Ideas for Bridesmaids / Mother-in-law gifts

Re: Ideas for Bridesmaids / Mother-in-law gifts

• OliveOilsMom member

  

  January 2014

  RiffRandell6 said:

  Hey everyone, 

  
  

  I really want to do something special and show my bridesmaids what great friends they have all been. I would like to do something for each one, (there are 5) and they are completely different. Since we're having a beach / destination wedding, I was thinking of doing a personalized beach tote, a beach blanket, a beach read, then maybe something nice like jewelry or something. Since my fiancé and I are so laid back, I don't want to get anything too over the top but I do want to show how much I love my ladies.

  
  

  Do you guys have any suggestions? 

  
  

  Also, is it customary to get a gift for the mother in law? 

  
  

  Thanks in advance! 

  Shop for each BM like its her birthday.  Do all of your friends read?  Go to the beach?  Some of these things might be good for some girls and not others, KWIM?  I did give each of my girls a tote bag, but I filled it with things that each of them would like.  I also did get jewelry for them, but I picked out a specific pendant for each girl based on their tastes.  Also the jewelry I bought for them was not to be worn for the wedding - but 2 of my BMs wore theirs.

  
  

  Also, its traditional for the B&G to give gifts to their parents.  But again, give them something they can use. My MIL needed a new computer, so we bought her a Black Friday special netbook and held it till the wedding.  And for my parents we gave them gift certificates for a few different restaurants, as they didn't really need anything.  Many times a good gift for parents are albums of wedding photos.  We waited until we got our photos back from our photographer and made books off shutterfly for our moms and gave them as Mother's Day gifts.

  

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• Lauderdale Pink member

  

  January 2014

  As an MOB and soon to be MOG, I can tell you that the best gifts I ever get from my children are photographs.  I love coming home from work and seeing all the smiling faces from past events and vacations.  I also adore great, unique picture frames which can be found at Marshalls, Ross, and T. J Maxx., 

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• antoto member

  

  January 2014

  If you have it in your budget, Kate Spade has some really awesome idiom bangles with tons of different sayings on them, but they also have loads of cool earrings and necklaces and whatnot.

  
  

  I'm lucky enough to live near a Kate Spade outlet, so I got idiom bangles for less (normally they are about $60 each), but the website also has some good sales.  

  
  

  Getting the maids COMPLETELY different gifts worried me because I didn't want one to get jealous of another or feel like I spent more on one or anything like that, so getting variations of a similar thing were the way to go for me.

  
  

  For parents, Lenox makes GORGEOUS wedding frames.  Get a large one and put a wedding photo in it.  Or a shutterfly album could be awesome as well.

  
  

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• Jen4948 member

  

  January 2014

  RiffRandell6 said:

  Hey everyone, 

  
  

  I really want to do something special and show my bridesmaids what great friends they have all been. I would like to do something for each one, (there are 5) and they are completely different. Since we're having a beach / destination wedding, I was thinking of doing a personalized beach tote, a beach blanket, a beach read, then maybe something nice like jewelry or something. Since my fiancé and I are so laid back, I don't want to get anything too over the top but I do want to show how much I love my ladies.

  
  

  Do you guys have any suggestions? 

  
  

  Also, is it customary to get a gift for the mother in law? 

  
  

  Thanks in advance! 

  While it's not customary to get a gift for your FMIL, I think it's a lovely gesture.
  
  That said, I would not get your bridesmaids anything you are going to require them to wear or use at your wedding, including jewelry, because then it's not a gift.  Whatever you give them has to not have any strings attached.  If you want to give them jewelry, it has to not have a "to be worn at my wedding" requirement.
  
  Also, what do you mean by "personalized" ?  If you mean with your name on it and "wedding" or something like that, those kinds of things tend not to be appreciated much by the recipients.  But if you mean something tailored to the interests, etc. of each individual bridesmaid, they'll most likely be appreciative.
  

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• Jen4948 member

  

  January 2014 edited January 2014

  duplicate
  

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• BMoreBride6 member

  

  January 2014

  Everyone has pretty much covered what I was going to say about the BM gifts.  I'm very close to my MIL as DH and I started dating when we were 15.  She watched me grow up.  So I really wanted to get her a special gift.  She is very sentimental and loves photos so I got a tri-photo frame and put a picture of FMIL and DH together (when he was very young), one of our engagement photos, then a photo of all three of us.  She loved it. 
  

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• theartistformerlyknownas member

  

  January 2014

  I'm planning on getting my girls gifts they can (but don't have to) use at the wedding AND again. Plan is a cute clutch purse (made in different fabrics depending on their tastes, from an Etsy seller) packed up like a wedding "survival kit" with a monogrammed pocket mirror (Etsy again), waterproof mascara, lip gloss, travel size tissues, mini nail file, 5 Hour Energy and maybe some Advil for the next morning. I gave them their jewelry to wear for the wedding already, not as a gift but as their "proposal" to be bridesmaids. Will likely do an engraved picture frame for FMIL.

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• erinlin25 member

  

  January 2014

  shop for your girls as individuals like pps said
  
  we gave our parents nice card with a note on our wedding day (me to my parents; husband to his mom).  We then bought them photo albums using wedding pictures after the wedding.
  

  
  
  
  

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• CLI242009 member

  

  January 2014

  For our parents we are giving both (FI & mine) a beautiful frame that will later hold a wedding portrait of us. The picture spot is blank but surrounding the main picture are 8 pictures. 4 on each side and they are pics of FI by himself and me by myself at various ages. Both frames will have a plaque saying Mr. and Mrs on it.
  
  For my BMs I bought them each a shirt of something that they love. I know it's nothing fancy or expensive but I got what I could with my budget. It's the thought that counts.
  

  

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• RiffRandell6 member

  

  February 2014

  These are all really good suggestions! Thank you!

  
  

  I think I will do something similar for each one, but shop like it's their birthday. Jewelry is very nice, maybe I'll do that, along with a "survival kit" with some books, and nice frames. 

  
  

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