<p>Best place to look for every possible kind of china–I love this show and try to go every year. Can’t make the May show, but I’m planning for July. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.brimfieldshow.com/cgi-local/webdata/webdata_brimshow.cgi[/url]”>http://www.brimfieldshow.com/cgi-local/webdata/webdata_brimshow.cgi</a></p>
<p>Glad to learn I’m not the only one picking up cutlery at tag sales…for a family of 3 I have about 40 or so settings, without breaking out the “silver” or the pieces we use everyday. Goes into the diswasher after large get togethers, then back into the box until the next event. So much easier that way! I’m going to have to think about stocking up on the dessert plates–I like that idea!</p>
<p>DD started collecting glass dessert sets when she was in early elementary school. They came in swirls, circles, apple trees, leaves, rectangles, etc and all had puch cups. I think the most we paid for a set of 4 was $2. We used them for birthdays and “tea parties” for her friends for years.<br>
She’s graduating from college now and I think I could have a tea party for over 75 people.</p>
<p>I just finished reading this whole thread. My daughter (only child) is planning on getting married in October. Being in the South, things are certainly different here in relation to weddings, than where I grew up (Vancouver, BC). One thing that comes to mind, they are expected to have two wedding cakes - bridal and also a groom’s cake. Also, her future mother-in-law was disappointed that my daughter was not going to have “bridal portraits” done (these are done approximately one month prior to the wedding date of the bride, alone, wearing her wedding dress).</p>
<p>They won’t be doing any gift registries. </p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone will throw her a bridal shower.
Where I come from (circa 1984), a surprise bridal shower was usually given at a home of the bride’s aunt or one of her bridesmaids on a Saturday afternoon. The guests would be the bridesmaids, close friends and relatives. Sandwiches, cake, tea and coffee were served and the gifts usually consisted of teapots, tea towels, cookbooks and kitchen gadgets. The maid-of-honour would “assemble” the ribbons and bows on a paper plate to make a hat for the bride. Some brides I knew back then sometimes had up to three showers made up of different groups such as “girls from work” etc…</p>
<p>At this point, the biggest concern is finding a venue for the wedding reception that is available for mid-October. It seems to be a popular month for Houston weddings, probably due to the nice weather.</p>
<p>I’m excited for them but wish we had more time to plan!</p>
<p>I told my mother-in-law when we were getting married that we were going to register for commercial real estate. I think that was the first time I ever saw her scowl. Over the years, she’s learned to decipher my sense of humor - something of an acquired taste, I’m told.</p>
<p>mauretania, congrats on your D’s upcoming wedding! Enjoy the fun of planning, although I agree with you that you’re on a tight timeline with only five months til the wedding. My D who is now engaged booked her venue for summer of 2010 three months ago. She heard this week while talking to the planner that it is now completely booked for the summer months next year. The popular spots here in Toronto sometimes book as far ahead as two years, crazy!</p>
<p>greybeard, your sense of humor and relationship with your MIL sound much like my H’s with my mom. Are you a lawyer by any chance? :)</p>
<p>Alwaysamom,</p>
<p>Thanks! As you can imagine, the summer months in Houston would not be a pick for any wedding - sooo hot and humid. Summer months in Toronto would be nice weather, those
were also the popular months in Vancouver.</p>
<p>Yes, the timeline is short but they aren’t planning anything too elaborate though the guest
list seems to be growing. I was hoping they would pick a February date, during the Winter Olympics. My friends and family are already making plans to get out of town (they don’t want to deal with the traffic!).</p>
<p>She did order her dress this week which is scheduled to arrive the last week of August.
