MemberI’m looking for ideas on what to get for my bridesmaids and the groomsmen. I was thinking personalized wine/champagne glasses for at least the bridesmaids, but I want to see other options.
So what did you give, or what was your favorite gift if you were a bridesmaid/groomsmen?
Memberwhitepeacock : What are their interests? Do they have hobbies? By the time women are old enough to be a Bridesmaid or Best Man. many are past the stage of wanting personalized anything. One odd wine glass may never get used,or worse yet, given to a thrift shop.
You don’t have to buy them all the same thing. It’s actually more thoughtful if you don’t. Think of them as individuals not a group. Do you have a makeup lover? A new set of brushes? A foodie? A gift card to the trendy new restaurant or a cooking class.
Remember that anything you expect them to use or wear for pics on your wedding day is more of a prop for your pics, than a gift for them. That includes getting ready outfits, hangers with their name or title, jewelry (there are a few exceptions like classic pearls) etc
Don’t waste your money buying a tote and filling it up with smaller items like candles, bath bombs, off brand makeup items from the dollar store etc. Use your budget wisely to buy them each one nice thoughtful gift.
MemberWe gave the best man a home brewing kit; one of the groomsmen got tickets to a Red Sox game and another one got a really nice Dremel toolkit. For the maid of honor, a pair of tickets to see a band she really likes; for one bridesmaid, a watch, and for the other, she got Red Sox tickets too. We did buy the ladies some nice black pearls for the wedding day, which they kept, but I didn’t count those as “gift.”
ive never used personalized glasses or champagne flutes anyone’s given me; like most people, I don’t have any use for a single glass. If I’m drinking champagne, I’ve probably got someone joining me, and they’d need a glass too. The Singleton glasses get pushed to the back of the cupboard till I get enough to warrant a trip to the thrift store.
MemberI shopped for each person like it was thier birthday.
SIL: A t-shirt she’d mentioned really liking, a coffee mug that said “Best SIL” or something like that, and a yellow gold necklace with a pine cone pendant.
Maid/Matron of Honor (best friend): A workout tank I knew she’d love, a mug that had a funny saying on it that was so her, and a yellow gold necklace with a compass pendant.
Groomswoman: A flask (she’d been saying she wanted one for camping for forever), a yellow gold necklace with a mountain pendant, and a personalized pint glass that said “Groomswoman”
Groomsmen (my brother): A personalized pint glass that said “groomsman”, and a cool looking bottle opener
Best Man: A book that sounded like something he’d be interest in, a compass, and a personalized pint glass
All the people who got personalized pint glasses pretty much collect them so I knew they’d would use them.
Memberwhitepeacock : I put together little baskets for my bridesmaids. They each got the same thing, but tailored to them. Makeup bag with their name on it, earrings, nail polish, assorted cosmetics and beauty supplies, wooden folding fan, fun socks, and truffles.
MemberMy groom picked hatchets/axes with an engraving for his groomsmen gifts. IDK, don’t ask. Lol
For my bridesmaids I got them all a small coach wristlet (about $20 on the couch outlet throughout the year FYI). I also got them a comfy hoodie/sweatshirt from where we met (college, grad. school, etc.). And a few small things for part of their gift bag, EOS hand lotion, face mask sheet, etc.
I’m also paying for part of their hair/makeup but haven’t really said anything about that yet.
Memberwhitepeacock : Your gift should be something individual that each one would actually like to receive. I would not be appreciative of a glass that I would never, ever use, for example. Likewise I wasn’t appreciative of the matching clutch my best friend gave me at her wedding but back then a wedding day accessory was the norm.
I gave my bridesmaids their dresses. The logic there is that in the US the bridal party purchases their own clothing. That means in our case, $120 wasted on a dress they would never wear again plus some random gift from me that they may also not want. Instead my girls kept their own money to spend on whatever they wanted, and got the dress. To me this is a far more logical solution.
Still, if you find it boring or think that something for use on the wedding day doesn’t qualify, just buy individualized gifts as you would for a birthday or other holiday. Girl number one loves to read get her a book. Girl number two is a drinker, she might love the champagne flute. Girl number three loves gardening, get her some special seeds. All matchy match is totally unnecessary. Have fun with it!
MemberThanks everyone for the suggestions! Looks like I’ll be going the individualized gift route–didn’t even think of that to be honest, since you always see the matching gifts on every wedding site.
MemberGot my girls eyeshadow palettes and my husband got the guys flasks with their initals engraved on them.
HostessMy groomsmen got flask sets with their names (no wedding date or groomsmen on them).
