What is a good bridal shower gift?

The best bridal shower gift I have ever seen was one my cousin received at her shower (they've been married 11 years, so it was definitely memorable!).

She got a basket full of household items. There was one item for each letter of the alphabet. It was so cute, even if a lot of it was cleaning supplies! LOL! (If I remember correctly, she got container of Ajax for A.) It was all stuff she actually used which was also great, because so many bridal gifts just sit there and never get used!

People can pick gifts from the wedding registry if they want to bring a gift to the engagement party. As far as showers, the hosts of those will decide if you should register for general things or if there's a theme to the gifts. For instance, a common theme for a bridal shower is kitchen or bedroom stuff, and the hostess will specify a kitchen shower, or bedroom shower, and guests will bring things that go with that theme. (The bedroom theme can get kinky, and who registers for that stuff? *evil grin*) All you need is the one main registry, and the rest will take care of itself from there. You are entirely right that all these separate registries are greedy, and they do send the message that a gift is EXPECTED for everything, or else you wouldn't have registries specifically for each event. Remember that these to-do lists in magazines are sponsored by the companies placing ads, and they want you to think you have tor register for so many things that you'll eventually register for their stuff too. Showing up to just the wedding with one gift is actually quiet expensive, especially considering travel is often involves. Like you, I am also bothered by the growing expectation that gifts will be given so many times during an engagement. This is so expensive, and guests are bled dry.

It seems people are thinking this is a baby shower... It is a bridal right? Anyway, someone mentioned a diaper cake. Since it is a Wedding, I've seen people make ta wedding cake out of towels, hand towels, and washcloths. That would be crafty and a great gift. I've also seen people make a groom out of a broom and a bride out of a mop. That's pretty neat and they're bridal shower gifts.

Another Idea... take their engagement photo and have a local artist paint it on canvas. How neat is that?

Seems some folks didn't see the word "bridal" and thought "baby"..LOL!

I was an Interior Designer myself for 16+ years...one of my favorite wedding gifts that was not from my registry was a beautiful picnic basket (I mean beautiful..) filled with antique wine glasses, REALLY nice champagne, a set of hand done linen napkins (4), Belgian chocolates, a really beautiful throw that coordinated with the napkins, a CD of "love" songs, a gift card stating to stop by our (local) gourmet shop to pick-up a wonderful package of crackers, pate, etc (all our favorites were ordered ahead by the giver)...it also had some small votive holders and candles...a two small plates from my china.

Since the giver knew we were driving to our honeymoon not too far away, this was perfect...and we spread our picnic on the balcony of our hotel room (on the ocean) and had the most romantic picnic on our wedding night...it was perfect...(we didn't get to eat too much at our wedding due to all the "mingling" so the food was WELCOME...and so was the amount of thought put in to it..

Check out the registry and see what you can get from that and put together in a creative way. For example, for a friend's shower I bought the bakeware she registered for (muffin tin, cake pans, cooling racks, etc). I put them all in a wicker laundry basket (which I picked up at Walmart for under $4), with other baking supplies, such as cake mixes, frosting tubs, sprinkles, cupcake liners, oven mitt, etc. and wrapped it all in tulle. She thought it was the greatest thing and many people commented on how great it looked. I've also made different themed baskets like that, such as an italian one, with pasta bowls, cheese grater, spaghetti tongs, etc and wrapped them up with nice pasts, quality pasta sauce, olive oil, etc.

I absolutely agree with a basket of household items. Stuff that you always use and tend to run out of. Another really fun thing is to get an ice chest and fill it with fun things that you never seem to have but need. I got one for my bridal shower and it had all kinds of crazy stuff. A toilet plunger, liquid plumr, windex, baby wipes, emergency first aid kit, flash light, stuff like that, that you seem to forget but that you definitley need in an emergency, no matter what the emergency may be.

My granddaughter has requested a "Painfully Practical" shower. When we asked what this meant she said mops, brooms, paper towels, tp, laundry detergent, fabric softener,cleaning stuff because they make up so much of the bottom line for the first trip to the grocery. She said that would be the greatest idea for her. So how about a kitchen trash can of that type of thing?

If you're close enough to her and feel comfortable, get her some sexy lingerie!

But, if you two are just becoming friends, you could get her some scrap-booking things, since you said she's artsy.

Or, to be different, treat her to a day at a museum with you (perhaps purchase the ticket, if one is needed, and include it with a card). This shows that you are interested in getting to know her and spending time together. You could pair this with another small gift if it's important to you to hand her something other than an envelope.

Usually something off the registry... Most brides to be already have their registries done by their bridal shower.

check the wedding registry out.

Besides the normal kitchen and linen items most couples put a few decorative things on the registry.

Have you been in their home? Whats it like? find a painting that matches their decor.

Look around her internet profiles . . .you might find a favorite local artist . . .

or ask-(not her obviously)