Registry and Gift Forum

"wedding themed" gifts

penguinpoppenguinpop member
First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its
edited June 2017 in Registry and Gift Forum
Who else is getting a deluge of off-registry wedding-themed gifts?

I think people can't help themselves when it comes to a wedding and it's pretty funny to me, especially considering I dislike themed/holiday stuff in general. Still, I am grateful people are thinking of us. :D

I now have a whole house full of stuff that says "Mr & Mrs." or "Bride & Groom" or "Mr Right & Mrs Always Right."  I also have stuff with brides and grooms on it and no sayings. I have sheets, extra pillowcases, dish towels, bath towels, hand towels, Christmas ornaments, Halloween decorations, regular 'ol house decorations, and various kitchenware including utensils and cutting boards. 

I have a wedding themed house! 
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Re: "wedding themed" gifts

  • penguinpoppenguinpop member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its
    edited June 2017
    Thanks for commiserating! I don't find the sexist crap cute either.   I was joking the other day that we were so excited to actually get to pick new stuff out that we wanted for the first time in our lives as opposed to getting hand-me-downs and now we are once again getting stuff that we did not pick out and is not our style. I have to watch what I say though since all of this is coming from his relatives (including his mom). Makes it harder to get rid of this stuff. 
  • I am right there with you @InLoveInQueens. But a I would have no problem putting all of that stuff in a box destined to good will. 


  • If you think people can't hold back on cheesy, off-registry stuff with a wedding, wait until you have a baby (if you ever plan to have a baby). Shit is out of control. And never a gift receipt in sight. 


    THIS.   I still have a baby cabinet of receiving blankets that I just never used.   I think I have about 20.   I DIDN'T REGISTER FOR ANY OF THEM.


  • We didn't get any of that. We got lots of registry gifts and even the off-registry gifts were pretty awesome and useful. 

    @banana468, we didn't register for any receiving blankets, but got a pack of 4. We've used them a lot already. Covering her in the car seat, covering her at night, swaddling, laid down in a pinch to change on, covering her if we're doing skin to skin. But yea, 20 is a few too many!


  • We didn't get any of that. We got lots of registry gifts and even the off-registry gifts were pretty awesome and useful. 

    @banana468, we didn't register for any receiving blankets, but got a pack of 4. We've used them a lot already. Covering her in the car seat, covering her at night, swaddling, laid down in a pinch to change on, covering her if we're doing skin to skin. But yea, 20 is a few too many!


    Chiquito is going to be 3 at the end of the summer and the muslin Aden and Anais blankets are STILL used. 

    But the flannel feeling old-school receiving blankets I never used.    I may turn them into DIY dryer sheets. 
  • SP29SP29 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited June 2017
    We only got one "Mr & Mrs" gift- and it was pretty subtle. Two wooden birds, with the Mr and Mrs carved in the sides, but everything is white, so the wording is not very noticeable. They're kind of cute actually, so I've kept them, but one subtle "wedding" gift is enough! I would not love the endless sheets and towels and decor.

    We did get a gift from FIL that DH and I were both thinking, "Oh..... how... lovely?". It's an etched/stained glass piece framed in wood, hung on a chain so you can hang it up on a wall or wherever. The center is some sort of etched flower and the stain glass colours are green and yellow. It's not either of our styles and the colours don't match anything in our house but I feel bad getting rid of it because it's from Hungary and possibly one of DH's family members made it.

    OP- I suggest you can donate anything you do not wish to keep. If you're worried about family (I get it... they look around wondering where their gift is), keep the item for a month or two, use it once or twice/keep it out while that person is around so they see you've used it and then slowly donate those items as well.

  • Heffalump said:





    If you think people can't hold back on cheesy, off-registry stuff with a wedding, wait until you have a baby (if you ever plan to have a baby). Shit is out of control. And never a gift receipt in sight. 





    Worse yet, a baby girl.  All those "Daddy's Little Princess" and "Not Allowed To Date. Ever." onesies went straight to Goodwill. 


    I've been telling everyone I know if they get me any of that sexist garbage crap I will murder them in their sleep (and now I'm realizing I make that threat a lot lol). Luckily, most of my close friends & most family know I loathe it, but I can definitely see some of my extended family thinking it's cute. 

