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I'm interested to hear other people's experiences here as my wedding is in just over a week and so far gift experiences have been nothing like I expected.
We received mostly cards with money or gift cards. I was surprised how many people went that route. We received some sort of gift (actual gift or monetary card) from all but a handful of guests. Over the honeymoon, 4 more gifts arrived from slow shipping. So in the end maybe 3 guests didn't give us something (although that's fine and they still could potentially).
At this point in our lives, money was probably the favorite thing to receive, but to pick favorite actual gifts is hard. We love the Blu Ray Player, wine glass set, and some games. We also loved many gifts from our showers.
We invited over 200, 50-55 showed and we got about 10 gifts.
My fave was either a new peeler or a new pan I got because we use it every day.
Great thread! Could you also mention how many brought gifts in person?
Perhaps % wise just incase it's a 200 person wedding and 50 people brought physical gifts vs. a 50 person wedding and 50 people brought a gift!
A bunch of people (mostly DH's friends - stupid boys) have not given us present but I'd say we've received something from 75% of our guests. A lot of people chose to go the gift card/money route, which was perfectly fine with us! At least a dozen people sent stuff AFTER the wedding and there are still a few more who plan to send something (they told us) but haven't yet. We got pretty much all of our china and serving pieces, all our bedding (too much in retrospect!) but surprisingly, the lower priced items weren't purchased. I wanted to let people buy a bunch of small things if they didn't want to spend too much but I guess people just wanted to buy one item and be done with it.
The most unique gift we received was a handmade butler tray/stand from DH's uncle who drove it all the way from Florida! It's a gorgeous cherry wood and looks kind of like this:
We got a framed invitation but also a framed sign with our name and wedding date.
Out of 150 guests, we didn't receive gifts from about 5 or so. Not too bad.
A lot of cards and cash.
@elaineathon:That's gorgeous!
@something.blue:To answer your question, we had 130 adults attend our wedding and including cards, probably about 45 people brought gifts to the actual wedding.
Also, I totally forgot. Someone bought just my husband a present as a wedding gift! He is super into WWII, so one of his friends went out to a vintage bookstore and bought three really nice books. But I was upset b/c it wasn't his birthday, it was OUR wedding!
We got gifts from about 85% of our guests. Some said they owed us a gift. Kinda weird, but my bosses havent given us a gift nor did they mention that they owe one. I'm wondering if they misplaced it or if they forgot? Not sure how to mention it cause if they put it somewhere, I'd like to make sure that we know about it and they receive the appropriate thank you.
I'm still 5 days away, but so far we have gotten maybe 40% of what we registered for! And we over-registered. I've been shocked at people's generosity. To date I also have about $500 in gift cards and $200 in cash to use to complete the registry.
My wedding is semi-destination, so I do not anticipate that many people will bring gifts (70% of guests are flying, and it is a 4 hour drive from an airport/our house). We've received gifts from 6 couples who cannot attend, and pre-ordered gifts from about 25% of attendees. I have 100 attending.
So far my favorite gift is...hard to say. I've received almost all of the Chirp china I registered for, all of the crystal, and a good chunk of the very formal Jaipur china (yes, I registered for two sets, we're using Chirp for everyday). FI is the cook, and he is thrilled with some of the pans we've received.
I have a month to go and so far I have only received a BBQ set and my amazing kitchen aid mixer!!! Theres a bunch of stuff bought off of our registry but we havn't received it. My mixer was the only thing that I really wanted so anything we get from here on out will just be icing on the cake!
We're flipped: we actually asked people NOT to get us gifts (most of our guests had to travel quite a ways...we're talking airplane, not road trip). Out of 65 guests, about 6 or 7 still DID get us gifts! (We did ask that if people really felt they needed to give a gift, to donate to a charity of their choice---lots of people did that, too).
I don't have all my gifts at my house yet...so I don't remember the full inventory of what we have received. I know we did get a croched(knitted) wall hangy thing with our new last name. While incredibly personalized and thoughtful, I don't yet have a terrific spot for it in our more modern decorated home. We also got a metal fleur de-lis thing to hang on the wall with our new initial on it. It's like a foot and a half tall and has crazy sharp edges all over the place. It's a borderline weapon, and I am convinced I am going to cut my hand open while handling it.
My favorites is also my kitchenaid stand mixer, but my mom got it for me and she has had it for like a year and a half...so that's less exciting!
@moderndaisy: You mentioned being upset about something just your husband got...one of my friends whose wedding I was in, we were there while they opened gifts the following day. Her husband received a picture frame from a girl he went to college with, with a picture of him and that girl in it from graduation. No wife present in the picture. Everyone thought that was super weird.
We originally asked for no gifts but eventually caved in and set up a registry after hearing from most of our friends and family that they were going to get us a gift anyway so we should let them know what we want. We got a couple of threats of ugly cheeses knives and vases if we didn't register hehe.
Funny how we still mostly received cash and gift cards. I think it's an east coast thing.
My favorite gifts are my china and every day dishes. I also love our handmade cake toppers.
