Bridal Shower... Done!
I attended ONE bridal shower when I was a teenager, and have declined every invitation to one since. However, at my own recent shower, I smiled & nodded, and hugged & mugged, until I
thought I would throw up, like a good sport. Yes, it was hell.
No, I do not enjoy being the center of a room full of people. There must've been 60 women there, and I only knew 10% of them.
Also, we got LOADS of things that weren't on our registry. Two sets of knives? Three sets of sheets? C'mon ladies!
Complaining aside, my mother-in-law organized and paid for the whole thing. She rented out a room in a restaurant. It was beautiful, and she's very lovely and generous.
And, we got plenty of things that were on our registry! And, the things that weren't, we were mostly able to exchange. We had around $8,000 worth of merchandise on the registry, and received probably $2,700 in merch and cash at the shower -- WAY more than I expected -- and we're very grateful.
As you know from the July update, my crazy aunts made some cryptic comments about their gifts to my mother. One packed a box of things she hoped we could use, which included a hat pin (!!!); a bookmark, 5 Betty Crocker pamphlets from 1992 (she described them as "Grandma's cookbooks", although Grandma had passed before they were published); a metal, sunflower key rack missing a mounting screw; and a magnetic notebook and pen with a broken cap. She told my mother she got all the items from a "boutique". We think the boutique's name is "Goodwill". The box reeked so badly of mothballs, we had to keep it closed until we decided what to do with everything.
My other crazy aunt wanted to send her gift with my parents, but wouldn't tell them what it was, and had a lot of crazy instructions about its delivery, i.e. it couldn't be insured, it had to sit in my mother's lap the entire flight, she didn't want the screeners to see it, it HAD to be delivered at the wedding not the shower, etc. Well, my father went over to my aunt's home without Mom, and my aunt just handed it to him. All the subterfuge was some sort of psychological warfare tactic against my mother (my Dad's side of the family has a real Sam Shepard/Tennessee Williams bent to them).
All that build-up for a tiny globe stuffed with money. My folks took out all the cash, and sent me a cheque. They'll bring the globe along in a suitcase.
Family... sheesh.
Okay! Shower stories? Let's hear 'em.
Also, we got LOADS of things that weren't on our registry. Two sets of knives? Three sets of sheets? C'mon ladies!
Complaining aside, my mother-in-law organized and paid for the whole thing. She rented out a room in a restaurant. It was beautiful, and she's very lovely and generous.
And, we got plenty of things that were on our registry! And, the things that weren't, we were mostly able to exchange. We had around $8,000 worth of merchandise on the registry, and received probably $2,700 in merch and cash at the shower -- WAY more than I expected -- and we're very grateful.
As you know from the July update, my crazy aunts made some cryptic comments about their gifts to my mother. One packed a box of things she hoped we could use, which included a hat pin (!!!); a bookmark, 5 Betty Crocker pamphlets from 1992 (she described them as "Grandma's cookbooks", although Grandma had passed before they were published); a metal, sunflower key rack missing a mounting screw; and a magnetic notebook and pen with a broken cap. She told my mother she got all the items from a "boutique". We think the boutique's name is "Goodwill". The box reeked so badly of mothballs, we had to keep it closed until we decided what to do with everything.
My other crazy aunt wanted to send her gift with my parents, but wouldn't tell them what it was, and had a lot of crazy instructions about its delivery, i.e. it couldn't be insured, it had to sit in my mother's lap the entire flight, she didn't want the screeners to see it, it HAD to be delivered at the wedding not the shower, etc. Well, my father went over to my aunt's home without Mom, and my aunt just handed it to him. All the subterfuge was some sort of psychological warfare tactic against my mother (my Dad's side of the family has a real Sam Shepard/Tennessee Williams bent to them).
All that build-up for a tiny globe stuffed with money. My folks took out all the cash, and sent me a cheque. They'll bring the globe along in a suitcase.
Family... sheesh.
Okay! Shower stories? Let's hear 'em.
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