Gifts for bridesmaids

andreac

Does anyone have any ideas what to get them? I have ordered little tote bags with their names on them along with bridesmaid, but im trying to think of what to put in them gift wise?
Was thinking of maybe one main gift each and then a few bits and bobs in with it.
Thanks

biko

Maybe a small perfume selection box?

Cakerbaker

I got the willow figurines for mine. I went with one that had a meaningful message, friendship or something like that. Thought they were a bit different to the usual gift of jewellery.

ElleEm

biko wrote: »

Maybe a small perfume selection box?

That is such a great idea. My bridesmaid isn't a jewelry person, so I will get her something minimal like a costume bracelet for the wedding day as she will never wear it again. Perfume is something I wouldn't have considered.

Milly33

I jsut put together a little bag for mine.

I have nice PJ's or shirt for getting ready
Some peppermint footcream for after
Some hand moisturer gloves from pennys.

Then a little bottle of bubbly and gave them their jewelary for the day..

Was trying to get my hands on this hand bag holders too that you clip to the side of a table to hang your hand bag but could not get them in time

JustAThought

Congratulations on finding someone you want to spend and share the rest of your life with.
Christmas taught me that again you buy lots of little things at mid price range you might as well go out and spend the lot on one big thing! If the bridesmaids are teenagers or children the multi-pack might be very popular, but if they are adults I'd personally go for a personal, useful & long-term keepsake - there is lovely silver jewellery - pendants and braclets - out there - a lot of nice pieces at craft fairs including Howth Market & Avoca in Malahide which has a good & mixed range. There are also craft pieces you can get at some of the bigger Kennel Club events where they sell ( sometimes) pendants in silver of different breeds of dogs! V cute & distinctive & might have a resonance!

Wiers in town ( Dublin/Grafton Street) also have a cabinet of enamel & silver pieces along the back wall downstairs which are distinctive & have a little bit of magic - tiny owls, phesants, cats, dogs , ladybirds , ships, etc all in little individual cases & boxed ! I"m always on the eye out to give them as gifts thou they're not the cheap option!

Best of luck with your wedding & congratulations!

Typer Monkey

I only had one bridesmaid and we paid for her and the best man's and 2 groomsmen' rooms in the hotel for the night of the wedding as a gift

Milly33

Id prefer the idea of something like this also, must say we done the same paid for all their jewellery and that and the rooms were free. Buying trinkets and things like that I think is a bit wastefull and they might not like it

SecretBride

Not sure what your budget is andreac but I got mine key rings from Tiffany....think they were under 50 quid at the time but I figured that by the time I'd got them lots of 'bits' I'd probably spend that much on insignificant presents :-)

bee06

I got my two spa vouchers.

JustAThought

Really like the fancy spa vouchers idea

Liam McPoyle

We got ours a pair of Tiffany earrings each.

Cost I think about €110 each in Brown Thomas.

MaryMD

I really like the Wilow figurines idea thats a really nice idea as the messages they have are meaningful and something they will always have. I got my bridesmaids jewellery from Azure www.azurejewellery.ie

Keane2baMused

Alex and Ani bracelets are beautiful and won't break the bank. You can choose ones that are personal to each bridesmaid too.

SarahMollie

Or Chupi jewellery? I love their stuff personally.

That said, I don't think a voucher is a bad idea, its basically saying "heres something to treat yourself with after this is all over" and that way they'll have something they like.

Bottle of Champs never hurts either

andreac

Thanks for all the replies. I had bought a couple of bracelets from the John Greed website as they were on offer, but when they arrived they are very cheap looking and the bracelet is very very thin so im not even sure if ill give them to them.

So far i have the little bags, ill be getting mini bottle of champers for them, a personalised robe. Then they will be getting hair and make up done too. I might get a voucher for the hotel and put it in with their bag as they will be staying 2 nights in the hotel.

kandr10

andreac wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. I had bought a couple of bracelets from the John Greed website as they were on offer, but when they arrived they are very cheap looking and the bracelet is very very thin so im not even sure if ill give them to them.

So far i have the little bags, ill be getting mini bottle of champers for them, a personalised robe. Then they will be getting hair and make up done too. I might get a voucher for the hotel and put it in with their bag as they will be staying 2 nights in the hotel.

