Bridal Shower Present

Brides are usually registered somewhere.  You can never go wrong with a denim skirt and a nice top - not too dressy but not too casual either.

Deb W.

Boxermom2Marley

am going to go to her Bridal Shower, but I have no clue what would be an okay gift to give her

yes, she should be registered someplace, they always are. Then you just print out a list at the store and pick out something, easy peasy. Failing that get her a marble roling pin...she is getting married. She'll need it. And not for baking, either.

Bottle of booze and a feathered boa. 

Nice pair of pants and a clean shirt and you'll be fine. :)  

And you can always get a gift card to one of the places she is registered and write a little note saying that you hope she can use this towards some of the larger/more expensive items on her registry.  That is what I often do because I feel stupid buying one pillow or glass etc etc.  I look to see where their bedding or their dishes are.  If it is a close friend, I often email them and tell them that is what I intend to do and ask where they would prefer the card to.  It has always been greatly appreciated and instead of picking the cheapest thing on the registry or something I don't like, I just let them pick it!  :) 

boneyjean

and instead of picking the cheapest thing on the registry or something I don't like,

I have no problem doing this since they typically want TWO presents, one now and one at the wedding. I will buy cheap at one and get something a little nicer for the other. I detest...the greediness of weddings. I am absolutely a wedding Grinch, especially those that ask you for TWO presents then do a MONEY dance and don't even have an OPEN BAR! One sure way to get on my bad side is to be greedy with what you ask AND expect me to buy my own liquor. >:|

For mine I had a registry....at Target, lol.  We are not rich and most of our friends are worse off than us!  Personally I could have done without any bridal showers but the bride doesn't "throw" these (at least that is my understanding).  They were my aunts' doing so I had to play along.  One of my aunts is like a second mom.  Another on DH's side had a shower in Chicago for family members that could not attend the wedding (mostly his side).I don't really remember the gifts, wasn't really a priority with me (our family is not one to celebrate things nor give extravagant gifts) but I think they were mostly cheap/small things like a mixing bowl, plastic ladle, spatula,etc.

rwbeagles

I am absolutely a wedding Grinch, especially those that ask you for TWO presents then do a MONEY dance

LOL we ran into the opposite when we were planning on having a regular wedding w/ several guests. We didn't register anywhere b/c we didn't really need anything.  People got upset and *demanded* a registry!  We finally made a fairly half-assed registry @ walmart with maybe 5 things on it b/c we couldn't think of stuff.

I'd probably go the card and gift card route like Sarah said.  And I'd think a nice top/pants would be fine.  I'm not one to get too dressy for stuff like that, unless its hosted somewhere fancy.

I think the last wedding I went to they were registered at Dillards or something lame like that. I mean really DILLARDS? Home of $40 pillowcases? Really?

I didn't do a shower because I said I didn't want one. I mean seriously...we'd lived together A YEAR before we got married. Obviously we had everything we needed LMBO! Come to the wedding, gift enough...we had a KEG...tap it and call it a day.

My work did a baby shower...it annoyed me but I let them.

I'd honestly do what Sarah says -- registries can bite you big time.  YOu're encouraged to register "somewhere nice" because otherwise all you get is plastic crap that never lasts.  BUT -- if you register somewhere your place settings are $60 each then you get one place setting, four glasses and 1 of six other things -- in short NOTHING you need so the stores tend to pressure you a little to BUY what you didn't get given to you.  And when you're standing there with what wedding money you *did* get in your hand half the world caves and buys the registry items even if they don't have a bed that's decent to sleep on.

So the gift card can be used for anything.

It's different if you know the people well enough to say "what would you'd rather I do?".  You can wrap up the gift card in a decent card box and it's something useful and often a relief.  You won't stick out like a sore thumb, and you won't cause any angst.

Heck, when David and I got married even after I told my mother **specifically** DON'T get me towels, she bought me six huge fluffy BRIGHT YELLOW towels.  I hate yellow.  I live in Florida where it's darned near impossible to get towels dry **anyway** and "fluffy" just mildews before you can get it washed.  It was the little stuff that was "easy" that was most appreciated.

Some showers are fun, some aren't.  all depends on the folks

Honestly? If you don't know her that well, kudos to you for even getting her something and going to the shower! 

One really nice thing we got was a spice rack, loaded with spices.  I appreciated that and still have the jars and refill them (acutally, there might even be some I've never opened after 6.5 yrs of marriage can we say pickling spice anyone?)

We registered for, and received, some really weird gifts that in retrospect could have been better thought out.  But, it was fun to go around hte store with the little gun ;)

...I will sound old....back in the day, a friend had a shower, you gave what you could afford. you dressed casually, you had a great time and the Bride to be was very grateful for anything and everything.   Only the wealthy and snooty "registered" for anything, lol no one I knew.   Having not gone to a shower in some time I attended one a year or so ago for the daughter of a co-worker.  I just bought a nice thing that I thought was useful/didnt look at any registry/ dressed in nice jeans and shirt....  I got there everyone but the hostess was in dresses, I said; Wow, I feel a little underdressed...then a shock of a comment from someone I would never have expected.... "Well it is a wedding shower!"   Needless to say, it ticked me off, I left as soon as was appropriate.   Guess that is the difference between now and the 70's lol.

I personally prefer to give a basket or organizer with all the things needed that add up,  like for the kitchen -  Sponges, dish soap, dishwasher soap, cleaning products, ziplock baggies, aluminum foil, plastic wrap,tea towels(dollar stores have these great inexpensive white cotton towels that are the best for drying dishes)  Or a bucket with a broom/mop/Pledge for dusting/floor cleaning products.

Candles are always a good choice (unless it's someone with allergies) I also like a basket w/2 wine glasses/2 cloth napkins/a nice candle.  None of these are expensive and they dont have to match anything..

I really prefer the more practical rather than something that will be stuck in a cabinet or closet only to be used 1x per year.

Gina, what kind of weddings are you going to?  I have never taken a gift to the shower and the wedding.  I take one to the shower and if I am not invited to the shower, I usually just send the gift via mail....and like I said, I often do a gift card.  That way it is within my budget and I know they can use it towards something nice.  I hate buying odds and ends to get to what I had budgeted to spend when a lot of the things on registries is more than I would usually spend for just anyone.  

We lived together a long time before we got married and we registered.  We got very practical things though since most of what we had was hand me down stuff from parent's or super cheap college stuff.  I didn't do china, just everyday dishes and I spent months picking them out and actually got most of them since the sets were very affordable.  Same with our silverwear.  And I can say that I LOVE them both still and am so glad I went that route rather than stuff for entertaining that I would rarely use.  I happen to have a ton of entertaining stuff and we entertain and throw big paries often, and if it is at my house, I use as much throw away stuff as I can!  ha!  Over the years I have done different things as far as gifts go, but sometimes what I think someone needs, isn't what they think they need.  So I just let them choose it!

I didn't have a shower, but I don't think you can go wrong with buying off the registry. You can even look up registries on most store websites, like Target :)

If not, they make those "Visa" gift cards - we got a couple of them for our wedding and DH and I were PSYCHED.

boneyjean

I have never taken a gift to the shower and the wedding.  I take one to the shower and if I am not invited to the shower, I usually just send the gift via mail....

I don't mean to sound stupid, but why would you send a gift to the shower if you weren't invited? 

I've always heard if you are invited to the shower, take a gift and give money at the wedding, but some people can't afford that.  I've only been to one bridal shower, but not the gal's wedding.  The few weddings I have been invited to, I was not invited to the showers.  And it really doesn't bother me in the least to give only what I can afford.