Monday, March 24, 2008

Saving Money on Your Wedding: Attendant Gifts

I am doing a series of posts on saving money while planning a wedding. Today I will talk about buying your attendant gifts. My total amount spent in this area was $70.

Attendant gifts is an area of weddings that I really just don't "get". Don't get me wrong, I totally understand the idea of thanking your attendants for being willing to stand up in your wedding (and spend lots of their own money doing it, in many cases). What I don't understand is who decided that all men need numerous personalized flasks and all women need multiple necklaces that they may not even like ;)

My number one recommendation for buying attendant gifts is to purchase something that you would otherwise ask them to buy/pay for as part of your wedding. For example, I paid for my bridesmaids' pedicures the day before the wedding. If we hadn't gone out together to get pedicures, I would have paid for their hair or their ($35) dresses. My husband and I decided the best gift we could give our attendants was to keep our wedding inexpensive for them to be a part of.

Another good idea is to buy them something they'll actually enjoy, the gift being different for each person (along the same lines as a birthday or Christmas gift). One of my friends gave me a lightweight backpack I'd been eying up. It was an excellent gift!

The previous two ideas focused more on getting good gifts than on saving money (though the first one will save your attendants some money). Some ideas that would save you some cash include making something personal for your attendants or giving your time as a gift. Giving time might include a day at the disc golf course or some quality time on the beach. I would suggest making a homemade certificate to give the night before the wedding and do the quality time after the wedding. This lets your attendants know that you're not planning on disappearing into the land of newlyweds after the wedding day!

I hope these ideas get your creative juices flowing :)

What is the best gift you've received for standing up in a friend's/relative's wedding? The worst?

5 comments:

Ms. M&P said...

Those are good tips! As far as the best and worst gifts I've gotten, I would say that the best gift I got was a photo album with photos of me and my friend in it. The worst gift...actually, I've never gotten a bad gift! My friends have all been really thoughtful ;)

I did once get a gift for being in a friend's fashion show of a sunglass case that looked like flask. I'm pretty sure she got it as a freebie and just gave it because she didn't want it. Not the best gift.

Anonymous said...

Lol! That sounds weird. I'm glad the rest of your gifts have been good ones :)

Anonymous said...

We ended up getting the gift for our only groomsman while we were on the honeymoon. We got a homemade candle and some maple syrup (we were in New England, so it fit nicely). Didn't get my sister anything...she and I talked about it, I asked her what would interest her, but she said nope she couldn't think of anything. We're neither of us into presents. So I just thanked her.

Kacie said...

Great ideas!

For my bridesmaids, I paid for their hairdos, and I also gave them a small bag of little things they could use while getting ready for the wedding.

Anonymous said...

I got my bridesmaid's little sheep statues. I have always liked sheep so thought it would be a personal touch. I believe they liked them!
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