    We only got one "Mr. & Mrs." thing, which I think my aunt threw in a gift bag to give us a physical gift along with a check. We did get monogrammed cups from H's cousin, but they're really nice quality and not super obvious wedding-y so it wasn't a big deal. One of my good friends has her house FULL of the pinteresty, wedding stuff (cutesy signs and all). It looks nice in her house, but I agree with you all that it's nothing I'd want.
  • OP your haul seems.... excessive. Shudder. 

    The only wedding themed thingie I got was something I did register for, the Mr. & Mrs. heart-shaped ring dish. Because I wanted an easy place to remember where to put my/our rings. 

    And Jesus-H on the non-registry baby gifts. I had my shower a few weeks back. I'm getting so many blankets too! I've been the picture of graciousness and got my TYs out within 2 weeks but in my head I've been screaming "but I need stuff off the registry!!"
    ________________________________


  • @banana468 & @thisismynickname Are blankets seriously bad baby gifts? I always got things like that & onesies, because I remember my mom saying those were things she didn't have enough of since they always got dirty. I will change my practice if they're unnecessary!
  • MobKazMobKaz member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Our family often collaborates on the bigger gift items.  I have 4 SIL's just from my brothers.  We will often purchase a larger item, for example, the stroller.    Then each of us separately will "accessorize" the large item.  Someone might purchase a cover for the stroller,  toys to attach to it, the travel/diaper bag, etc. 

    I will often purchase some items that are for "down the road" because honestly, as a new parent, you really do not realize how quickly new needs arise!  I will make a basket and fill it with feeding spoons, that "first" cup, suction bowl/plate, and a few suction cup toys.  When my first granddaughter was around 5 months, I suggested DD use the high chair just as a way to bring LO "up to their level" while they eat dinner.  It did not dawn on them that she might entertain herself in this way while they ate dinner.

    OOPS....totally just made this about babies and not unnecessary wedding gifts :-/


  • @banana468 & @thisismynickname Are blankets seriously bad baby gifts? I always got things like that & onesies, because I remember my mom saying those were things she didn't have enough of since they always got dirty. I will change my practice if they're unnecessary!


    @ahoywedding

    Actually, I'm really thankful for the blankets because I assume that besides swaddling (which some babies like and some don't) I'll be able to lay them down on surfaces to protect my furniture from bodily fluids. It's just that it seems like everyone has the great idea of blankets and you end up with tons of them and less of other useful stuff like, feeding supplies. 

    I'm going to have three blankets alone that are hand-made (two received, one in progress). They're beautiful. I'm so thankful for the time and love that's going into them by the people creating them. But I also got several more packages of blankets that I didn't even have on the registry (glad to hear the Aiden and Anaise ones were useful because I did register for and get those!). And I got hand-me-down blankets.  I'm just like, on blanket overload. 

    We also added one set of sports-team specific onesies to our registry and ended up with at least five sets of related sports-team outfits. Especially when it comes to babies I know people want to give gifts of fun stuff or cute stuff, but damnit, someone's gotta buy the nipple cream and butt cream, ok? Lol. (I'm really only kidding with that statement; don't worry, anything I didn't receive as a gift I am perfectly capable and willing to buy for ourselves, I'm not entitled.)

    After this experience I've just decided I'm never going off-registry for anyone ever again. 
    ________________________________


  • As far as those little flannel blankets go, we got a ton but with three kids we used a lot of them. Two ended up being "the" lanky. They also became capes and hoods and stuff when the kids were pre-schoolers. One of the things that was popular to do when I was having babies was to wrap the gifts in the blanket instead of wrapping paper. Like @thisismynickname said, they can be used to lay the baby down in order to protect both the baby and whatever they blanket is on.
  • Good to know! I don't usually buy off-registry and do try to buy some of the boring, necessary things along with something more cutesy but it's never crossed my mind to go in with a group of friends on something bigger (which, duh, I mean why haven't we thought of it). I also have no kids and babies make me nervous so usually it's like hmm what can I immediately find in the store lol.


  • Good to know! I don't usually buy off-registry and do try to buy some of the boring, necessary things along with something more cutesy but it's never crossed my mind to go in with a group of friends on something bigger (which, duh, I mean why haven't we thought of it). I also have no kids and babies make me nervous so usually it's like hmm what can I immediately find in the store lol.
    Oh. Oh. Here's a doozy for you. I once received a baby shower invite with an enclosure that SUGGESTED people go in on the bigger items together because "we're finding out just how expensive babies are!" (While the shower didn't technically appear to be self-hosted, it was hosted by the sister so the "we're finding out" bit definitely came from tacky mother-to-be.) Five years later I'm still mad about that one! 


