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RE: Gift Opening

wolfwillow — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:49:59 GMT

[quote][b]Nicotina (7/18/2008)[/b][hr]My family has never done this. FH's family does a brunch (no present opening) since sometimes the OOT guest don't fly in until 1/2 days before and then fly out a couple of days later. My FMIL asked if we wanted to do a [b][i]lupper (lunch and supper)[/i][/b] but I don't think we want to.[/quote]
Wow! though my family was the only ones that used lupper LOL :P

RE: Gift Opening

Nicotina — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:47:39 GMT

My family has never done this. FH's family does a brunch (no present opening) since sometimes the OOT guest don't fly in until 1/2 days before and then fly out a couple of days later. My FMIL asked if we wanted to do a lupper (lunch and supper) but I don't think we want to.

RE: Gift Opening

chulie — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:39:53 GMT

i know people who make it another formal affair....so..they invite people and have thing catered and whatever...we are choosing not to....we get married saturday and then on the sunday we are going to have anyone who wants to come over over to what will officially be "our" house for a BBQ...Very informal anyone who stayed in a hotel who wants to drop by is more than welcome ect...wont be opening anything then either...probably just be my immediate family and maybe his mom and dad and stuff??? then we leave sunday at 11 at night for our honeymoon..hahahaha....im not sleep anyways..hahaha..so...itll keep us busy too until we leave

RE: Gift Opening

jen39 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:58:02 GMT

We're not having one b/c, in our opinion:
A) they're boring for pretty much everyone except FH and I
B) it will be painful b/c we're all planning on having a good glow on the night before
C) we're not going to have much time between wedding and minimoon

RE: Gift Opening

scraggles — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:50:46 GMT

We left as soon as the reception was done to our little mini-moon and weren't back until the following monday. My dad took all of the money from the presentation box for safekeeping until we got back, and did not open it in front of people. Some people thought we should have spent more time with out of town guests, but I think they understand. Plus DH's dad and stepmom were in our house for like a week before and a week after so we spent lots of time with them. I wouldn't have wanted to open in front of people, it's a little awkward. At my shower people were commenting on how I always say "awww thank you sooo much" but what else are you supposed to say! lol

RE: Gift Opening

missdish — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:24:15 GMT

We were going to but changed our minds.

1. 3 weeks before MIL had done nothing for it including inviting anyone....

2. Didn't want to open stuff in front of people, and glad we didn't. We got a lot of money and no one else needs to know that

RE: Gift Opening

amanda222 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:48:22 GMT

[quote][b]MandaS (7/14/2008)[/b][hr][quote][b]kaisag (7/11/2008)[/b][hr]I think its fine not to have one, we didnt. We had a day after brunch, but no gift opening. Plus it was pretty much all cards anyways, so how boring is that?[/quote]

This is what we are doing as well. We are leaving for our Honeymoon on Monday morning so we are going to take our gifts home, open some on Sunday and the rest when we get home. We are also planning this so that we can write the thank you cards while we open the gifts! That way, they get done and sent shortly after the wedding![/quote]

That sounds like a great idea! Very smart. (LOL - I don't know if my DH would have had the patience for it, though...)

RE: Gift Opening

Nik82 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:19:17 GMT

I said no... we didn't really have one. The only gift we opened in front of anybody was a painting from my uncle. He's an artist and he really wanted to see our expression when we opened it. So that was the exception. The rest DH and I opened on our own at home.

RE: Gift Opening

MandaS — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 02:38:11 GMT

[quote][b]kaisag (7/11/2008)[/b][hr]I think its fine not to have one, we didnt. We had a day after brunch, but no gift opening. Plus it was pretty much all cards anyways, so how boring is that?[/quote]

RE: Gift Opening

LilMissTrouble — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:50:09 GMT

After our engagement party, FH and I just went back to my parents and opened cards and gifts (we had an engagement brunch), so I figured we'll just do something similar with the wedding gifts, but the next day. His family will be invited as well if they want to come.

My dad's a business guy so he took care of keeping track of all the money and depositing it for the engagement party and I'm sure he'll do that again. I might enlist my MOH to help keep track of the gifts and money too so when I have to write thank you cards I won't have a problem.

