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Opening gifts at the bridal shower

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Re: Opening gifts at the bridal shower

  • maziloramazilora member
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Comments 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    Gift bingo definitely makes things go faster...the "free" space is the gift you brought!

    Just a note on the "assembly" line comment--for some more traditional families, there is significance in ribbons and bows, and cutting them could be a breach of etiquette. Every ribbon a bride breaks is a child she's going to have (or so the weird tradition goes), and the bows are often attached to a paper plate to be a practice bouquet for the rehearsal. If you have older folks there and start going after things with scissors, especially if it's a BM and not the bride, that could really put them off.
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  • Sugargirl1019Sugargirl1019 member
    Seventh Anniversary 1000 Comments 500 Love Its Combo Breaker
    mazilora said:

    Gift bingo definitely makes things go faster...the "free" space is the gift you brought!

    Just a note on the "assembly" line comment--for some more traditional families, there is significance in ribbons and bows, and cutting them could be a breach of etiquette. Every ribbon a bride breaks is a child she's going to have (or so the weird tradition goes), and the bows are often attached to a paper plate to be a practice bouquet for the rehearsal. If you have older folks there and start going after things with scissors, especially if it's a BM and not the bride, that could really put them off.

    What are some of the bridal shower traditions (more like superstitions!) I think it's kinda cute and I would love to know more about the ribbon cutting and other things.

    image   image   image

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  • manateehuggermanateehugger member
    2500 Comments 500 Love Its Third Anniversary 5 Answers
    mazilora said:
    Gift bingo definitely makes things go faster...the "free" space is the gift you brought!

    Just a note on the "assembly" line comment--for some more traditional families, there is significance in ribbons and bows, and cutting them could be a breach of etiquette. Every ribbon a bride breaks is a child she's going to have (or so the weird tradition goes), and the bows are often attached to a paper plate to be a practice bouquet for the rehearsal. If you have older folks there and start going after things with scissors, especially if it's a BM and not the bride, that could really put them off.
    Blech, some people tried to do the baby thing at my shower (and my BM's did actually save the ribbons for the rehearsal bouquet thing - so I'm not sure how the assembly line makes a difference there). 

    It's a tradition, not etiquette. If grandma gets that upset that I didn't want to talk about my hypothetical 20 future children at my shower, she can deal. I'd rather keep the gift line moving and save more time to socialize with the bride than congratulate her on her nonexistent babies. 
    image
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  • Maggie0829Maggie0829 member
    Eighth Anniversary 10000 Comments 500 Love Its 25 Answers
    mazilora said:
    Gift bingo definitely makes things go faster...the "free" space is the gift you brought!

    Just a note on the "assembly" line comment--for some more traditional families, there is significance in ribbons and bows, and cutting them could be a breach of etiquette. Every ribbon a bride breaks is a child she's going to have (or so the weird tradition goes), and the bows are often attached to a paper plate to be a practice bouquet for the rehearsal. If you have older folks there and start going after things with scissors, especially if it's a BM and not the bride, that could really put them off.
    Well then they would just have to get over it.  Those are silly superstitions and if the bride doesn't believe them or want to follow them then everyone else in the room needs to deal.

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  • PrettyGirlLostPrettyGirlLost member
    5000 Comments Fifth Anniversary 500 Love Its First Answer
    mazilora said:
    Gift bingo definitely makes things go faster...the "free" space is the gift you brought!

    Just a note on the "assembly" line comment--for some more traditional families, there is significance in ribbons and bows, and cutting them could be a breach of etiquette. Every ribbon a bride breaks is a child she's going to have (or so the weird tradition goes), and the bows are often attached to a paper plate to be a practice bouquet for the rehearsal. If you have older folks there and start going after things with scissors, especially if it's a BM and not the bride, that could really put them off.
    Yep,  ppl in my circles have this tradition too, but when you have a shower with 30+ ppl and a lot of gifts I think you need to keep your guests in mind and try and do things to save time.  Such as cutting the ribbons for the bride, as long as she is ok with it.

