Question by : Are work gifts getting out of hand?
The work place as home and company and co-workers as "family" ploy has always gotten under my skin. The natural result of this scam is any birthday, baby shower, bridal shower or any other personal life event is bound to come with a party. The hat is passed around and you are expected to chip in for a gift for someone you may hardly know.I get the "we're all chipping in $ 25" for Mildred's shower" or "the secret Santa minimum is $ 10 this year" It is more than annoying. Maybe $ 25 is a lot for my budget, we don't all earn the same.Maybe I don't celebrate holidays with material things. Why isn't just signing a card and having one of the honorees close friends bring a cake enough? It creates an unnecessary level of pressure for participation and potential financial burden.

Best answer:

Answer by Katherine
Well, the people I work with aren't too friendly, and none of us like each other. So, we don't do the whole gift thing. People get married and have babies and no one acknowledges it. As much as I wish I had a cool work environment where we all talked and could go hang out together, it's kind of better not talking to one another. My aunt is the supervisor of her office and she's constantly putting together gift baskets for co workers she doesn't even like. I tell her she's completely insane.

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Technorati Tags: getting, gifts, hand, work

by joesuspense

Article by Brittney Hatch

Gifts, fun and celebration. Bridal showers are meant to be all of those things wrapped into one. Let's take a look and learn how it all started.

The Bridal or even wedding shower had started back around the 1890s when friends and family would put small gifts in parasols that were opened over the bride's head. The history of the bridal shower started in the country of Holland. It seemed to make a big impact when a young Dutch girl from a prominent family fell madly in love with a young man who's family was millers. She wanted to marry him, but knew that her family would disapprove because of his stature. The girl was so heartbroken about how her family would react to the fact that she loved this miller. The father would not provide any dowry (gifts to help establish their home as a couple starts their lives together as husband and wife.) So without that, he figured that his daughter would not be able to get married. However, when friends and the community heard about this, they were sadden and got together by bringing gifts showering the couple so they could establish a home allowing the couple to be together. The father was overwhelmed from all the people that he eventually gave into the marriage and helped provide gifts for their happy home. From that day forward, it has become custom for the future bride's friends and family to bring her gifts showering her before she starts her new journey.

Today, bridal showers have developed into a party of celebrations as her last days before she begins her new journeys of life with the one she loves. Traditionally, guests would bring the bride to be; useful gifts and accessories that would help both the bride and groom with their new marriage and to establish a home. An interesting fact is that the bridal shower term first originated from Grand Rapids, Michigan and has since spread and taken on a different form along with time. With the addition of different ideas, but the basic theme would remain the same for the bridal shower.

Many showers are planned and decorated around a certain theme for the couples wedding. However, there have been change in the history of bridal showers and that would be the bridal shower favors. The bride typically chooses her favors based on her wedding theme or favors with phrases. The reason for favors is to spread thanks to all of the bride's guests for celebrating and sharing the bridal shower and or their special wedding day. Shower party favors have developed over the years with unique designs and styles that are not only adorable, but also reflect the variety of themes that the event is planned for.

Bridal showers are also known to have friends of the bride getting together and sharing different things related to their marriages and how it had been through this time so that the bride to be can define for herself as to what is truly best for her. Bridal shower parties have been known to be spontaneous with the incorporation of decorations, themes, food, games and a lot of other aspects to make the bridal party a special one to remember.

Kendra Wilkinson from the Girls Next Door had a wonderful bridal gift basket that was presented to her and each one of her bridesmaids on the day of her wedding on June 27th 2009. There were different products provided inside of the gift basket, such as the UGG Women's Lo Pro Classic Tall Boot in white, a Wacoal luxe bra, Lois Hill sterling silver hoop earrings, Barefoot Dreams for Rinka striped hoodie, Lodis lilac framed wallet, clarisonic cleansing system and a Longchamp Tote Bag from the Le Pliage collection in white. These products made up a wonderful gift to tell her bridesmaids "thank you" for helping out with the wedding.