    Oh. My. Gosh! Even if you only have a passing knowledge of what it takes to raise a baby, you'd have to be living under a rock to NOT think it would be expensive. 


  • Good to know! I don't usually buy off-registry and do try to buy some of the boring, necessary things along with something more cutesy but it's never crossed my mind to go in with a group of friends on something bigger (which, duh, I mean why haven't we thought of it). I also have no kids and babies make me nervous so usually it's like hmm what can I immediately find in the store lol.
    Oh. Oh. Here's a doozy for you. I once received a baby shower invite with an enclosure that SUGGESTED people go in on the bigger items together because "we're finding out just how expensive babies are!" (While the shower didn't technically appear to be self-hosted, it was hosted by the sister so the "we're finding out" bit definitely came from tacky mother-to-be.) Five years later I'm still mad about that one! 


    That's so ridiculous! I just got my friend's bridal shower invitation (2+ months before the event, with an RSVP date 1 month before the date, so I've got ~5 weeks to clear my schedule, I guess. Also she included "Be a dear, wrap in clear"...) and texted a mutual friend asking if she wanted to go in on something bigger, but to outright ask for that! That would probably guarantee I go in the opposite direction and buy a handful of small things. Bc I'm a b.






  • Good to know! I don't usually buy off-registry and do try to buy some of the boring, necessary things along with something more cutesy but it's never crossed my mind to go in with a group of friends on something bigger (which, duh, I mean why haven't we thought of it). I also have no kids and babies make me nervous so usually it's like hmm what can I immediately find in the store lol.
    Oh. Oh. Here's a doozy for you. I once received a baby shower invite with an enclosure that SUGGESTED people go in on the bigger items together because "we're finding out just how expensive babies are!" (While the shower didn't technically appear to be self-hosted, it was hosted by the sister so the "we're finding out" bit definitely came from tacky mother-to-be.) Five years later I'm still mad about that one! 




    That's so ridiculous! I just got my friend's bridal shower invitation (2+ months before the event, with an RSVP date 1 month before the date, so I've got ~5 weeks to clear my schedule, I guess. Also she included "Be a dear, wrap in clear"...) and texted a mutual friend asking if she wanted to go in on something bigger, but to outright ask for that! That would probably guarantee I go in the opposite direction and buy a handful of small things. Bc I'm a b.


    What's the purpose of wrapping in clear paper? That just seems super wasteful.
  • MobKazMobKaz member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its


    I got roasted on TB because I asked if it was inappropriate to have a shower for my second baby. I said in my OP that they were 19 years apart so I don't have anything from the first one because that's usually the reason given as to why you should't have a shower for subsequent children. Whoooo boy! I was told, "BUT this reasoning???  So what?  You want to have a child, great.  Why is it my responsibility to buy you the stuff you'll need?" Actually got a couple variations on that  response.

    Anyway, you ask me to wrap it in clear? You're getting a bag loaded with tissue paper and each item inside is individually wrapped. There's also a new trend of including a cutesy poem on the invite asking for books instead of cards. I give books as gifts. Books aren't cheap! Why are they being relegated to cards?


    This is not a new trend, but I do despise it.  I also love giving books as gifts. 

    When DD was expecting her first, her friends generously and graciously offered to host a baby shower.  They LOVED this book idea.  I told them how much I was uncomfortable with it, and explained my rationale.  I was vetoed.  One friend tried to compromise with some sort of raffle.  Apparently there is a trend where you ask guests to "donate" a box of diapers.  Those guests that do,  have their name put in a basket to be drawn for some prize.  I thought that idea was even worse!  I shudder to think of how many other "trends" are out there!

    I am NOT a fan of what are known as "sprinkle" showers.  These are showers for child #2 who is NOT far in age.  The logic is that it is necessary to "refresh" some of the baby items, or to gift because baby #2 is a different gender than baby #1.  In my family, for any baby beyond #1, we do not require an "event" to offer a gift when baby #2 is born.  When we visit, we bring a little something. 

    @DrillSergeantCat, in your situation I would have NO problem attending a shower for you or even hosting one. 
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