They sound like lovely gifts. Why not give the bracelets anyway since you're giving other things anyway. Unless you can get your money back of course! Good luck with the rest of your planning.

lazygal

andreac wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. I had bought a couple of bracelets from the John Greed website as they were on offer, but when they arrived they are very cheap looking and the bracelet is very very thin so im not even sure if ill give them to them.

So far i have the little bags, ill be getting mini bottle of champers for them, a personalised robe. Then they will be getting hair and make up done too. I might get a voucher for the hotel and put it in with their bag as they will be staying 2 nights in the hotel.

Are these not things you'd be paying for anyway, rather than specific gifts as a thank you? The rest sounds great. I didn't think having hair and makeup done for the bridal party was a gift, as I wouldn't have expected to pay for that anyway. Ditto the hotel.

andreac

Ah yeah I would be paying for those and they wouldn't be included as my gift. I just want to make sure I'm giving them enough along with the normal bridesmaids stuff that they will be getting as part of the day.
I'll give the bracelets unless I can find something else in the meantime. I might have a little look at the Newbridge stuff too.
I have 4 bridesmaids so I can't afford to pay for their hotel as well. That would be nearly 1000 euro so it's just not possible to pay for their rooms too that's why I was thinking of getting a voucher so they can put it off their rooms.

tickingclock

I brought my two bridesmaids for a spa day and afternoon tea a few months after the wedding. It was lovely to properly catch up just the three of us after the big day.

MistyCheese

Just a thought, if you give them vouchers for the hotel would they be able to use them to comp their currently booked stay or would they have to use them for a future stay?

michellie

I got mine(3 bridesmaids) big lovely river Island bags, soap and glory sets(they were 3 for 2 woohoo), pjs, earrings and I'm looking for nice flip flops for the evening of the wedding.

Electric Sheep

andreac wrote: »

I have 4 bridesmaids so I can't afford to pay for their hotel as well. That would be nearly 1000 euro so it's just not possible to pay for their rooms too that's why I was thinking of getting a voucher so they can put it off their rooms.

Perhaps only have as many bridesmaids as you can afford?

Keane2baMused

Electric Sheep wrote: »

Perhaps only have as many bridesmaids as you can afford?

Hmm. I don't see how it's an expectation to pay for their rooms in full?

If you can afford it great if not very few would get their noses bent out of joint.

If they weren't a bridesmaid chances are they would be a guest and paying for their own room. As it stands they would have most other substantial costs covered. (clothes, makeup, hair, shoes etc)

It's a nice gesture but definitely shouldn't be expected. No more than the b&g should expect cash gifts!

kandr10

Keane2baMused wrote: »

Hmm. I don't see how it's an expectation to pay for their rooms in full?

If you can afford it great if not very few would get their noses bent out of joint.

If they weren't a bridesmaid chances are they would be a guest and paying for their own room. As it stands they would have most other substantial costs covered. (clothes, makeup, hair, shoes etc)

It's a nice gesture but definitely shouldn't be expected. No more than the b&g should expect cash gifts!

Agreed! They also have a choice to opt out if they feel it would add expenses other than attending a wedding normally would.

dudara

My sister bought us all a pair of classic pearl earrings from Keane's in Cork. I really liked it as it was classic and a gift that I will wear for years to come when I need a pair of elegant earrings. I personally find that trinkets I receive often end up in the charity shop donation bag.

stargazer 68

We are paying for their rooms and have bought them Tiffany bracelets. The lady at Tiffanys gave me some extra bags so I can put them in and will get little bottle of champers and a couple of extra bits. They are our daughters though so ...

lazygal

Keane2baMused wrote: »

Hmm. I don't see how it's an expectation to pay for their rooms in full?

If you can afford it great if not very few would get their noses bent out of joint.

If they weren't a bridesmaid chances are they would be a guest and paying for their own room. As it stands they would have most other substantial costs covered. (clothes, makeup, hair, shoes etc)

It's a nice gesture but definitely shouldn't be expected. No more than the b&g should expect cash gifts!

We rarely stay overnight at a wedding. And the bridesmaids stuff is usually chosen by the bride-and it would be the choice of whether to want hair and makeup done professionally. It isn't a gift to provide this kind of stuff. If I expected my bridesmaids to stay two nights in a hotel I chose for my wedding I'd pay for it. I've yet to see a bridesmaid in a dress I'd choose to wear, it's usually to fit in with the colour scheme of the wedding.
Budgeting for accommodation expenses is a fairly standard thing. Lots of hotels actually provide rooms free for bridal parties.

