Are you stuck when it comes to what to gift your fiancé, parents or wedding party? Wondering how much to spend on these gifts? If you are, here are two simple things to keep in mind for people who should receive a gift or recognition. Who is helping you financially and who is investing their time. These things you’ll want have answered when putting gifts together.
Below I have listed 3 topics which will cover the Bride & Groom, Parent/siblings and the wedding party gifts. In this blog post, you will see most of this as my experience with what we did for these gifts as well as some helpful advice. If you’re reading this and are already married or already purchased gifts, please share in the comments what you did for these items! My hope is that brides can not only read things from my experience but yours as well!
BRIDE & GROOM GIFT
Whether you’re a bride or groom reading this, communication is key. Not about what you’re getting each other but communication about how much you’re wanting to spend on gifts. You don’t want to get to the wedding day only having a $50 gift for your soon to be spouse when he/she is giving you a gift that’s well over $200. Knowing around how much you’re going to spend on each other allows openness which (hint) is a great way to start off marriage 😉 Also, If you have a lower budget, you can still find gifts that mean lot and are more affordable so don’t stress about it!
Ideas for your groom
Surprise Boudoir Album (groom will love this!)
Nice Watch
Cologne
Shoes
His favorite beverage
Something personalized
Ideas for your Bride
Nice Perfume
Diamond Necklace
Earrings to match
Roses with your love note
Something personalized
This is something you can get creative with!
Mike and I wanted to give each other nicer gifts rather then something cheaper. He got me the cutest puppy, I named copper and I got him nice boots! Both of these things were something we wanted and were close in price. We gave our gifts to each other, prior to our actual wedding day; Considering Copper was born before our wedding and as you all know, new shoes make you blister. Since Mike was planning on wearing them the day of, he needed to wear them in, so he wouldn’t blister during the wedding.
Typically, the bride & groom gifts are given the day of. In our case we did this a few months before our wedding which hey, I’m always up for an early gift 😉
For our actual day, we wrote love notes to each other and brought them to the wedding. This is great to do regardless, whether you’re saying personal vows or traditional vows. After getting ready, we exchanged our letters and honestly, these were worth so much more than any gift. The love note itself was a priceless gift I will ALWAYS remember and be able to look back on. I added a handkerchief to mikes note with one of my favorite bible passages which is,
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. . . And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
If you aren’t planning on purchasing each other gifts, I highly recommend writing love notes to each other or giving something personalized. Trust me when I say it means so much and you won’t regret this!.
PARENT GIFT
This is something that was important to me as a bride. Because of our parents, we were able to have the wedding I as a bride envisioned. This wouldn’t have been possible without their love plus physical and financial support.
They didn’t want us spending a lot of money on them but I wanted to gift our parents with something personal they could hold on to. My mom and as well as Mikes mom are big cryers so I gifted time personalized handkerchiefs. This was the perfect gift that they could use during the wedding day. Our dads were a little harder to get for but I gifted my dad with a personalized handkerchief too. He is someone who will try to fight back the tears and I knew it’d come in handy for him.
Also, Write your parents notes before your wedding. This was something I wrote for my parents and siblings which I am so glad I did. Remembering back, my oldest sister Lacie, did this at her wedding for us. The younger 17 year old me, who felt like in a sense I was loosing my sister, to being able to read her note was such a precious memory. This was a memory I wanted to to continue on for my siblings. It doesn’t mater how old or young your siblings are, or if your close, Gifting a written note for a loved one to hold on to and read is the best gift you can give. Things written allow vurnablilty because it might be things you wouldn’t say on a normal basis.
TIP: I gave my parents + siblings their notes a few days before the wedding. We were all in the same room and I was able to be apart of them reading their notes. It was such a special time and filled with many tears. If I would have done this on the wedding day, this time would have been more rushed and we wouldn’t have been all together. Think about this when you’re wondering what to do for your family especially if you’re writhing them notes.
If you’re someone who dreads writing, I understand. Writing isn’t for everyone but trust me when I say this is the best gift you could give anyone and is priceless both in cost and the memory. To help you out, I put together a checklist of things that are things I had in my parent/siblings notes.
Parent note topics
Thank them for raising you.
Share a personal story/memory.
Name a few qualities they taught you.
Are those qualities something you’re fiancee has, if so add that in there.
Why you are excited for marriage and starting this new chapter?
Again, thank them for their love and support over the years
Sibling or best friend note topics
Thank them for putting up with you over the years
Reassure that just cause you’re starting a new life, you still will be present in theirs
share a personal and or funny story/memory you share with this person
Again, thank them for being in your life and being apart of your wedding
WEDDING PARTY
Now for the wedding party, there are so many fun and great things you can find at the click of a google or pintrest search! If I’m being honest, pintrest and etsy was my go to when planning our wedding and what gift to get! I ordered the robes HERE. As a bride I wanted to give my girls something they could use after the wedding. Mike as a Groom wanted to do the same thing! Here is what we did!
Bridesmaids
What you see most brides gift their girls are matching robes, rompers, or matching shirts! I gifted my bridesmaids with cute cups with their name on it, earnings and floral robes. I’m so glad I did robes for three reasons…
- It makes your girls feel special and exclusive
- You as the bride get to be the one white. Your girls can have a fun color that’ll go along with the style of your day
- It allows for some great getting ready pictures.
I have also seen it done where brides gift the mom and Mother of the groom robes as well. It’s best though to check with them first to see if they are okay wearing something like this to get ready in. Most of the time the mommas like to wear something they are comfortable in which sometimes a robe isn’t their first choice like it would be for your bridesmaids! There are so many options to add to the bridesmaids gift if you’re wanting to do more than robes. The choices are endless!
Groomsmen gift
This can defiantly be more tricky because we all know, guys are harder to buy for. Especially when getting the same thing that each groomsmen would use. Something funny to gift your guys are socks. Since you’re socks will be hidden under their dress shoes, this is a more funny gift if your guys like to be goofy! Maybe you’re groomsmen are more interested in outdoors such as hunting or fishing. Mike is a big time outdoors men as well as his groomsmen. He had personalized gun slings made that all the guys loved. if you’re still stuck on what to gift your groomsmen if they all have different hobbies, A nice yeti cup or whisky type glass with their name on it is a great option!
As always I hope this blog post was helpful for you brides and grooms planning!! If you’ve already order your gifts, please leave it in the comments below for other couples to get ideas from! If you’re wanting more info on where I ordered from, go pintrest HERE! For those of you just being introduced, Wedding tip Wednesday is a series of blog posts. Each Wednesday I give you all a new tip that goes a long way when planning your wedding! If you have a questions and don’t know the answer please leave it in the comments or check out the other wedding tips Wednesday posts that I’ve written for you! From a resent bride and wedding photographer, I’m here to serve you in this way and I’m excited to help out where I can!
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