She got lucky, first shop - tried on ten, picked the 8th.</p>
<p>I’m thinking we need to start a new “wedding” thread:)</p>
<p>Have you seen the show, “Say Yes to the Dress”? Silly, stupid, guilty pleasure…and when my daughters get married…I will not spend $5,000 on a wedding dress.</p>
<p>You are right about that show, ellebud! The thing is, those girls actually think their life is going to be somehow happier if they have the “perfect” dress. Better that they should spend that much time and energy analyzing the prospective groom!</p>
<p>No, I haven’t seen the show (we only have basic cable).</p>
<p>My daughter is thrilled with her dress and no, it did not cost $5000!</p>
<p>The venue is more important to us at this point. We do want to pick a place that would not be too far for everyone to drive. Houston is a spread-out city!</p>
<p>Yes, mauretania, spread out and intimidating to those who aren’t used to driving there! (We’ve lived there twice, 6 years and 5 years respectively).</p>
<p>My D is getting married in June 2010. Good luck with all your planning!</p>
<p>I am appreciating this thread, as I was married over 20 years ago (as were all my friends) so now I am in the position of attending weddings of friends’ kids and relatives after years of no weddings. So I am perplexed over what to buy. </p>
<p>For my niece’s wedding last summer, I bought something off the registry because I figured she registered at 3 places (Williams Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, Macys) so she wanted the stuff. The prices of things ranged from $10 to $500+. She is my only niece, and an only child, and there were 4 from my family attending, so I wanted to spend a generous but reasonable amount. But I didn’t know what that was. So my practical side prevailed and I bought the deluxe sheet set & towels which all together came out to $375. Then her mother (my sister) said to me after a few drinks at the wedding, “[Bride] couldn’t believe you bought her sheets, that is so typical of you. She doesn’t even know why she put them on the registry.” </p>
<p>Well then.</p>
<p>So now my youngest brother is getting married to a nice young lady this summer and they are both in their late 30s. I figure they have a lot of stuff, would probably rather have cash (so far only registered at one place). I would rather go the old “buy something at Tiffanys and the beautiful box alone will be appreciated” route (that was my old stand by in the olden days). So give them cash just to be safe? But the bride is really into this wedding and all that goes along with the big day. So I don’t know what to do, plus I also have to worry about a bridal shower gift and I have no idea what to spend or what direction to go with that either.</p>
<p>So suggestions appreciated since I obviously got it all wrong with my niece!</p>
<p>First of all, the sheets and towels are a lovely gift. She will use them, often. You didn’t get it “wrong”. I’d say, you got it right.</p>
<p>If the woman in her 30s is becoming a “bride” with all that entails, see the registry. At least you can get a sense of the woman. And then ask your brother what they might like cash or gift, I always love a Tiffany box…I still remember who sent me a Tiffany gift when I got married and what was inside.</p>
<p>BTW, on the show, Say Yes To the Dress…the most expensive dress retailed for around $25,000! Totally outrageous.</p>
<p>One of my daughter’s teachers was a bride on “Say Yes To The Dress” she was so obnoxious on the show that I’ve never been able to deal with her in the same way again!</p>
<p>guitarist’smom-
You didn’t get it wrong; your sister did. Very ungracious and probably a continuation of some other emotional drama or other. The sheets and towels are a lovely gift and will be used daily.</p>
<p>lol…i was invited to a wedding where the bride registered for furniture!! Actual real, NICE stuff from Raymore and Flannigan!! I was also invited to a baby shower where the entire nursery was registered…from the crib to changing table…down to the designer slippers for the infant!! haha. The crib was $5000.!! I just laughed, and knitted a blanket and bought some nursery items…uhh…not the crib!! The bride got a Braun coffee/espresso maker…and that irked me, since I never actually met her!! lol. She was the daughter of one of my husbands freinds, that I hardly knew. I seriously don’t expect extravagent gifts from people for myself or kids…not sure where people are coming from thinking that its ok to ask for that stuff! I remember back when getting a set of kitchen cutlery was a nice gift, lol. Basic practical things…not the kind of stuff I don’t even buy for myself, or my “close” family! Eh…I may be a scrooge in this area, but I just don’t feel like people should feel obligated to buy expensive things off of a “greedy” registry just to preserve family/freind relationships. Its so tacky (to me)</p>
