Many couples choose to give gifts to their wedding party and parents at the rehearsal dinner. These gifts are tokens of thanks: for their support, for their love, for their presence on that day. Mr. Mole and I have decided to do the same at our “rehearsal” dinner.
Despite the fact that we don’t actually have a wedding party, we are going to be giving gifts to our closest friends and our siblings, who—had we planned a different kind of wedding—would otherwise be standing up for us. These loved ones are internet-savvy enough where they could stumble upon this post and ruin the surprise, so I am going to hold off on the reveal of these gifts until after our wedding. (Soon, I promise!)
Our parents, on the other hand, are not as…let’s say, adept with the internet. My mother, bless her, spends most of her time online sending me chain e-mails with blinkies and pictures of puppies and commenting on my Facebook statuses via her own wall. As such, I have no worry about talking about their presents here in advance.
Mr. Mole and I decided to take the easy way out with our gifts to our parents.
We will be giving them a framed 8×10″ photo from the wedding, as well as a small Blurb photobook filled with pictures from the ceremony and reception. Clearly, though, this can’t be a gift that we give them at the rehearsal dinner. So we are going to give them a smaller gift, which alludes to the bigger gift, that night.
Armed with a computer and printer, an inexpensive ($1.99!) black frame from IKEA, and a camera on a tripod, we put together this gift yesterday.
We are highly photogenic people
We are going to be putting the second photo in a nice silver frame that we scored during a pre-Christmas from Crate and Barrel. We are amused by the contrast between the sophisticated frame and the goofy photo. Anyway, our parents will be able to replace the original photo within a month or two.
Juliette Frame (no longer available online) / Image via Crate and Barrel
Are you going to be giving your wedding party and parents gifts? If so, what will you be giving them?
My mother, bless her, spends most of her time online sending me chain e-mails with blinkies and pictures of puppies and commenting on my Facebook statuses via her own wall.
LOLOLOLOLOLLLLLLLLLL. I LOVE MOMS!
I love this! Such a cute, quirky take on a fairly traditional gift. 
I’m excited to learn what the gifts are for your close friends and such.
My wedding party is one person, so I’m able to give her a very nice and personalized gift, a colorblock shawl and a designer iPhone cover, both of which are very *her*.
His best man is getting some sporting event tickets I believe.
We’re doing the same as you for my parents, although without the goofy picture. Not because it’s goofy, but because I’m lazy and getting married in four days. We’re just giving them a frame (possibly the same one as you! Still have to get them :/) with a note inside saying we owe them on wedding photo.
For his parents we’re doing a “family portrait” session when we vacation in Palm Springs next month. We’ll go to a scenic spot with our hired photographer and try to get some special memories from that trip on film.
We did this for out moms, except we didn’t have a cute picture, I just drew stick figures on a piece of paper.
p.s. your hair looks super cute!
What a great idea! Such a fun way of letting them know what you are going to get them!
Hahaha, ‘commenting on my Facebook statuses via her own wall’ is hilarious, my mom does that too!
@daybyday: The day that my mom joined Facebook was an interesting day. Haha.
@StephK527: Thanks! It was a last-minute decision that turned out better than some of our not-so-last-minute decisions. 
@Lexy: Wow, those are some great gifts! Have a great wedding day this weekend!
@Mrs. Pony: Haha thanks! Stick figures were our back-up.
@Mrs. Teaspoon: Thanks!
@Mrs. Trail Mix: It took awhile to teach her how to use Facebook properly (still perhaps not appropriately). I think she felt like she was being ignored! Haha.
I was thinking of getting both sets of parents the coffee table photo books (Snapfish keeps running them on a buy one get two free sale). I just don’t know how to wrap that, haha.
Most adorable thing ever! We gifted the same thing to our parents, but we were so not this creative! Where were you four months ago??
@Future Army Wife: Maybe you could just write them a nice card and then have a description of their gift inside?
@Aud1628: Thanks!
@Mrs. Parasol: Haha, probably not thinking nearly enough about wedding stuff.
Mrs. Mole, Los Angeles/Las Vegas Age and Occupation: 29, Test Prep Instructor Fiance's Age and Occupation: 31, User Experience Architect Engagement Date: April 2011 Wedding Date: January 2012 Venue: Wynn Las Vegas/Bouchon Bistro About Me: I’m a Wisconsinite-turned-Angeleno who is planning a destination wedding in Las Vegas. I am passionate about education: I spent 23 (!) consecutive years in school, and now I work to help other people get into graduate programs. I love running on the treadmill, buying bath products from Lush, learning new moves in step aerobics, and exploring my neighborhood on foot. I am sometimes snobby about food, but I am rarely snobby about books. I read everything from Geoffrey Chaucer to Iris Murdoch to Chuck Klosterman to Candace Bushnell. My fiance and I are getting married on our third anniversary!
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