The first one is pretty straightforward, a gathering of 31 women, most of them probably in their early 20s. A bridal shower, obviously, with only one odd note:
IF that's Dora herself with the leaves on her hat, who is that next to her in the derby? I guess that it's a mock wedding, but I've never heard of such a thing as a part of a bridal shower. An ethnic peculiarity? Some of the participants are decidedly non-WASP (Portuguese, maybe?)
The second adds a further element of uncertainty, because several of the participants are clearly male (men at a shower? hmmmm...), and
several are clearly attired in the clothing of the other gender. WHAT is going on here? The bride-groom pair is at the center, and both are pretty clearly female:
but we need to explore a few of the others in more detail:
Is the beefy gentleman Gilmore Père? The others are barely containing laughter, induced by silly hats and social rulebreaking.
Surely that's a man in a silly hat in the lower right hand corner, looking bleary or queasy:
and I really want to believe that the person with the tambourine on head is a man... certainly the one in the sailor outfit is a woman...
These four are female, I think:
...but the jury is still out on this pair:
The second was taken in Meriden CT, I'd guess between 1900 and 1910, and so far as I know there's no reason to think any of the participants are from Nova Scotia.
A third shower picture showed up as I unpacked yet another box, but its details don't resolve any of the outstanding questions raised by the other two. 
Assuming that the bride's name is spelled correctly (Breun, I'm almost certain --though it's a bit difficult to resolve the handwriting,
except to confirm that it's the same as on the other two), the name is more Dutch than anything else (or so a bit of googling suggests). The added note of domesticity suggests that some sort of play-acting sport was an essential element of any shower given in the Meriden CT area ca. 1910, and it looks like the theme could be pretty varied. I think at least one of the people in this picture is in the Dora Felix group:
Another one, illustrating the fact that not all showers are joyous occasions:
This one is labeled "May Darling's house Lia Paul's shower"
(see more detail)