Bridal Shower Gifts For The Bride Who Already Has It All

Yes, there are ideas for her!

Bridal shower gifts can be pretty typical. There's the usual collection of baking tins, tablecloths, kitchen shears, candles, elegant photo frames and mother of pearl sweet dishes. Occasionally, someone will turn up with something truly enlightened and it will remain a talking point for years afterwards! Sometimes, the theme set for the shower can help or hinder the inspiration behind the bridal shower gifts and make shopping a bit of a nightmare, or an absolute pleasure for the guest.

There are some really cool ideas though, that can spark interest in the most jaded gift buyers. For starters, a gift registry is a brilliant custom that allows guests to go along and choose something in their affordable price range, have it wrapped and delivered to the party. It's a win/win situation because the bride receives something she'll love in her favorite design or color, and the guest is spared the dilemma of wondering what to buy for someone she may or may not know very well. If the last time you saw the bride was when she was wearing her engagement dress, then you really don't know much about her at all and it can be a struggle to gauge her personality in order to give an appropriate gift.

The gift of green
These days, a large proportion of brides-to-be have already set up house and may be living with their intended groom, so they have a home full of all the essentials they need to cook, clean, sleep, entertain and garden. It used to be very poor etiquette to ask guests to provide gifts of money, but now it seems to make a lot of sense. So long as the invitation is worded appropriately, monetary presents can be suggested as an option, but a gift can be given instead. Or, in some affluent circles, the new trend is to arrange for gifts of money to be donated to a favorite charity in lieu of being given to the bride as bridal shower gifts.

Stock the bar
Consumables may seem a little odd to give as a gift, but remember, this is not the wedding. Bridal shower gifts don't tend to be as sentimental, and are usually more practical. For the woman who has everything, alcohol can be a treat because it means she can hold parties for friends and family, or relax with her new husband in the evening with a treat from the bar … and there'll be a varied supply of tipples to choose from. A couple of bottles of champagne personalized with the couple's name is a unique memento and can be savored for their wedding night, and their first anniversary.

Building on friendship
If the happy couple are in the process of building or renovating their marital home and are saving as much as they can for that as well as their wedding, how about giving 'help coupons' as bridal shower gifts? It's similar to organizing a working bee but everyone can offer different services to be used at different times. Someone can offer to provide food and drink onsite all day, someone else can give a coupon that's good for five hours of indoor painting. These are practical ideas that can work really well if given in the right spirit.