    Some guests may moan and groan, but they get over it.  I've seen it happen at showers and the bride was just like, "Sorry Aunt Edna but we have to keep things going and I'm sure I'm not going to have 30 kids!"  You could always start out not cutting the ribbons and then towards the end cut them to save time.  And cut ribbons can still be saved and made into a rehearsal bouquet.

    FI and I are not planning on having kids, and are friends and family know this, so for me cutting the damn ribbons is a time saver and it saves me from those stupid comments about kids ><

    "Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."


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  • Jen4948Jen4948 member
    Knottie Warrior 10000 Comments 500 Love Its 25 Answers
    mazilora said:
    Gift bingo definitely makes things go faster...the "free" space is the gift you brought!

    Just a note on the "assembly" line comment--for some more traditional families, there is significance in ribbons and bows, and cutting them could be a breach of etiquette. Every ribbon a bride breaks is a child she's going to have (or so the weird tradition goes), and the bows are often attached to a paper plate to be a practice bouquet for the rehearsal. If you have older folks there and start going after things with scissors, especially if it's a BM and not the bride, that could really put them off.
    Then they'll have to deal with it.  The hostess, bride, and others present are not required to cater to this "tradition" if they don't normally do so-especially if there are lots of gifts to open in a relatively short time.
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  • PrettyGirlLostPrettyGirlLost member
    5000 Comments Fifth Anniversary 500 Love Its First Answer
    tammym1001 said:
    PrettyGirlLost said:
    mazilora said:
    Gift bingo definitely makes things go faster...the "free" space is the gift you brought!

    Just a note on the "assembly" line comment--for some more traditional families, there is significance in ribbons and bows, and cutting them could be a breach of etiquette. Every ribbon a bride breaks is a child she's going to have (or so the weird tradition goes), and the bows are often attached to a paper plate to be a practice bouquet for the rehearsal. If you have older folks there and start going after things with scissors, especially if it's a BM and not the bride, that could really put them off.
    Yep,  ppl in my circles have this tradition too, but when you have a shower with 30+ ppl and a lot of gifts I think you need to keep your guests in mind and try and do things to save time.  Such as cutting the ribbons for the bride, as long as she is ok with it.

    Some guests may moan and groan, but they get over it.  I've seen it happen at showers and the bride was just like, "Sorry Aunt Edna but we have to keep things going and I'm sure I'm not going to have 30 kids!"  You could always start out not cutting the ribbons and then towards the end cut them to save time.  And cut ribbons can still be saved and made into a rehearsal bouquet.

    FI and I are not planning on having kids, and are friends and family know this, so for me cutting the damn ribbons is a time saver and it saves me from those stupid comments about kids ><
    FI and I aren't having children so my friends decided that every ribbon broken meant another puppy. I broke all of them on purpose. LOL
    Love it!!!

    "Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."


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  • drina0218drina0218 member
    Third Anniversary 100 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    I went to a shower where the bride requested clear paper/no paper. It was actually nice because she acknowledged all of the gifts and showed them off and read cards but didn't take forever ripping open gifts and dealing with massive amount of crumpled paper. Of course, I love ripping open gifts, but I can definitely see the benefits for not boring the guests.
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  • lovesclimbinglovesclimbing member
    Seventh Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its First Answer
    Gift bingo is a really great game!  I just co-hosted my sister's shower, and as far as I can tell, everyone loved it. The first two people to get bingos won a small prize.

    Some of the older ladies (meaning parents age) were having a time!  This one lady who is a few years older than my mom was giggling like crazy because she put panties, robe and lingerie on her card. My sister opens a little nightie. This lady: "Oh yea, I had that one down!!!"  Sister opens a robe. "Woohoo!  Only two more to go and I have a bingo!"

    It was awesome.
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