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It’s time for your wedding and your parents have done a ton of work to help get you to this day, from raising you to helping get things ready for the wedding. There are many reasons to give parents thank you gifts at weddings (or at the rehearsal dinner, logistically speaking).
Sometimes there are a lot of politics involved, like deciding if you give parents who contributed different amounts the same value of gift and on and on. Some prefer to think of parent thank you gifts as a “thanks for raising me and making me who I am today.” I am going to completely ignore your motivations and let you come to a decision that works for you.
Digital Picture Frame
Weddings are one of those times that you get lots of awesome, professional photographs taken of friends and family. Usually the other times are restricted to babies, when kids are small and perhaps graduations. Your parents probably took a million pictures of you when you were itsy bitsy and would love to do so again. If you give them a digital picture frame, they can see an endless parade of your gorgeous new pictures. This is also a fantastic gift for a grandparent. Depending on your parents’ level of tech-savviness, you may want to pre-load the photos. You can check some of them out on Amazon, here
Weekend Away – B&B
Believe it or not, weddings can be stressful for parents, too! They are often equally invested in all of the details, set up, guest list decisions, family politics and the emotions of seeing their kids taking another step in adulthood. Sending them away to relax for the weekend, especially at a Bed and Breakfast, can be a nice way to say “Thank you.” Many of the daily deal sites, such as groupon, will feature hotel and B&B deals. You can also check what the deals look like in other cities, as they might have a hotel advertised that is a convenient destination for your parents.
Additional China for their Pattern
Weddings come with many traditional gifts, one of which is china. Maybe your parents would still like the covered vegetable tureen that they’re missing in their collection. Perhaps they have an uneven number of soup bowls due to Uncle Billy having that accident that one time? If your parents use and appreciate their china, give them a piece to add to the set. You can find lots of pieces for discontinued patterns on eBay.com and on Replacements.com. Even if the patterns have not been discontinued, you may find the best prices on eBay!
Classes
Lots of classes are fun, here are a few ideas:
- Cooking
- Photography
- Horseback Riding
- Guided Hiking
Again, check your local daily deal sites to see if there are any deals!
Massages or a Spa Day
As I noted above, parents get stressed and tired out from weddings, too. Consider giving your parents a wedding thank-you gift of a couples massage, individual massage or a spa treatment. Yet again, check for deals online or if a local spa has a sale on. Don’t think that this is just a wedding thank you gift for Mom! There are a lot of spa treatments and massages for Dad, too.
Tree or Potted Plant
Now, this idea can backfire, especially if your gardening skills resemble mine. However, there are a lot of references to love growing and blooming. You can pick out a seedling, or a nice plant or potted plant as a thank you gift.
Here is a great selection of poems about love and trees, found at Seedling Trees.
Dinner
In all the hustle and bustle, your parents might appreciate a nice dinner out with your company. Depending on where you and your parents live, your parents might like an opportunity to get to know your future intended in a casual setting.
Alternatively, you can give them a gift certificate for dinner. Make sure to check out your local discount sites like Groupon.
Clothing
You could offer to spring for the day-of clothing that your parents will wear. Not all parents have deep pocket books and they may appreciate having a chance to wear some fancy new duds for this occasion. A high quality or posh brand name necktie
Handbags are an increasingly common bridesmaid gift idea, but you could also get one as a thank you gift for Mom. These come in a very large array of prices and styles, so select something that will be appreciated and will fit into your budget. If you would like a research starting point, I can recommend looking at handbags on Amazon
Your father may also want a handbag, in a slightly different style. For some gorgeous, unisex leather satchels, I recommend checking out Renaissance Art. My spouse and several of my coworkers have these and they are very high quality, US made bags.
Subscription Box
Subscription delivery boxes are booming right now! If you are unfamiliar with the concept, you sign up for a box with a certain theme and each month, for a set number of months, you receive a box in the mail containing an assortment of products. You can get bottles of wine, pounds of coffee, gourmet food, make up, craft projects, nail polish, socks and more! You can get them for different lengths of time and in a large variety of prices.
You can also pop over to SubscriptionBoxes.com for a wide range of browsable boxes.
Art Work
If you confidently know your parent’s taste in art, you may want to pick them up a piece of art work. Art is something most of us keep around for a long, long time.
Family Tree
You can get some absolutely gorgeous and artistic renderings of family trees from Etsy these days. They range from printed on burlap, to paper cut outs, to photographic versions. Given that weddings are all about family, it seems like an appropriate time to give such a gift. You may also want to do this one for your parent’s anniversary, or as a thank you gift for your grandparents.
Ancestry.com Membership
Staying on the theme of family, are your parents interested in learning more about your family history? You could gift them a membership to Ancestry.com (or .ca!) if they are going to all of a sudden find themselves with bonus free time after the wedding huzzah is over.
First Born Child
Okay, this is completely a joke, but you could write a card that says your gift to them will be a grandkid.
Traditional Parent Thank You Gifts
Handkerchief with Poem
There are quite a few of these cutesy poems out there, which you can have made via Etsy, or if you have a fancy sewing machine, you could do yourself.
Here are some links to poem examples and to handkerchiefs:
Bumblebee Linens – Everything from simple, to ornate lace with monograms.
Advantage Bridal – HUGE selection here, groom to Grandmother, Stepmother, Godmother, Friend to Bride, etc etc etc!
Etsy – Lots and lots of choices here, many customizable.
Framed Picture or Stretched Canvas
Make your parents an IOU for a nice framed photo of the two of you
(The blue broccoli is a bouquet. Obviously.)
Parent Photo Albums
This is a very common gift idea… but it is especially important to make sure that you actually make them! (Ahem, I might have not done so yet.) It’s easy if they are an option to purchase from your photographer, alternatively you could make a physical wedding photo album
Restaurant Gift Certificate
Send your parents out to enjoy a night on the town. It is likely that the whole wedding business has been work and stress for them as well, so a relaxing night out on you may be just what the doctor ordered. You can check for Groupons or similar discounts when buying a gift certificate, in order to save your pennies.
Concert or Game Tickets
Like going to a restaurant, you know that your parents will enjoy this one, because you can pick something that they already like to do or to see. For a huge list of ticket ideas, read this post called Ticket Gifts for Everyone.
Alcohol!
Pick up a nice bottle of wine or scotch. Maybe your father in law has a penchant for Grand Marnier (mine does), so you could get one of those. Perhaps your mother in law is an oenophile? Add to her vintage wine collection.
Jewelry and Cufflinks
This works especially well if you picked up some cufflinks
For moms or step-moms or grandmothers, consider a nice pair of earrings
