According to my mother I am going about picking gifts for my bridesmaids all wrong because the gifts don't "commemorate" the wedding. I asked her to explain to me what sort of gift I should be buying for each of them and she said jewelry to wear during that day; however, she is buying them all necklaces to wear, and more than likely those will never be worn again (none of them wear jewelry).
All my girls are very different. I have one who is 26 and a working mother- A, one who is 19 and is a college student/teacher's assistant- T, and one who is 23 and a full-time college student- H (who is the only girly one out of the three).
My fiance ordered all the guys engraved pilsner glasses, which is fine because they all drink. Of my girls, only A drinks, and she loves wine. So far I have purchased her a "novelty" wine glass, two wine wall decors, a specialty wine stopper, and a Chinese zodiac coffee mug. As for H, she loves bags, pink, scarves, and working out. I've so far bought her a personalized tote bag, a scarf, a pink damask 'Cat Mom' coffee mug, and a Chinese zodiac coffee mug. When it comes to T, she likes the color blue and coffee, so I've also bought a Chinese zodiac coffee mug for her, a blue 'Dog Mom' coffee mug, and a blue spill-proof coffee travel mug. I plan on doing something more but I haven't worked it all out yet.
My mother feels that these are inappropriate and seem more like birthday or Christmas gifts. While I agree that, yes, they COULD be bought for Christmas, I really don't have many other options that I can afford (I'm a poor college student!). I wanted to include the mugs because my fiance and I are having a coffee and tea themed wedding, as those are beverages we can't live without!
For the time being, A has been acting as my stand-in 'MOH' as my man-of-honor lives out of town and hasn't been able to help much. I wanted to get A a very nice bottle of wine as her 'big' gift. The tote bag is H's 'big' gift, and I haven't figured out what to do as T's 'big' gift. I was thinking that, to make it a little more cohesive, I would get T and A a cute tote bag from a department store near me, but not as fancy as H's so her bag stands out, and fill all their bags with all their stuff.
Am I really and truly going about this the wrong way? If I am, please, someone give me some better ideas. They are all so different and I really don't know them well enough to delve deeper into their souls and draw out inspiration.