Wedding Blog
Mr. Blueberry and I would like to give each of our parents a small token gift to thank them for funding the wedding and supporting us thus far in life.
Here are a few ideas I’ve tossed around, that might be in our price range (<$50 apiece):
~Hankies for the moms (too mushy or antiquated?)
~Gift certificates for a nice dinner out (too impersonal?)
~Wallets for the dads (blah. It’s not Father’s day, and we’re not 8.)
~A nice bottle of wine (They could just buy that for themselves if they wanted it.)
~Jewelry or money clips (too bridesmaid/groomsman-ish.)
~Golf stuff for the dads (neither of them golf, heh)
Any of these ideas might work for others’ parents, but they’re just not quite right or Mr. Blueberry’s or mine.
Let’s just face it: parents are hard to shop for. They’re old enough to know what they like, and have the money to buy anything they want. Usually I get around this problem at Christmas or their birthdays by making them something (quilting, cross-stitch, candy, etc.) or adding to their collections of knick-knacks, but that’s not really “wedding gift” appropriate.
Are you giving your parents a wedding gift? If so, what?
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Even though they could buy stuff for themselves, it’ll be nicer to have it come from you. It sounds like you want it to be a personal gift and I can imagine how difficult it is! I have a hard enough time shopping for my parents for their birthdays (my mom usually asks for underwear).
my best friend is giving her mom a handkerchief and her dad a baseball cap that says father of the bride so he can wear it during the reception…he is NEVER without a baseball hat so seeing him without one during the ceremony is going to be weird but she said he’ll love it!
We gave sets of Tiffany crystal candlesticks to each set of parents — $100 for the set. Something they were not likely to buy themselves and could remember our wedding by.
We’re giving our parents an enlarged photograph framed from our engagement shoot. I’m thinking 11×14. The Mom’s and Grandma’s are getting hankies too. Not sure if I’ll give the Dad’s something addition or not.
We got my parents a fancy TV for x-mas… as a thank you for all that they’re doing… that way we could save up for his parent’s gift by July
What I would like to do is pay for a weekend stay at a B&B
My sister gave each parent a toasting flute with their (the bride and groom’s names) engraved with the date. It was a huge hit since it was the same crystal my sister registered for.
I think I’m doing hankies for the moms with material from my gown and we’ll have a framed saying for all the parents. We have the same situation, anything we could give them, they’d just buy themselves. Same issue with the bridal party too!
i’m a bad daughter. =D….i live pretty far from my mom and she has never asked/wanted anything because buying for her would be like buying her something with her money, she said….so since i have moved from Hawaii to NYC, I haven’t given her any bday nor xmas gifts…bad, bad, bad (while slapping my hand)…wells, as a special treat/makeup, we decided to get my mom a diamond encrusted LV (think Louis) monogram pendant….her initials are LV.
Photobooks 
Our photog package already comes with parent albums, so they’ll get one of those…but I’ll also be making photobooks (using Blurb or MP–Ilike them both) for each of our parents with pics of us with them throughout our lives. Kind of like a photo-memory book. It’s not a very expensive gift, but it has a lot of sentimental value, and we’re sure both of our parents will love it.
What I’m planning is to make books of the photos from the wedding in my publisher and give them to our parents after the event. I’m thinking about doing the hankie thing, but I haven’t found any cool modern ones that I like just yet.
Shopping for parents is hard.
I remember seeing somewhere about getting parents trees. Might not fit into your budget but what about something they could plant at their home? Maybe a lovely hydrengia, or some annual? That way everytime they looked outside they would see how much you really are thankful.
i think something sentimental would be best. like a scrapbook or photobook or a nice framed collage
also, i meant photos from you growing up and up to your perhaps your engagement shoot/wedding day. thatll definitely put a tear to my eye!
I have a question? What if you and your fiance are paying for the entire wedding, do you still need to give parents gifts? We want to get them something.. But we are thinking more on the smaller side since we are paying the entire wedding bill.
we didn’t have much money and our parents would not want us to buy expensive gifts so we made photo books with photos of both of us when we were babies, the younger years, dating photos, photos with the family and enagagement photos. it’s a great way to share those baby photos with the new in-laws and start a new family album.
We did photos. I made a collage style frame for my mother in law plus framed some pictures of my mother and father in law and the group family shots.
For my parents, I did the same thing. We just had enlargements made and then bought some frames and books. They loved them, my Dad especially.
we’re planning on doing something sentimental… like writing a letter to them and have it nicely framed. and probably include a smaller gift item. ^_^
I’m planning to do the same as oojoy! I love photobooks and hopefully my parents will too… shutterfly.com has nice quality ones for
We did not do dh’s parents anything because dh didn’t want to! I knew that I wanted to do something for mine. I found my favorite picture with each of them, and put it in a frame with a note to each of them. The frame for my dad has a picture of the two of us when I was about 7, and the one for my mom is from when I was 16. It’s hard to tear up my parents, but those letters managed to!
i need ideas as well!!
parents are very hard to shop for. the only idea i can come up is inviting both sets of parents to come with me and my soon-to-be-husband on our hong kong trip which will be at the end of this year. we’re planning to go there to visit family. so in part of inviting them i was thinking of paying for their airplane tickets or hotel. sounds expensive right? but i really just dont know what else to get them.
kakerwhart, I think it’s definitely a sweet gesture to get your parents a small gift for your wedding- who says it has to be a “thank you for the lovely wedding” gift? I see it more as a “thank you for all your love, support, and being here on the first day of our new life together” kinda deal =) We might just pay for our parents’ dresses/suits that they plan on wearing for our wedding. But I do like all these photo ideas!
My parents will each be getting a photo album, but we also let each group (well, not “let” more “requested under cover of gifting”) take home their centerpiece flowers.
We’re making a slideshow DVD of pics of FI and myself growing up, pics of us through the 4 years of our relationship, and our engagement pics - all set to music!
We’re arranging a private, all expense paid dinner with flowers and candles at my parent’s favorite restaurant in my city as a surprise to them a few days before the wedding. It will be their 30th anniversary and I’m so happy to help them celebrate and to thank them for their generosity with my wedding.
We’ll also give photo albums and DVDs to both sets of parents after the wedding.
We are considering getting our folks club-of-the-month memberships for 3- or 6- months. My fiance’s dad and step-mother are into cigars, so that’ll likely be their club. My future mother-in-law, loves organic food, so an array of organic fruit probably for her. Finally, my parents love renting movies and snacks, so a gormet snack club for them!
Hi - we got our parents picture frames AND a 1 -year Netflix membership. It is $5 a month for the basic membership, and my fiance and I both lived at home before we got married, so we put little notes in like “Now that we are moving out, you’ll need something to do!” They both love the movies - it is so affordable, we’ll probably renew their membership for Christmas or a birthday gift.
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Mrs. Blueberry, Kansas City
Age and Occupation in 06: 21, Full-time Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Full-time Student
Engagement Date: September 10, 2005
Wedding Date: May 25, 2007
Venue: Wynbrick Center - a historic mansion in my hometown.
About Me: We're having an intimate, 125-ish person wedding with a full-blown dessert reception. When I'm not obsessing over wedding stuff or studying for my BA in English, I'm usually playing with our two kitty cats, blogging, doing crafty things, or hanging out with Mr. Blueberry!
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