Craziest gift is a 4ft by 3ft painting of a topless woman...no place to hang that in our house really. The couple said they looked at our registry and "didn't like anything on it" but I guess when they saw that painting it screamed wedding gift
My wedding isn't for another month, but we recieved the oddest gift in the mail last night from my FI's great Aunt. She sent us a small ceremic light up Christmas tree that she made (totally not our style). She also sent us 3 books of stamps. So weird. Nothing says wedding present like stamps and a Christmas tree.
@MissChirpie That is hilarious! I randomly found a book of stamps Mr.TKE was collecting from when he was like 10...I was so confused! I didn't even know he collected stamps :)
We invited 105, didn't get RSVPs, gifts cards, anything from about 35 of them. Of the ones that did respond, we got about 85% gifts. Most were cards w/ money.
@Miss Britt:That is super weird about the framed picture of just the husband and his friend! I think it is so stange that anyone would pick out such large decorations as a wedding present, I mean obviously the couple will register for it if they want it and it's so hit or miss assuming someone's taste.
Fun thread!
We invited 400, and just over 300 came. I would say we got gifts from 75% of them, and a really good amount of people brought gifts other than money or gift cards. I thought those were the most fun. We did get a personalized picture frame with our married names on it which I loved!! We also got Tiffany candleholders that I didn't register for, but they rock. They're sitting on my dining room table right now!
I found that most of those who veered off the registry did a great job. I did get a hand me down fondue set though. You could totally tell that my friend got it for her wedding, didn't want it and regifted. I don't like chocolate or cheese, and she knew this...so a very weird gift to me!
We invited around 350 and about 300 came (we think). We got gifts from pretty much everyone...including people who weren't able to make it! I have to say, our friends and family are VERY generous and thoughtful people when it comes to weddings. Between actual gifts, gift cards, checks, and cash, we were able to really complete our home.
Funniest gift: A wooden toilet seat. Backstory on that, it all goes back to a sports rivalry from high school...I loved one team and my teacher loved another. I was close with his family, watched his children, and throughout the years we had exchanged many themed rivalry gifts. When I told him I was engaged, he already knew what he was getting me...yup, the toilet seat. Engraved with the rival team's name and logo.
Favorite gifts: We loved all of our gifts, and so many of them were very thoughtful. The two that brought us to tears, however, were a crystal bowl that belonged to my Great Aunt who passed away a few years ago, and a wooden cutting board that was made by my husband's cousin. There was a lot of thought and emotion put into both of those gifts, and they really meant a lot to us!
I just added input everything & have the exact number of gifts. We had about 350 people and 10% didn't give gifts. Some of those said that they're sending and we should expect to receive it in the mail.
@2PeasinaPod: feel free to regift it to me lol i heart fondue!!!
I'd say we were pretty split, half gave physical gifts & half gave money/gift cards. As of right now, 3 wks post-wedding, there are still about 7 people/couples who have not given us anything, not even a card (no one gave us JUST a card, it was either an all of nothing sort of thing....like maybe we would forget we'd invited them and not "expect" anything...?).
More notable is that this list of empty-handers include: FI's grandparents (both sides), FI's parents and FI's brother (older and his only sibling) who said something about how he was "working on it but it won't be great" (does that seem like an odd thing to say to anyone else?). Seriously, not even a card. I'm not sure what this says about my in-laws...Not to rag on FI's family, the other non-card givers were my cousins.
We got 85% of our registry so most of the physical gifts were picked by us. One unique gift was a framed sign spelling out our last name with photographs of everyday objects shaped liked letters.
I was surprised with what we received both pleasantly...and unpleasantly.
We received BY FAR more cards with money/gift cards than actual physical gifts. I'm guessing this has to do with the fact that it was a semi-DW about 3,000 miles from where we live, and we had a lot of out of town guests, so that was easier for people than shipping.
I was actually pretty surprised by who we received/didn't receive gifts from. There were some friends who were not able to attend the wedding who sent gifts, which I didn't expect...and then some of my wealthier relatives who DID attend the wedding didn't give gifts at all. I'd say about 25% who attended didn't give a gift, and some of those were totally understandable, while others were pretty surprising. We'll see if any trickle in over the next few weeks.
Favorite gift? Well, we were excited about the stuff we did get off the registry, though it was mostly the smaller stuff. We now have the daunting task of deciding what to do with all of the money we got - pool it together to buy a bigger item, like some furniture? Or complete the registry? Not sure how we are going to handle that. We got some neat non-registry gifts, like some handmade wooden bowls from Peru from DH's cousin who works for the state department, and a sterling silver pitcher from his grandmother.
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Beekeeper
I tried doing this yesterday and had technical issues, so here we go:
Please share your gift stories! Did you get presents from all guests? What was the funniest gift or your most favorite?
I'll start:
We only received gifts (including cards) from a little over 1/2 our guests. I know people have a year, but I was still shocked by this!
Also, 3 guests (yes, 3!!) FRAMED our invitation for us as a present. I'm talking, they picked out a pink mat background, one had pressed flowers for decorations, they went all out. I guess our invitation was a hit!
And our favorite gifts were our knives and kitchenaid mixer (just b/c it's so exciting to own one!). I know you aren't supposed to pick favorites, but we did ;)