RE: Gift Opening

KatherineR — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:38:07 GMT

We had a brunch and visited with people. Later in the day we opened cards and gifts with my sister/MOH so she could populate the spreadsheet for TY cards and DH could go to the bank so monetary gifts would be safe while we were away.

Worked out well - I hate opening presents in front of people b/c I feel like I need to fake an over the top happiness for every present (whether I'm excited or not).

RE: Gift Opening

anchor31 — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 22:29:57 GMT

No. We'll be picking up most of our presents at the store a few days after the wedding.

RE: Gift Opening

eeklrb — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:59:16 GMT

We had one, but you definately don't need to.

RE: Gift Opening

Adrea — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:39:09 GMT

We didn't have one and I'm glad! After all of the wedding related activities we were so happy to have time to ourselves and relax. It was nice to talk about the wedding and "play" with our new things-alone.:)

RE: Gift Opening

Zim — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:45:44 GMT

My MIL wanted to have one, simply so she could take the cash to pay for the wedding, I believe. (I'm still bitter enough to believe the worst of her about everything... Am hoping this will wear off one day)

It was a lot more fun opening the presents we had at home, than opening the presents that had been left at my MIL's house and having her insult the choices my friends had made.

RE: Gift Opening

novalt — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:36:01 GMT

[quote][b]amanda222 (7/11/2008)[/b][hr]We were originally planning to have one, and were going to do a brunch-type thing. We were planning to extend the invitation to everyone from out-of-town (mostly my family), and a few of DH's closer relatives. It ended up being just one more thing to organize though, and we ended up scrapping it altogether. I'd been looking forward to it in the beginning, but it was a relief to cancel it. (We hadn't really told anyone about it anyway.) No one really cared, and we ended up seeing most of the out-of-town people for breakfast anyway, since we stayed in the same hotel as most of them. We'd also invited them to the "rehearsal dinner" the night before the wedding, so that seemed like enough.

In the end, it worked out for the best for us - we got to relax and take our time getting stuff done the day after the wedding, and then went home and took turns opening the gifts. It was a really nice time for just the two of us, and we didn't have to censor our reactions to anything. [highlight="FFC1C1"](Like, wondering how my brother and a GM both managed to get us the same thing from the registry, but neither removed it from the list. Or scratching our heads at an odd gift, or whatever.) [/highlight] Plus noone had to know how much anyone gave us in cheques or gift cards. Mostly though, we just enjoyed taking our time with it and each other.[/quote]

LOL!!!

RE: Gift Opening

novalt — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:31:56 GMT

[quote][b]Rikke (7/11/2008)[/b][hr][quote][b]novalt (7/11/2008)[/b][hr]We get married Friday night. Our flight leaves at 6am on Sunday morning from Grand Rapids, MI (5 hour drive home, plus time at border explaining the whole marriage thing), so we have to leave on Saturday and we really don't have time to have one.. Is it rude not to? Did you have one, or are you planning on having one?[/quote]

We did a gift opening the day after the wedding with only mine and DH's direct family, but I don't think you're expected to.

Out of curiousity, why are you thinking you'll need to explain your marriage at the border?[/quote]

Oh whoops, sorry... FH is CDN, but works in the US under TN status. I will be moving down there as a dependant (called TD status), which involves some paperwork at the border, but this can't be done till we get the marriage certificate, which we won't have yet.. They need to make sure you are coming BACK to Canada and usually give you a bit of a hard time. So b/c we will be driving back together with FHs truck with MI plates, it might seem that I am staying there (not crossing in my car with CDN plates). So we need to explain that we are going for our honeymoon, will be back up to get the certificate, and then we will come through again to process the paperwork, and that no, I am not trying to move illegally into the country... wheww, hope that clears it up

RE: Gift Opening

lovemrk — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:10:07 GMT

Definitely will not be having a gift opening.

RE: Gift Opening

Jenn2008 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:05:39 GMT

We had our parents as well as my brother (the only sibling for both of us), sister-in-law and our nephews. DH's best man stopped by to drop something off so he was there for a litte while as well. Nobody else expected to be there nor would I have wanted anyone else to be there. After we had a BBQ to say thank you to our parents.