As you can see, bridal shower gifts and themes have started from back in the day and have carried out through the years to our present time. Even if some of the events have changed until now, the concept is still there. Making sure that the bride to be is having a great time before she is forever united with her soul mate. Bridal showers are great events that have taken place for many years and will continue to for many years to come.

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Technorati Tags: bridal, gifts, History, SHOWER

Question by JJ'72: How many gifts do we buy for 1 wedding--engagement party,then bridal shower,then wedding-all invites had regis?
We got invite to engagement party w/ registry info-went and had gifts sent to adress, now have shower invite w/registry info -2 stores this time, and I assume when we get ceremony invite for Sept. that will also include registry info as well. Are we supposed to keep buying gifts for each invite? Are they all considered different,ie: "engage gift","shower" and "wedding gift"? I'm not familiar with the procedure but it's getting expensive. I thought the gift we gave originally was THE wedding gift as it was the " wedding registry" at Macy's. Please advise. I assume we just buy all three. Thanks for the help!

Best answer:

Answer by Nicole m
yep all three, my advice go get the gifts asap before the less expensive ones get bought up. buy 3 less expensive ones

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Technorati Tags: bridal, gifts, invites, many, partythen, regis, showerthen, weddingall, weddingengagement

Lush Haul -Retread:"Deluxe, specially enhanced, triple strength conditioner"...8.4 oz....95 -Rockstar: "Wash yourself with Rock Star and be the sweetest thing in town"..0.5 lb...47 -Honey I washed the kids: "Sweet honey heaven cleanses and moisturizes sensitive skin"...0.5 lb....47 ..and some random stuff to add to my friend's bridal shower gift...HELP what else should I get? Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com Read my blog: makeupbyjenny.blogspot.com (Ok there isnt anything on my blog yet, I'll be posting pics reviews, videos, etc. SOOOOOON!!.. I promise.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Technorati Tags: bridal, gifts, Haul, Lush, SHOWER, some

by ginsnob

Question by Kenlie: Bridal shower, bachelorette party, wedding shower, wedding gifts?
One of my good friends is getting married in 3 months. I am not actually in the wedding party because we just met recently, but we hit it off right away so I am invited to all the fun stuff like wedding dress shopping, the bachelorette party, and of course the millions of showers that brides have. So when is it appropriate to give gifts? As far as I know you always gift a gift at a wedding, and at anything with the word "shower" in it, correct? But what type of gift? And do you give a gift at the bachelorette party? Sorry I am not from America so I don't understand the cultures.

Best answer:

Answer by keri
For the bridal shower just find something small off of her registry and buy it for her, and for the wedding you can get something else off the registry or you can give her a personal check or even cash. I received quite a few cash gifts when I got married last summer.
As for the bachelorette party just have fun. You don't need bring a gift it's just a night out without your significant others to do fun stuff with the bride.

What do you think? Answer below!

Technorati Tags: bachelorette, bridal, gifts, party, SHOWER, Wedding

by joesuspense

Question by Karen: Is it ok for a bride to ask for money instead of gifts at her bridal shower?
Ok.. I am invited to a bridal shower this Sunday. I noticed on the invitation it says...

"The Bride & Groom are saving up for a house, so in leiu of gifts, cash would be greatly appreciated."

Well..I am the type of person that prefers to give a gift because it is more personal and because I don't really know how much money I should "give". I dont' want to look too cheap but yet I don't want to give too much. Also, if I give money I am always thinking that the money will be spent on other things instead of what it was intended for.

What do you think?...is it "rude" or "ok" for a bride to ask for money at a bridal shower? I think it is more appropriate for the couple to ask for money as the wedding gift....but a bridal shower gift? The idea of a bridal shower is to "shower" the bride with gifts.
Oh..I forgot to mention that I am a bridesmaid in the wedding. But..the maid of honor is giving the shower. She called me last night and asked me if I could donate $ 40 towards the party.

Best answer:

Answer by Words of Wisdom
Your right..it's hard to figure out how much to give and not look cheap..however, now days I think money is the gift of choice...give what you can and don't worry about it..that's all we can do.

