if you start singling out people, you’re going to run into problems.”

Always make sure the boss is invited, even if you’re not particularly close. (The same rule applies to regular showers and the wedding; if you invite people from work, make sure the boss is included.)

It’s also important to remember that an office shower is an extra gift from your work friends, not a requirement. They are spending money on you, and there’s a very good chance that some or all of them are not invited to the wedding.

Says Bobish, “Be grateful for what is being done for you, even if it’s not the perfect dream shower.” In other words, if a guy hosts the party (which is fine) and takes you and the gals to a sports bar, suck it up and go with the flow.

-David Toussaint

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