In our family…it was pearl earrings. MIL “gave” them to DD as a college graduation present but only under the condition that any woman in the family getting married be offered them. MIL wore them in her wedding. Well…when the first female cousin got engaged, we sent the earrings to her…overnight mail and insured so she could decide if she wanted to use them. She didn’t…and sent them back.
Our DD did wear them at her wedding, but removed a drop pearl that was on each earring. MIL didn’t even notice…and the subject never came up.
These earrings are now in a drawer…again. There are two more female cousins in this generation…I think we will just take pictures next time one gets engaged.
My mil gave daughter her set of pearls. Who knew it was a thing.
Daughter had 2 weddings and wore the pearls for the civil local ceremony. She wore what would be a rehearsal dinner dress. Grandma was there so it all worked.
Daughter received the cookbook I ordered by the restaurant where they had their reception dinner today. She thought it was a perfect gift!
My in-laws gave me a string of pearls as a wedding present and I did wear them at my wedding. I had to get them restrung once. Now I also have my mother’s pearls. Every now and then I wear them since pearls need to be handled occasionally.
I was reading on Reddit. As one does when they are bored.
The bride asked how she could ask her new mother in law to remove her Apple Watch for pictures.
First of all, I felt seen
The answer I liked was for the photographer to ask all the guests in the group pictures to take off hair ties or watches.
Or buy the mil a fancy strap for her watch.
As someone who wears her watch always, I did think of what to do. I did buy a beaded strap but it didn’t fit. I did buy bangles to cover the lovely non tan area.
And accepted that I wasn’t going to close my rings that day. For the sake of my kid. And prosperity
Of course my husband wore his garmin watch and no one thought anything of it.
There is no way to do this without revealing how improperly the bride was brought up. She should be focusing on more important things like building a relationship with the woman who provided the groom. Judging her wristwear is not a good way to start, but will provide the new MIL with an opportunity to post her own Reddit inquiring how she can politely ask her son what the heck he was thinking.
Funny - It didn’t occur to me to wear my Apple watch to my son’s wedding, but I did take it in my purse! I actually really don’t like the look of the Apple Watch, but it is my overlord, so I deal with it :).
I think it is fine to ask the bridal party to have/not have certain jewelry, including watches. I like the idea of saying this suggestion came from the photog, and maybe have a card to give all those in the pictures like eye glasses that go to sunglasses (tint) or glasses at all, or for the guys to check their collars.
Many years ago I started a new job and had to go get a professional picture taken at the ‘professional’ photographers. I was asked by co-workers if I’d been to the dog photographer yet, and I didn’t know what they were taling about, until I got there and saw all the photos of dogs. But what I did notice were all the wedding photographs, and how bad some looks were and how good some colors of dresses and flowers looked. This was before the days of internet, but I always said before I picked bridesmaids colors and flowers that I’d go to the photo to see what looked best.
So I think asking the photos what looks good and what ‘wedding don’t’ they suggest. The watch is something most people don’t think about but the MIL won’t be wearing a suit coat, holding flowers, or otherwise able to hide her wrist. Photographers see this every day.
I always spend a lot of time thinking “glasses on or off?” for picture. Hold the purse or not? Squat or stand up tall. The Photog may be the best expert.
I wouldn’t need prompting from anyone that an apple watch (or equivalent) isn’t the best choice of accessory for fancy wedding wear, but then again, I am not tethered to mine (unless I’m wearing a long-sleeved dress where it can easily be concealed).
I wouldn’t have a problem at all with the bride asking this. I would assume she’s given similar direction to her bridesmaids on jewelry, so they all look the way she wants them to look. I’m not a fan of some of the trends now like over-stacking bracelets of various kinds on both wrists, and the wearing of hair ties as bracelets - so if a close family member who would be prominently featured in pictures were indulging in those trends on the wedding day, I could understand why a bride might request that those things be removed for the 3 minutes required to take a picture.
Every bride has her wedding day quirks. This one doesn’t land very high on the eyeroll scale for me.
I’m sorry I cannot understand this at all! There are Apple watches, there are Timex watches and there are plenty of fancy very expensive choices of watches. Why the HECK is it not ok for a woman at any time or anyplace to want to know what time it is?!
I mean if I was asked to not wear my watch I guess I’d comply, but I would TOTALLY thing it was ridiculous and really beyond ok to ask. Want to check my underwear too to make sure it doesn’t have any holes?!
(comments not directed AT conmama but TO her post)
My daughter’s outside fall wedding was chilly. When outside of the heated reception tent, some guests put on coats (some wore their date’s tux jackets). When we were out there taking official pictures, people knew enough to take off the coats for a few minutes. Again, for picture purposes, not a big deal. You can’t even tell from the pictures that it was a chilly day - no one kept their puffy coats on.
Today’s brides are asking for all kinds of things from their guests - that they wear a certain color pallet, that they turn off cell phones, that they be vaccinated (during the height of Covid). I can’t imagine a bride micromanaging the watch-wearing of all her guests (I don’t doubt that they exist though), but I don’t think it’s out of the realm to want pictures with immediate family to look the way the bride wants them to look. When I was MOB, I ran all of my dress and jewelry options by my daughter ahead of time, not because she demanded that I do so, but because I wanted her blessing on all of it.
I think she sounds like an out of control bride, frankly.
That said, should any of my sons marry I fully plan to do whatever the bride wants, whether it is picking out every single thing I wear, or wanting nothing to do with what I wear. She’s the boss!
Never heard of this! I have a lovely gold and diamond watch which I have worn to many weddings and other formal events. I definitely wore it to D’s wedding as I did want to keep track of the time to be sure things were going (more or less) as planned. I never gave it a second thought.
A gold and diamond watch is actual jewelry. Apple watches aren’t all that great looking (and I own one). Taking it off for a two minute picture is not a problem. As a past photographer it’s common to “fix things”–lose the jacket (or button it), sweater, purses, glasses, fix collars, smooth hair. Pretty much anything that may distract.
The bride asked how to ask her MIL to take off the watch for pictures–for a few minutes only not all day. If I was asked I’d say "of course!’