SarahMollie

The only thing that slightly cought me about what should/shouldnt be included is the fact that we're talking about a 2night hotel stay here.

Are they only staying 2 nights because they're part of the bridal party? Thats likely a considerable expense, and I personally would feel like I should cover it.

Keane2baMused

lazygal wrote: »

We rarely stay overnight at a wedding. And the bridesmaids stuff is usually chosen by the bride-and it would be the choice of whether to want hair and makeup done professionally. It isn't a gift to provide this kind of stuff. If I expected my bridesmaids to stay two nights in a hotel I chose for my wedding I'd pay for it. I've yet to see a bridesmaid in a dress I'd choose to wear, it's usually to fit in with the colour scheme of the wedding.
Budgeting for accommodation expenses is a fairly standard thing. Lots of hotels actually provide rooms free for bridal parties.

Just to be clear I didn't say I wasn't paying for my bridesmaids rooms. I am. Our venue is two hours away from where they live so they have no choice but to stay and I wouldn't want them out of pocket.

However expecting for rooms to be paid for is another story.

Not all couples would be able to afford that and I would never expect any bride to cover my room if I were a bridesmaid.

My own bridesmaids are choosing their dresses and shoes. Once they're happy I'm happy!

Toots

Guys please stay on topic, this isn't the thread to debate whether or not the bridal party should have their rooms paid for.

Gatica

JustAThought wrote: »

Christmas taught me that again you buy lots of little things at mid price range you might as well go out and spend the lot on one big thing! If the bridesmaids are teenagers or children the multi-pack might be very popular, but if they are adults I'd personally go for a personal, useful & long-term keepsake - there is lovely silver jewellery - pendants and braclets - out there - a lot of nice pieces at craft fairs including Howth Market & Avoca in Malahide which has a good & mixed range. There are also craft pieces you can get at some of the bigger Kennel Club events where they sell ( sometimes) pendants in silver of different breeds of dogs! V cute & distinctive & might have a resonance!

Wiers in town ( Dublin/Grafton Street) also have a cabinet of enamel & silver pieces along the back wall downstairs which are distinctive & have a little bit of magic - tiny owls, phesants, cats, dogs , ladybirds , ships, etc all in little individual cases & boxed !

Personally I quite like little goodie bags and would much prefer one of those than an extravagant gift that I would never have any use for. If one's to choose something like this for their BM, you'd wanna be sure it's definitely something they'd like. Enamel animals would be cute, but personally I would have no place for them whatsoever, jewellery and champers would be far more preferable. Anyway, a lot of that is usually as a memento and a gesture. I wouldn't think any of it should be particularly expensive.
My biggest regret is not paying for my BM's room as she had to travel over for the wedding. Not saying it should be done in general, just retrospectively now wish we did. However, she was a BM again at a US wedding after mine and she came back thanking me for paying for everything else on the day as in the US BMs pay for everything themselves. Puts it into perspective kinda.

Anyway, gesture gifts are lovely idea I think. They don't have to be very expensive to mean something. Little photo phrame of your fave photo together? Mini bottle of a perfume you know she'd like, nice hand moisturiser, piece of jewellery, face mask or body scrub sachet (can get these in Boots)...

huggles85

I was a bridesmaid recently and the bride went to great effort to put together a little hangover bag which included lip balm, makeup remover, cotton wool etc along with buying us all earrings for the day. Of the lot the best bit was by far a bag of Galaxy Minstrels - I'll tell you something a bag of choccies goes a long way the day after with a hangover and a drive home...it really is the little things...

dee_mc

I was bridesmaid recently and the bride got us jewelry that had been made specifically for the day, and a lovely silver necklace as a thank you gift. She also paid for our dresses and hair and make up.
All your ideas for extra gifts are lovely and I'm sure they'll be appreciated - any token gift is a really nice gesture.
I know this wasn't part of your original question but I wouldn't expect to have my hotel room paid for just because I'm part of the bridal party! If it's a very expensive venue then the idea of giving the bridal party people a voucher that could be used towards paying for their stay is a really thoughtful one.

StarBright01

MaryMD wrote: »

I really like the Wilow figurines idea thats a really nice idea as the messages they have are meaningful and something they will always have. I got my bridesmaids jewellery from Azure www.azurejewellery.ie

I also got jewellery from Azure before as well, just love their stuff!