Hi,

Just a quick question to everybody out there.

Did you give your parents a present before the wedding to say thankyou for the help?

My parents haven't really done what i would classify to be a mamoth amount of stuff for the wedding, they've just picked up the slack on little things where we've been too busy or too far away to do ourselves. But this is probably because i've been likea bloody army general maticulously planning and getting things done long before they have to be done.

I even joked to H2B saying "this is a military operation, not a wedding"

H2b's parents haven't really done anything appart from attend wedding meetings.

I just wanted to know if it was the 'done thing' to give both sets of parents something, even if it's only a box of choccies or a bottle of wine to say 'thanks'??? Or if it's only done if you feel they've done a super-mamoth amount of help??

Beck

I made bracelets for my mum, MIL and "my third mum" (hubby's aunty who I lived with for 8 mths this year) and gave dad a tie pin that said "Father of the Bride". Their gifts matched the bridal party's gifts.

We will be getting our parents a gift because they (along with my sisters have done so much). But how do you get 1 set of parents a present and not the other. And what do you get!!!

I have made momento albums for our parents as a thank you.

Yeah, I'm going to give each set of parents a wedding album.
But they'll only get a present if they actually do stuff to help - if my Mum helps heaps and his parents do nothing - then Mum will get a special mention at the wedding and a gift, and vice versa.
I don't have a problem singling out people and ignoring those who haven't even offered to help!

I plan to buy my mum and dad gifts as a gesture of our appreciation for their contribution to our wedding.

Not sure what they will be yet though?

We gave our parents engraved silver champagne stoppers. There was nothing we could do that would be even close to good enough to thank them, so at least this was something they could keep.

We will be giving both sets of parents gifts from us both at our wedding.

Both parents will get a copy of our wedding album but we haven't decided what else at this stage.

Vik

we're doing momento albums for them, paying for my dad's suit, my mum's hair & make-up and my parents will get a copy of all the wedding photos in a 5 X 7 (i think that's right - normal photo size) album, FH's parents will get a copy on disc.

We've also brought thema whole host of things on our travels to add to our thank-you bags.

Both parents will get a "brag book" and a blow up protrait which we will get mounted and framed once they have pick their frames.

I am also dancing with dad as a special thank you (one tradition I will not be over looking) AND I will be presenting my bouquet to my Mum for all her help

I also really like the tie pin idea ... I think I will look into that as well

We bought Murrays parents a beautiful bonsaid plant, something they will look at everyday, and they both love bonsai so that went down well.

We got my Mum a voucher for dinner at a nice restaurant, something she can share with her boyfriend, and we got my dad the same present as what the groomsmen got - a toiletries bag with vanderbilt aftershave.

All the presents went down well, our parents did a lot for us so we wanted to show that appreciation.

We bought each set of parents a present whilst we were on our honeymoon and then when we got back we gave it to them to say Thank You for their help and support not just with the wedding but everything else too.

We gave our parents and Nana an enlargement of our choice. Although, MIL was ungrateful, she didn't like the picture we chose, but I don't care as she did squat for the wedding anyways. Hubby even had to make his own lunch before the wedding. A jam sandwich!!

Lisa

I gave my mum a lovely pewter photo frame!

Our parents were not that much involved in the wedding prepapartion either but I gave a pressie to my mum and hubby gave little pressies to his parents as a thank you for just being there over all those years and for all the things they have done for us.

I had two box bouquets of gorgeous yellow roses and vine made up with my bouquets and bought two bottles of a good port and 'presented' them to bath sets of parents during the speeches.

x
suz

i hadnt thought about giving them anything. i dont know if this comes across as ungrateful, but its my day, they havnt contributed financially or with the preparations, so i really dont think it will be necessary. I will probably do them a few enlargements as a thankyou/xmas pressy next year.

Money is tight enough without having to buy more presents! They wouldnt want us to get them anything anyway.

Beck, I was quite similar to you in that there wasn't much left our parents could do as I had pretty much done it all .

Both our families contributed money towards the wedding and my Dad paid for our honeymoon so we are going to give them all a parent album which is an exact replica of our photo album. We were trying to save these as a surprise but both our Mums were going to order so many photos that we had to tell them to save them some money! Dad still doesn't know though !

My Mum & her husband were particularly generous, so I gave mum a pendant I knew she loved which cost $500 and gave her husband some nice cufflinks prior to the day.

On the day, I gave them each a card saying how much I loved them & how special they were.

Why not give your families a gesture of a nice bottle of wine / flowers. Then after the day, maybe a nice frame with a photo from the day? Can be just a gesture to say thank you for being so supportive because I'm sure we've all read about the unsupportive families from hell in bridezilla!

karry327, You have made me think about my approach to the subject and i think a little gift wouldnt hurt, it is so true re the whole bridezilla thing (maybe i was having a bridezilla moment?!)

I think i will send them a nice thank you card after the wedding, and maybe before we leave the house on the wedding day leave their pressies on their bed.

i went to a wedding where they gave the mothers personalised champaign glasses, not because they did alot but just as a gesture of thank you for being my mum.

I was thinking of giving my parents a double frame. On one side I'll put a picture of me and them when I was little and then on the other side one with me and them on my wedding day.

i wrote poems to my MIL, Dad and my Mum, and put them in nice cards, i appreciated the help they did give, but i wasnt going to buy presents, my words and showing them my appreciation were enough to all of us

My parents were stars about helping with the wedding. Nothing was too much! So after the wedding we gave them a couple of rose plants called 'In Appreciation'. My parents are keen gardeners and we wanted to give them something meaningful that they could keep. Plus they would have killed us if we had have bought anything expensive, so these fitted the bill.

As for In laws. We are having wedding part two this August, in Wales, MIL is organising that one. I'm sure we will do something similar.

I bought each of our parents a beautiful potted phalaenopsis orchid (out of season so they were quite pricey), with a card on the day, and we got them extra presents each while we were on our honeymoon.

My parents were particularly generous though, and also gave us round the world airfares as a wedding present, so we gave them a voucher for a night in the resort where we had our wedding night, where they had their honeymoon 33 years ago! (Jonah's at Palm Beach.)

I've also ordered momento albums for my parents & PIL for Christmas, they got quite expensive so they became Christmas presents rather than extra thank you presents.

I think whatever you give them, the gesture is the important part, and thanking them in your speeches - just showing your appreciation for whatever they've done for you both in your life and for your wedding. It's a special day for them, too!

We will definitely be getting the three sets of parents thank you gifts. We haven't decided what though!

It looks like my mum might be making the bridesmaid dresses, so she'll need a big thank you for dealing with me!

we are getting both sets of parents a momento album from our wedding day. we have paid for our wedding all ourselves and they have not been involved in the planning except for asking for their opinion if i choose something like my dress or table decorations.

we are very organised so while our parents are very happy for us and love hearing about our day we dont expect them to do anything except turn up!

We will be getting both sets of parents enlargements of their favourite print and a DVD copy of our wedding. They can't wait for the day and they will love having it to show their friends who we didn't invite

chelley

i think for me its like one of the previous posts - its a gift for help with wedding, money etc but also as i leave my parents home its thanks for bringing me up they way they have, making me the person i am

that being said i dont think parents would care what i got them, they are happy to know that i appreciate and love them