RE: Gift Opening

amanda222 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:59:20 GMT

We were originally planning to have one, and were going to do a brunch-type thing. We were planning to extend the invitation to everyone from out-of-town (mostly my family), and a few of DH's closer relatives. It ended up being just one more thing to organize though, and we ended up scrapping it altogether. I'd been looking forward to it in the beginning, but it was a relief to cancel it. (We hadn't really told anyone about it anyway.) No one really cared, and we ended up seeing most of the out-of-town people for breakfast anyway, since we stayed in the same hotel as most of them. We'd also invited them to the "rehearsal dinner" the night before the wedding, so that seemed like enough.

In the end, it worked out for the best for us - we got to relax and take our time getting stuff done the day after the wedding, and then went home and took turns opening the gifts. It was a really nice time for just the two of us, and we didn't have to censor our reactions to anything. (Like, wondering how my brother and a GM both managed to get us the same thing from the registry, but neither removed it from the list. Or scratching our heads at an odd gift, or whatever.) Plus noone had to know how much anyone gave us in cheques or gift cards. Mostly though, we just enjoyed taking our time with it and each other.

RE: Gift Opening

kaisag — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:42:59 GMT

I think its fine not to have one, we didnt. We had a day after brunch, but no gift opening. Plus it was pretty much all cards anyways, so how boring is that?

RE: Gift Opening

Beltsie — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:33:34 GMT

I don't like the idea of people watching us open gifts, so we're not having one. But we are having a brunch for family the next day, which will be the get together people want, without the opening of gifts! :)

RE: Gift Opening

Rikke — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:45:40 GMT

[quote][b]novalt (7/11/2008)[/b][hr]We get married Friday night. Our flight leaves at 6am on Sunday morning from Grand Rapids, MI (5 hour drive home, plus time at border explaining the whole marriage thing), so we have to leave on Saturday and we really don't have time to have one.. Is it rude not to? Did you have one, or are you planning on having one?[/quote]

We did a gift opening the day after the wedding with only mine and DH's direct family, but I don't think you're expected to.

Out of curiousity, why are you thinking you'll need to explain your marriage at the border?

RE: Gift Opening

NLC123 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:40:13 GMT

[quote][b]mindym (7/11/2008)[/b][hr]It's kind of tradition out where I live, but FH and I decided we didn't want to have one. It's bad enough I'm opening gifts at the bridal shower, I don't really feel comfortable opening presents in front of people when they can't enjoy the fun themselves. I think it's just an excuse for people to see what you got and compare! Haha Plus, I'd like to be able to sleep in reaaallly late after the wedding ;)[/quote]

+1, one of my bm's is astounded that we aren't doing and I think she just wants to see how much $ we get. We are leaving early the next morning for our Honeymoon so no time.

RE: Gift Opening

cfranke — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:13:23 GMT

We are having one. I am definitely NOT comfortable opening gifts in front of everyone...BUT most of our guests are from out of town, and FH and I would like to spend as much time as possible with them before they all go their respective ways. So we are having a brunch/gift opening at FH's parents house the next morning.

RE: Gift Opening

sarahandrob2010 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:05:54 GMT

I'd say you have a perfectly valid reason for not doing one, and most people will understand.

I think it's personal preference anyway. Some people just aren't comfortable with sitting there opening presents while everyone watches, and there's nothing wrong with that, IMO. :)

RE: Gift Opening

mindyb — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:15:13 GMT

It's kind of tradition out where I live, but FH and I decided we didn't want to have one. It's bad enough I'm opening gifts at the bridal shower, I don't really feel comfortable opening presents in front of people when they can't enjoy the fun themselves. I think it's just an excuse for people to see what you got and compare! Haha Plus, I'd like to be able to sleep in reaaallly late after the wedding ;)

Gift Opening

novalt — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:45:48 GMT

We get married Friday night. Our flight leaves at 6am on Sunday morning from Grand Rapids, MI (5 hour drive home, plus time at border explaining the whole marriage thing), so we have to leave on Saturday and we really don't have time to have one.. Is it rude not to? Did you have one, or are you planning on having one?