~engraved goblet. it broke on the trip home.
~charm bracelet that I never wear
~earrings - cant wear them. they are the tiny little 20 ga wires and I have 12 ga holes in my ears. They both cut me, and look absurd.
~really cool necklace with the main bead a handmade glass millefiore bead made by the bride. Way spiffy - it is threaded onto some sort of braided silk cord, and bracketed by 2 smaller carved jade beads from china.
~a bottle of very expensive ice wine from germany. It was yummy.
~card to expensive restaurant in home town. was yummy indirectly.
Wife just got a jade bracelet from Tiffany’s for being the maid of honor. Our bridesmaids got little bird statuettes (went with our wedding theme) and necklaces that went with the dresses.
My groomsmen got flasks with personalized messages from me inscribed on them, filled with their tipple of choice.
I was a bridesmaid last year and I received a necklace and a monogrammed fluffy bathrobe, both of which were really nice.
I brought my bridesmaids for a manicure the day before the wedding, and gave each girl a compact mirror designed by a local artist, with their names engraved on the backs. My sister, the maid of honor, also got a double photo frame, with a cute childhood pic of us on one side and a blank space on the other, for a photo of us on the big day. I was especially touched when she insisted on trying to recreate the same childhood pose for the “grownup” half of the frame.
I got my bridesmaid a necklace that went with her dress but that would be suitable to wear at other times - she tells me she’s been complimented on it several times. My mum paid for the dress itself as part of her contribution to the wedding.
In one wedding, I got a simple gold bracelet. Haven’t worn it since, because I am so not a bracelet person. In my mind, this seems like a better present from a very young bride than from an older one, although it was no where near as bad as Zsofia’s present.
More distinctive jewelry is at least an ok gift for any bride, especially if the bridesmaids actually like jewelry.
In the other, I got a t-shirt which said “I was in So and So’s wedding and all I got was this lousy t-shirt” which I loved and still wear. And a trinket from the bride’s recent travels.
I’ve only been involved in one weding as a member of the pary (my own). The Coach outlet was halfway between our house and my sister’s school, so she stopped there on one trip, and picked up matching Coatch wristlets (Traditional brown for the bridesmaids, black for my sister, the maid of honor, since she already had a brown one). I included a note written on my wedding stationary to each of them about how much they mean to me, how I enjoyed spending time with them, blah, blah, blah. I know all four of them use theirs frequently - my sister uses hers as intended, the other three use them as wallets in larger purses.
I think that’s the biggest thing - giving something that the recipient will enjoy. Sure, it’s great for you to give them something with your initials or whatever on it, but I know my sister-in-law has told me on a couple occasions that, after a long day, she’s pulled that wallet out and thought of my mom getting less-than-sober at the rehersal, and it’s made her smile. Or the time my sister got off the plane on her fourth-business-trip-in-a-row, and someone at the coffee shop complemented her purse, and she could just smile and say “Yeah, my sister loves me.”
I love the idea from upthread of a purse filled with goodies - cheap, fun, things that they’ll enjoy for months or years to come. How thoughtful and enjoyable!
I only had my best friend as my MOH, no other attendants. She and her husband, and I and my husband, went to Vegas for 4 days about a month after the wedding. I gave her $500 in cash to gamble with.
I have been in several weddings:
my sister’s… don’t think i got a gift, but i was a kid.
my sister in law… awful gold dresses with rhinestones… she gave us pens. seriously.
friend from college… embroidered tote bags (like the ones you take to the beach) AWESOME
friend from college… 4"x5" Coach clutch… awesome, and still use it
friend from law school… gift certs to salon… very nice
best friend since childhood (i was MOH)… beautiful Tiffany bracelet. Still wear it every day.
friend from college (i was MOH)… jewelry for wedding day
It should be something that shows you actually thought about them and what they would enjoy having and using, and it should be something that, if you miss that mark terribly, they have the option to return it. I’ve only been in two weddings aside from my own, and both times the bridesmaid gift left me wondering if the bride had ever, you know, actually met me before.
In one case it was a necklace to wear with the dress–a silver heart about the size of the circle made when you put your thumb and forefinger together, completely encrusted with big rhinestones. I did wear it once after the wedding, just so that if she asked I could honestly answer in the affirmative, but only the once. And I cleared it out in a box of things for Goodwill as soon as I felt I decently could.
The other gift was an engraved keychain out of a collection of such things in the wedding colors. I have not, and had not, carried any type of key chain other than the wallet type for years, nor am I really a purple glitter butterfly sort of girl.
So far I think that this is the way I’m going to go with the bridesmaid gifts. I was thinking getting them each a cute handbag and putting stuff in it that works with the wedding. Since I am getting married in Vegas I could toss in some sunblock and a map of the strip along with some cute sunglasses. I was thinking possibly a manicure set and some emergency bobby pins/safety pins as well. What else could I put in the bags that would be fun and memorable?
. . . I always do those things when I’m in Hawaii. I think they are cool as shit. . .
She must have gotten bad ones, because honestly, whenever I’ve done it, you just pop open the oyster with a little hucker thing and out falls the pearl.
If you’ll be in Vegas, I suggest either getting them spa certificates (Mandalay Spa and pool is AMAZING) or show tickets. Right now, they are running a special for summer dates for Cirque- $50 a ticket. Even the new Elvis show or the ever-popular Beatles show.