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Technorati Tags: bridal, Bride, gifts, instead, money, SHOWER

Question by bridalshowergirl: Looking for a good way to open bridal shower gifts?
I do NOT want to play bridal party bingo. I did not do a "display shower" because I felt like it wasn't "traditional" enough for my grandma

Does anyone have ANY fun games to play while I am opening gifts that will keep people less bored?

Best answer:

Answer by Why?
My sister had everyone think of "advice" for us... they listed it on index cards and then shared with the group.

You could also have people answer random questions about you and whoever answers the most correctly gets a prize.

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Technorati Tags: bridal, gifts, good, Looking, open, SHOWER

Bridal shower favors are an elegant way to spoil the bride for her special day. This video will give you lots of wedding shower gift ideas that will fit in with any wedding shower theme. Beautiful and unique, these favors will create fun wedding shower memories. For more bridal shower favor...
Video Rating: 5 / 5

Technorati Tags: bridal, decorations, favors, gifts, ideas, SHOWER, t...

Gifts for a bridal shower depend on the theme of the party, but referring to the couple's wedding registry is a fail-safe idea. Choose shower gifts that reflect the event's theme with help from an event coordinator in this free video on wedding showers. Expert: Shauna Jankowiak Contact: www.perfectlyplannedevents.us Bio: Shauna Jankowiak became the owner of Perfectly Planned Weddings and Events officially in February of 2009. Filmmaker: Gina Miller-Britton
Video Rating: 0 / 5

Alfred Vargas Alfred Vargas Alfred Vargas Alfred Vargas Alfred Vargas Alfred Vargas Alfred Vargas Alfred Vargas ... a scene in Bridal Shower

Technorati Tags: bridal, gifts, ideas, SHOWER

If youre having a themed wedding, you would like every last detail to reflect that theme, and that includes your Wedding Favors.  They are the keepsake that your visitors will take home with them after all of the dancing and celebrating are done with, and you would like to make sure that they are an accurate reflection of what your wedding was.  Thankfully , with the wide array of marriage favors now available, thats increasingly easy to do. 

But you would like to ensure that your themed wedding favors dont become clich ; not only do you need the wedding favors to suit the theme, you also would like them to say something about you.  But do not stress out about it this is an exciting way to inject your personality into your marriage.  Here are some examples of fun marriage favors for some popular marriage themes :

Beach weddings everything about a beach marriage is fun and laid back, and the marriage favors should be too.  Some great concepts for beach themed wedding favors are fun things like flip flop baggage tags or picture frames, or something more traditional like seashell picture frames or candleholders.  You can even tie in your theme through scent, with sea and beach scented candles or potpourri ; they scent conjures up the strongest memories what easier way to remind your guests of your special day? 

Fall weddings while June to August were historically the most popular times for marriages, in the last 10 years fall marriages have increased in appreciation astronomically.  And small wonder a lot of brides are picking fall weddings thanks to the beautiful backdrop the changing colors make, as well as the cooler temperatures when wearing formal clothes ( sweating in silk is not fun.  ) because of the increase, there are now an entire crop of pretty wedding favors you can choose from that evoke all the wonderful colors of the season. 

Winter weddings while not as popular as other times of the year, the winter wedding offers a wonderful chance to use lovely and unique marriage favors that your guests will cherish.  If you wedding is near to the holidays, you might give your guests souvenir ornaments they can put on their trees, or there are many lovely snowflake themed marriage favors to choose between, whether you wish to use a candle, or picture frame, or perhaps cookie cutter. 

Regardless of what the theme of your marriage, youll be ready to find wedding favors to reflect it.  Put a bit of time and effort into it, and youll have a wonderful keepsake that your guests will treasure. 

For more ideas for Wedding Favors, go to http://www.designstoremember.com/ and try the big variety of marriage favors and other marriage essentials at every price point.

Technorati Tags: favors, gifts, Wedding, Wedding Favors