<p>i just read the thread about the sheets/towels…and to me that is a perfect shower gift!! Thats what I kind of always thought showers were about!! When I got married, my husband and I had a “couple” of men that gave me the most beautiful set of white towels…lol…There were 6 towels, handtowels and washcloths! The gentlemen said…you will always be able to use white towels!! They just make you feel good:) for some reason, I always had a sentimental feeling about those towels, because I really felt like they thought about the gift:)…silly isn’t it how some things just make you feel good?! I had lots of lovely gifts, but every single time I washed and dried those towels, I felt special…lol. (ok, I was young! but I really did love that towel set)!!!</p>
<p>I remember feeling incredibly extravagant because my wedding dress cost $250 (1982 dollars).</p>
<p>Ha! Mafool, as usual (I read the parent forum/cafe often but don’t post a lot) you hit the nail on the head concisely and oh-so-accurately! You summed up my relationship with my sister in one well-said sentence. In short, she is crazy. </p>
<p>I AM worried that her daughter (whom I adore and spent a lot of time with when she was little) didn’t really like the gift, though. (even though it was on the registry). But anyway, thank you and Ellebud both for the affirmation. By the way, I (and my teen daughter, her only cousin) didn’t get invited to her bridal shower. I guess because we live half way across the country but i was still a little hurt and certainly would’ve sent a gift at least (maybe they didn’t want us to feel obligated, but I am her only aunt on maternal side)??</p>
<p>On to the next bride - What about bridal shower gifts? What is appropriate these days? Do I spend more since both my daughter and I will be there? Is it still for more practical stuff (my favorite was a big bucket full of sponges and all kinds of odd cleaning accessories from one of my poorer friends – I thought it was very clever and I swear I still have the bucket) or more intimate bride-only things?! </p>
<p>I too remember who got me what 20 years later. And the two couples who got us nothing! (My husband’s friends, of course, ha ha). I still laugh at the $50 check from one of my oldest friends (who was struggling financially with a new family) that bounced and ended up costing me a $10 charge from my own bank. (no I didn’t put it through again). I also am into the thoughtful, specialized thank-you notes and would be horrified if my daughter didn’t do the same some day. (P.S. my niece’s thank you note was on the bland side, but I try not to judge others’ thank-you notes as I am working on that not holding everyone to the same standard thing…)</p>
<p>Endicott…I live in the NJ/NY metro area…the wedding with the $5000. registered gifts was a $500 per couple gift…lol. It was a major extravangent event, for sure…enough food to feed an entire city…in a third world country(for real). I have been to normal weddings, exclusive weddings and …then there was this one! I was actually so turned off, that in this economy people were doing this!</p>
<p>Am I wrong? I know a lovely wedding is every girls dream, but…well we don’t all get our dreams do we? Isn’t this a time where we should maybe put our cinderalla desires aside and be logical. Wouldn’t it be much nicer to the couple if the parents gave the kids 50% of the money used on some of these weddings…have a nice small family wedding…but the kids would have some money to get a good start in life? Ok, maybe 5 or so years ago, I wouldn’t be such a wet blanket. These days however, there is too much stress in the economy. Its unfair to alot of guests ( who may have lost jobs, or taken major hits in their stocks/bonds). I just feel like…its time to shift our priorities. To me, I’d rather give a nice gift and an affordable check to the wedding couple. But I don’t feel like breaking my bank to do it. Is that wrong?</p>
<p>Ps…having 2 kids graduating this month…we’ve chosen not to have a big graduation party …because we know too many people are having a tough financial time. The kids are completely on board with that. We will have simple celebration with the grandparents/aunts and uncles that can come…but it won’t be over the top…though at one point I thought it would, lol…I feel good that we are being realistic. I’d rather just give the kids the money we would have spent on a big party…then obligate others to give gifts that may not be easy to do these days.</p>
<p>Again…I may just be a bleeding heart, lol…probably</p>