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Posted by acsm

i havent seen that but at my friends shower as the guests arrived her sister opened up the gifts and put them on display for the guests to see.. they had long tables set up against the wall..

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Were the guests okay with that??? I'd think it would be much better to tell them it was going to be a display shower ahead of time, rather than having them take the time to wrap all of these gifts and then not even have the bride see the wrapping paper!

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Posted by Kara and Todd

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Posted by acsm

i havent seen that but at my friends shower as the guests arrived her sister opened up the gifts and put them on display for the guests to see.. they had long tables set up against the wall..

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Were the guests okay with that??? I'd think it would be much better to tell them it was going to be a display shower ahead of time, rather than having them take the time to wrap all of these gifts and then not even have the bride see the wrapping paper!

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they were because we all know how she is... she doesnt like to be the center of attention! even though on her wedding day she had no choice!! lol...

See, in that case, I would have just had a shower where gifts were not opened and let the bride open them on her own afterwards... or have a display shower.

But to each his own!

I know nothing about my shower. I'd prefer to have wrapped gifts, but not have to open them in front of everyone. (I find this dreadfully boring when I go to showers to have to sit through this)... but I'd want to open them on my own afterwards. However it works out, I'll have no say in that, though! I'll just be grateful to get presents at all!

Be careful with how you do this. I just went to a close friend's shower and one of the other BMs (I'm one also) ripped the paper off of all of the gifts as fast as she could and said things like 'Oh, Look Jane, A Salad Spinner' and then grabbed the card back from the bride and shoved it in the box and moved on to the next gift.
I always take a lot of time to make something that I got more attractive... For example for my mom's gift to her we got her salad bowls and the large salad bowl along with her tongs. We then added in hand painted oil & vinegar bottles, croutons, seasonings, a good bottole of olive oil, balsamic vinagrette, etc.... and no one ever even saw it opened. The BM reached in and 'peeked' and then moved on to the next gift. IMO it's extremely RUDE to do this.
If you're going to do a display shower, see if whoever words the invitation can put it in the tone that they know the bride to be would like more time to spend with all of her guests...
HTH!

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Posted by ACN20

Any suggestions on how to word a bridal shower invitation where the bride does not open the gifts. The gifts are wrapped in cellophane or baskets? Thanks!

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Thats a cool idea! But no idea how to help you with this one!

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Posted by Kara and Todd

See, in that case, I would have just had a shower where gifts were not opened and let the bride open them on her own afterwards... or have a display shower.

But to each his own!

I know nothing about my shower. I'd prefer to have wrapped gifts, but not have to open them in front of everyone. (I find this dreadfully boring when I go to showers to have to sit through this)... but I'd want to open them on my own afterwards. However it works out, I'll have no say in that, though! I'll just be grateful to get presents at all!

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I dont mind seeing the bride open gifts if it is a small shower- say like 15 people or less. Otherwise it takes too long and I'd prefer to be socializing with everyone. If my shower is small Ill open gifts, but if I have over 15 pdeople, I think I may open them on my own so I don't feel rushed.

Display Shower Poem'

Well here is the special day
For such a great “display”
Come to the bridal shower
Don’t forget to be on the hour

Come with unwrapped gifts
So you don’t have to see any tiffs
It will only take 3 hours
So you don’t have to put on a sour

Please do not fear
Because it will be so dear
When you walk into the door
You will want to see more

Just walk around the tables
As you will see there will be no fables
The gifts will be on “display”
And I am sure you will have so much to say

But you see this is a surprise
And there will be no guys
We will have a ton of games
So the party won’t be lame

Remember this is the bride’s special day
So she can do what she may
Bring a wishing well gift
Then, the bride may have to sift

Don’t forget to fill out the recipe card
And please don’t be on guard
Because you will have so much fun
That you will remember a ton

At a cousin's shower, she didn't want to offend anyone, so she opened all the presents one by one. The shower was over 5 hours long.

Maybe you could just include a little printed card (kind of like a direction card) saying 'The bride wishes to spend as much time with her treasured guests as possible. To accomodate this, we ask that any gift you may bring be wrapped in a clear wrapping, as we will not be taking time to unwrap gifts during the party.' or something like that...

I think either way people will be upset by this. I don't know if there is a way to make it sound better.
Everyone knows a shower is about gifts, but I think to tell people, bring one but don't wrap it, is rude. It's like saying, bring me a gift, but I'm not even going to acknowledge it. I'll just stick it on a table. It just seems greedy in my opinion.
If you're that shy, don't have a shower. B/c that's what they're all about.