Bridal Shower : Marriage for us is completion of half our deen; culturally the bride is given a bridal shower party to mark the beginning of this beautiful phase of her life. You can start the shower by giving a brief speech on how marriage is an essential part of our deen. It is the Sunnah of Muhammad salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. Briefly talk about the rights and duties of a wife (since this is a party specifically for the bride alone). Make sure you don’t make it too long such that they guests lose focus. Keep it short, interactive and fun to listen to. Follow this up with an introduction session, where the guests can introduce themselves and talk about how they know the bride. Baby Shower : A miraculous moment in a woman’s life is when Allah blesses her with the pleasure of being a mother. Allah subhaanahu wa taala says in the Quran: “… He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation in three veils of darkness, such is Allah your Lord. … ” {Surat Az Zumar 39: Verse 6} SubhanAllah. This miraculous occasion when a woman first starts stepping into the realm of being a mother is celebrated by throwing a Baby shower party for the mother-to-be. One great idea to start such a party would be by reflecting on the process of this entire journey. How it is described in the Quran and how it’s such a huge blessing from Allah subhaanahu wa taala. (Something to be cautious about: Make sure you keep in mind all the feelings of other woman whom you have invited. Make sure no one says or does something to hurt, especially those who are having a tough time getting pregnant and others who are delaying it to a later stage of their life for one reason or the other. Make sure you are careful about that.) There are lots of ideas for baby shower games that are available on net, but if you want to do something different then you could try one of these: “Down-the-memory-lane” theme: Have a short session where the ladies can volunteer to tell a story about their first child or if they don’t have children yet, then they can talk about their moms. “Crafts” theme: This is where everyone is asked to make something for the baby-to- be or mom-to-be. Lots of fun and also a perfect way to keep personalised memoires. “My First library” theme: Instead of random gifts, ask everyone to get their favourite children’s book and thus build a Little Nursery Library for your baby POTLUCK : I briefly explained how a potluck party works in the part 2 of this series. But as random as the idea sounds, there are certain things you need to organise in order to host a successful potluck. Divide the menu into categories and set a limit for each category. For example, your menu could be divided into appetizers, main course, side dishes, deserts, beverages. Next, decide how many items you would like to have in each category like appetizers 3 nos, deserts 2 nos and so on. The limit on each category can be decided based on the no. of guests on your list and will ensure that you don’t have too many items from a single category. Create a Google doc, since this would be easier to share and for everyone to see what changes the other is making on the document in real time. If that is not convenient for you, then make a list of all the items that everyone has decided to bring and share this list with them. This will ensure that everyone is aware of what the other person is getting and any last moment changes by the guest will not result in a repetition of a dish. Ask the guests politely to stick to the category of food they have agreed to bring even in cases where they may decide on getting another dish for one reason or another. Make sure not too many people are going to bring a dish that might require the use of a microwave oven, since this could get too time consuming. Also ask the guests to inform you about any such requirement beforehand. Ensure everyone is okay with the items on the meal. Make a note of any items or ingredients that a person is allergic to, so that you can avoid them. Show consideration towards those who might not be able to contribute a food item, instead, keep the contribution open to them so they can buy other party requirements like paper plates, plastic containers or even just a flower bouquet. Having said that, it’s always a good idea to add some extra items on the menu solely to give away to someone in need, before or after you have finished your meal. Go out as a group to an orphanage or to people in need and give them the food too (as suggested in part 2). You could also make a little extra quantity of food than required for all of you and then once you finish your meal, you can pack the items and give it away, inshaAllah. This will enhance the entire experience of the potluck to a new spiritual level, since you are feeding the poor for the sake of Allah. So, that’s a wrap on how you could make your party a successful one inshaAllah. If you have any more halal ideas based on the kind of party you plan to host and different ways in which you can give it the Islamic touch which would put much more blessings in the entire plan, inshaAllah, then please do leave your comments below, so others may benefit as well.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 13:14:09 +0000
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