I have this fear of bridal showers and baby showers. I am trying to figure out why I don’t like them and I think it all boils down to the presents. I never know what to buy! I know there are registries and yes those are great. But how much do I spend? I never know. I used to spend around $20 on shower gifts and $100 on wedding gifts. But it seems like every shower I’ve been to lately, I look stupid with my $20 vase when everyone else buys the $500 pots and pans set, the $400 vacuum, the $350 food processor, etc. It is really embarrassing and I feel like the guest of honor is looking at me with “that’s all you got me?” look.
The shower I am going to this time – I went online to view the registries and everything is gone! Well, not everything – but everything expensive. If it is over $150, it is fulfilled. All there is left is the $20 mixing spoon, the $30 pot holder, etc. I am going to look like such a cheapo showing up with a spoon with a bow on it! Yikes!
I just wish there was some kind of Emily Post guideline on what to spend. When we got married, most of our wedding gifts were around $40. So I worried thinking spending $100 was too much! And lately many of our friends have hired us as the photographer for their wedding and we have decided that will be our gift to them. But I’m not sure if they still expect a normal wedding present. Do they realized that if I do their wedding, I am turning away at least $2500 for that day? Then do they expect me to give them an album when the albums cost me roughly $800?
It is funny – we did a friend’s wedding a year ago and she was a total bridezilla. I don’t think she realized how insanely bridezilla she was! I tried to get times and locations and info for weeks leading up to the wedding – and then she said something to me that day that was really hurtful. When all was said and done and over – I was so relieved. A week after their wedding, I came home to a huge bouquet of flowers on our doorstep. I started crying thinking it was a thank you gift and I was actually appreciated – but it turned out to be an arrangement from my neighbor for watching her cat while she was away the previous week! Long story short – I don’t think I ever got a thank you. I am wondering if she is mad that I haven’t sent her a real gift – like a $100 place setting. Hmmm…I guess I will never know!