Parents' gifts??

LDubHawksFan

Since there are so many married women on this board I wanted to ask it over here.  I understand that getting the parents a wedding photo album is pretty standard and I think we will be doing that, but for all of you that did that, knowing that the albums won't be able to be gifted for several months afte, did you also get your parents something small to give them prior to the wedding too?

LDubHawksFan

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_parents-gifts-13?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:80e466bf-0dd7-4d1e-965f-ad0bbbe0a92fPost:9db6d12d-bd13-4b54-8e60-85db46b00774">Re: Parents' gifts??</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm 48, and never heard of "parent gifts" until The KNot, although everyone has given their parents some wedding pix. As a parent, I'd be dismayed that the kids spent money on a gift for me.  Kind of defeats the purpose of having showers for them, etc., so they can get set up in their new life without a lot of expense.
Posted by RetreadBride[/QUOTE]

Good point, I never really had either.  I guess I just figured that is was the norm and that it was given to the parents in private like most WP gifts are done. 

divinemsbee

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_parents-gifts-13?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:80e466bf-0dd7-4d1e-965f-ad0bbbe0a92fPost:9db6d12d-bd13-4b54-8e60-85db46b00774">Re: Parents' gifts??</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm 48, and never heard of "parent gifts" until The KNot, although everyone has given their parents some wedding pix. <strong>As a parent, I'd be dismayed that the kids spent money on a gift for me.</strong>  Kind of defeats the purpose of having showers for them, etc., so they can get set up in their new life without a lot of expense.
Posted by RetreadBride[/QUOTE]

<div>
</div><div>I'm getting married in November, and I had also never heard of parent gifts before I came on here. I was already intending to get both of my parents and my grandmother pictures, either in an album or a frame and write a thank you letter.  </div><div>
</div><div>As to the bolded, I know my mom would be really unhappy with me if I spent money on pretty much anything for her. She doesn't even really like getting Christmas presents from us kids. We have to stay within a pretty strict limit. So, if I were to try to get her anything besides pictures as a gift, her first response would definitely be more "why on earth did you spend that money on me."</div>

JaxInBlue

We made albums for our parents after the wedding and did a gift to all of our parents at the RD.  To us, the gift was a way to thank them for their love, support and participation in our ceremony.  Everything was just a little token - a pin for the moms, a tie pin for the dads - that reflect our wedding colors or the motif of our wedding.  I did most of our gift shopping on ebay and I think we spent $50 for six parents before the albums.  For the albums, I collected Groupons/Living Social coupons for a few months ahead of the wedding so those weren't a huge out of pocket cost either.

willywally5

DD gave me a very nice card with a very sweet letter in it from both herself and SIL. Same with H but she also gave him an embroidered handkerchief along with the card. (She is very close to him.) 

Really, it's not necessary to give parents anything. It was very nice for our DD and SIL to do the cards though, and we really appreciated that. 

staar987

I bought a frame that has 2 spots for pictures. On one side we are putting a picture of them at their wedding. (I think this will bring tears because they don't know they have any wedding pictures. We found one and had it fixed up since it is over 40 yrs old.) On the other side we are putting a nice letter thanking them for all of their support and once we get pictures back we will give them one to put in there. This maybe cost $25, so not a big expense.

LDubHawksFan

Thank you ladies for all of your input.  It's good to know that parent's gift actually aren't the norm.  I was planning on giving them all thank you notes and the album after, and if I find a cute meaningful gift I will get it, otherwise I won't fret.

misssunshine17

I wouldn't worry about it, but I am planning on getting something small and gestural for my parents. I consider their contribution to our wedding a large gift so I kind of see it as a hostess gift. But I also love buying people gifts, so any excuse...