The girls got some very classic earrings and a bracelet (we had some serious stuff going on and I really didn’t have the energy to go out get them all something special or spend a ton). I know they all had bridesmaid robes and personalized bags etc. from other weddings so I didn’t bother with that. I kept their jewellery as neutral as possible and they’ve all worn it again(one wears it to work, the other two wore it in another wedding).
My Maid/Matron of Honor did A LOT for us so I went out of my way for her and made her a scrapbook of us through the years (finished it the night before the rehearsal in a rush) and then I bought us Taylor Swift tickets for August (that was partially for me too but oh well).
Memberwhitepeacock : I’m doing matching gifts that they can reuse. A mini Coach travel jewelry kit since they all travel a lot, filled with a rose gold Banana Republic bracelet and dangly rose gold earrings. These are things that I would like them to wear during the wedding, but I put a lot of work into choosing items that would look good on anything and could be reused. To personalize it, I will give them all cards as well.
In addition to this, I will be giving robes (decided against monogramming), paying for their bouquet and hair, and my parents will be gifting them gift cards too (as a personal thank you from them – it’s a cultural thing).
MemberI’ve done gift boxes made up with a mixture of things, a mini nude opi nail varnish, plain robe, kaftan, sunglasses, hair slide, mini perfume, sweet treats, a sterling silver olive branch design stacking ring, mini polariod prints of us together, and a thank you note. I’m going to include a bottle of water as well (destination wedding). The main present is a bracelet, they are the same for all but its a very simple design (Astley clarke) that I know they will all like and they don’t have to wear for the wedding if they don’t want to.
MemberI haven’t done specific gifts.
I paid for the dresses (normal in the UK) and the accomodation the night before and the night of the wedding.
I’d quite like to do them all a small album with some of the photos and I’ll probably include a bottle of their favourite booze when I hand it over. If I’d thought about it, I’d have had a one-on-one photo with each of them.
MemberI had a hard time with this at first! I have a hard time with people doing things for me, and really wanted this to be something they would all be happy with! We have 6 bridesmaids, 6 groomsmen, 1 Junior bridesmaid, 1 junior groomsmen, 1 flower girl and 1 ringbearer.
Bridesmaids – $100/ea budget … original plan was to order a few months of a monthly subsrcription box suited to each girls personality (ie, a few would get beauty boxes, 1 a foody, 1 a coffee etc etc). But THEN i found an awesome sale at Kate Spade outlet and was able to get a fabulous basic neutral colored purse in budget and even with differnet personalities, they will all love it. Cant wait to give it to them!
Maid/Matron of Honor – my maid of honor planned the whole shower herself (along with my mom!) with very little help from the rest and also organized my bachelorette on top of everything else she did to support me as a friend…so i got her a separate thank you gift i gave her at the shower… Makeup from Sephora that i thought she would like (knowing they have amazing policy for returns and she shops there 24/7)!
Junior Bridesmaid – $50 budget…picked up a Kate Spade wristlet and earrings at the same sale
Groomsmen – $100/ea budget.. Fiance decided to buy them their shoes for day of (White adidas runners, they all love and will wear again) and a nice leather belt (same, will all wear again)….they were all happy with that!
Junior groomsmen – $50/budget He is a soccer fanatic, 14 year old… and has been recently bugging his mom for a set of weights…so this is what he will get 😉
Flower girl – $50 budget..had a custom handmade gold necklace with her initial on the front and Love, ‘J&J’ on the back (our intitials)
Ringbearer – $50 budget …still sorting this one out… in his culture, they get a lot of gold jewelry when they are born so that would be a moot point. Thinking an engraved piggy bank with money in it to start his savings.
MOB – $100 budget (but went slighhhtly over)So my mom has been quite honestly the best part of the wedding process (helped my Maid/Matron of Honor with the shower and threw me a separate bachelorette with her friends)…I surprised her with a Kate spade purse as well as a thank you.
Personalized – i did a few of these but didnt count as gifts… Bridesmaid shirts were given in bridesmaid proposal boxes.. Flower girl/ring bearer plastic straw cups will be extra on day of… Matching plaid shirts (red for girls, white for me) will be given day of and probably hangers, but these are all photo props so i didnt count as part of their gift budget, that came out of my decor budget.
I also gave all the girls who attended my bachelorette (some BMs some not) a fluffy white blanket as a thank you and at the one my mom threw cute little faux lavender plants.
MemberBeeDD : Good idea to have one-on-one photos! I’ve seen other people reuse those for happy birthday posts and cards so that’s super useful. Mental reminder to tell photographer!
crystal221 : Wow, you went all out! Love the Kate Spade purse idea and the piggy bank! By chance is the ring bearer South Asian (I guessed because of the gold jewelry reference)?