Which city to which city? Would Amtrak work for you?
Anyone from near you that you could ride with?

You don't say where in NJ you are leaving from or where in RI you are going but it's going to be about 250 to 300 miles each way for the trip. That amounts to some 5 to 6 hours driving (without accounting for rest stops or unexpected traffic delay.

That said, I doubt you'll run into much traffic on saturday. The heavy traffic will be on Friday afternoon/evening when most people in the city areas will be "leaving early" for the long weekend.

On Saturday, from NJ (you don't say where) traffic on I-95 North should move along fairly quickly as most people in that area will be going south bound toward the Jersey shore. You might encounter a little traffic as you approach New York but here again most traffic will; be going "out of the city". Depending on your starting point in NJ you might even be able to by-pass NYC by going north to the Tappan Zee Bridge (you'll be going against the flow of most of the traffic).

Going home on Saturday, shouldn't be much of a problem as the majority of drivers will be staying wherever they are for the entire weekend and won't be driving until Monday afternoon/evening.

It would help if you gave some specifics about your departure and destination cities/towns. That way we might be able to give you better driving suggestions.

All in all, I doubt you'll have too much of a traffic problem on Saturday but since you are looking at about 5 to 6 hours of driving in each directions you'll have a VERY LONG DAY if you try to get there, attend the bridal shower and get back in the same day. Consider staying over on Saturday night and driving back on Sunday (there won't be any traffic concerns on Sunday morning).

From central NJ to Providence is about 225 miles... this trip can easily be done in 4 hours if there is no traffic delay.

Even a 4 hour drive each way is a lot of driving for one day. Why not stay overnight, as suggested above?

There is construction on the Alexander Hamilton Bridge in the city just past the GWB, so that might cause some delays. If you can take the Tap, that might be a better option.

Sorry I wasn't more specific. I will be going over the Tappan Zee Bridge. I was thinking 287 to 95, or 287 to Merritt Parkway to 95. Destination is in the Warwick area.

Either of your routes would work, barring an accident. On this rare occasion (Saturday of a holiday weekend) I would probably stick with 95, especially on the return journey, though the Merritt is ordinarily my choice.

Saturday is not as bad as Friday afternoon or Sunday, but the area around Mystic and the RI beaches can clog up 95 on a Saturday morning or afternoon. It will still take about 4 hours each way. The Merritt is generally better (for the area it covers) but sometimes it seems almost as busy.

There are lots of chain hotels in the Warwick area and there's plenty of stuff to see and do if you want to make it an overnight. Priceline has been a good option for me there.

Thanks for the replies. Wow, googlemaps is saying 3 hours and 15 mins. I would love to stay overnight, but I need to get home that day! I was concerned about beach traffic on a nice day. If it's anything like the Garden State Parkway on a nice weekend day, I will be in big trouble!

From the the southeastern end of the Tappan Zee to Warwick without traffic would be about 3 hours and 15 minutes. The problems come in exactly as you've guessed: around NYC and potential beach traffic.

You really shouldn't have a problem with people traveling from the city towards the Cape/etc and vice versa, since it's the middle of the long weekend. On your way up to RI, the potential issue is with CT residents traveling to the beaches east of New Haven. However, that traffic won't be anything as bad as "the GSP on a nice weekend day".

Note that, while traffic thins out east of New Haven, so too does the road, narrowing from multiple lanes to two in each direction for most of the remainder of your drive. It widens again just before Warwick.

My recommendation would be to get on the road as early as possible, ideally so you're east of New Haven before beachgoing begins in earnest. This would give you the possibility to rest up after the first drive and before the shower. (There's a decent state-run rest area soon after you cross the border into RI, though no real food available.) And then lots of coffee on the return! There are on-highway rest areas with McDonald's from just east of New Haven all the way through to Fairfield, CT (and vice versa).