Comments on: Clearly tacky?

By: La BellaDonna

La BellaDonna — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:55:20 +0000

The gift display doesn’t bother me; it is a centuries-old tradition amongst many different peoples, and I’m a nosy creature intrigued by what people like to give other people. I buy books on material culture; I like going to museums; I acknowledge that I like looking at “stuff”, and I’m perfectly happy to “ooh” and “aaa” and celebrate with someone. I don’t think there’s something inherently wrong in a display of wedding gifts. In the 19th century, newspapers would actually do stories on the wedding gifts of the Rich and Powerful (and sometimes Famous) that were on display, and sometimes there were times published when the public could go and admire the dozens of lace-topped stockings with which somebody was starting her married life.

I DO object to said objects being set out wrapped in cellophane.*

*Unless, of course, one is displaying a grand trousseau of chicken parts.

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:12:04 +0000

I have seen a gift display. Mind you, this was the early 1980’s and it was in Maryland, but still and all, there it was in the bride’s parents’ dining room for all to see.

By: Pencils

Pencils — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:45:23 +0000

Twistie–I remember a great scene in The Philadelphia Story where James Stewart is making fun of the huge pile of Katherine Hepburn’s wedding gifts, spread out on display.

By: Never teh Bride

Never teh Bride — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:17:46 +0000

I’ll admit to having wrapped gifts in newspaper, muslin, and other bits of stuff I could find lying about the house. I did try to at least make it look like it was done on purpose!

By: daisyj

daisyj — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:10:17 +0000

Frankly, anybody who gets a gift from me that isn’t wrapped in laboratory bench paper and electrical tape should consider that they’ve come out ahead.

By: Twistie

Twistie — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:45:39 +0000

LaBellaDonna, I love, love, LOVE the way you think.

By: La BellaDonna

La BellaDonna — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:19:03 +0000

My counter-proposal, should any bride-to-be or hostess-to-be have this utterly ridiculous suggestion offered, is that the GIFTS be wrapped in the traditional opaque manner, but the GUESTS be wrapped in cellophane.

That should shush ‘em.

Although, in fact, the featured dress is significantly prettier than many wedding dresses have seemed of late.

By: class-factotum

class-factotum — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:21:37 +0000

Or you could just skip physical gifts and ask for cash, as someone I know and who shall remain nameless has done. My fiance forwarded the registry to me (they are asking for cash for their honeymoon and this site facilitates that) and asked, “Is this tacky?”

I answered, “Yes.”

By: Twistie

Twistie — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:54:40 +0000

Kira, displaying the wedding gifts was indeed a long-standing tradition. I’ve seen engravings that appeared in magazines of the time showing the carefully displayed haul Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were given when they tied the knot. It is, however, a tradition that went out in most places about the same time as the horse and buggy stopped being the primary mode of transportation. It hung on in small pockets here and there for a couple more decades, but I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone doing it in at least forty years. And when it was done, they weren’t wrapped to prevent freezer burn.

By: Kira

Kira — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:37:02 +0000

My MIL asked my husband and I if we planned on displaying our gifts at the rehearsal dinner, which I guess was a tradition to show off your new silver and china rather than the duvet cover and mixing bowls that were on our registry. This sort of reminds me of that.