Here’s to the groom

| Sunday, July 06, 2008

The Associated Press

When Jonathan Morris’ daughter was planning her wedding, he thought the groom was getting overlooked. So he planned a guys-only “man shower” to welcome Brian Wigand into the family.

The party included manly snacks, games and gifts.

“It seemed like there was a lot of hoopla for the ladies and not too much for the guys,” said Morris, of Maple Valley, Wash. “It was really fun, male bonding.”

Showers geared to grooms are a growing trend in the wedding industry, said Allana Baroni, the entertainment expert for the Web site ehow.com. Men who have grown accustomed to attending co-ed showers with their wives and girlfriends in recent years now find guys-only parties an acceptable rite of passage, she added.

It’s another example of grooms leaving their stereotypical roles behind, she said, noting that male bridesmaids and female groomsmen are becoming more common.

Men also are recognizing that showers are a great way to acquire tools and other necessities needed to maintain a home, said Abby Buford, a spokeswoman for Lowe’s Home Improvement stores, which launched an online wedding registry in 2006.

“They’re saying, I’ve been doing all this work. Here’s my opportunity to have some fun,” she said. “They’re wising up to the fact that there are gifts involved.”