momofkhm Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 We had 2 weddings over the weekend on our short street of 7 houses (one couple lives here and the other has her parents live here). Then dh and I are going to a wedding in a month. Weddings are on the brain this week. What present did you receive and wish they had just saved their money? Or what was the trendy kitchen gadget that you got and hated? Or what present did you get multiples of, even though you registered? For us, "save your money" and kitchen gadget were one in the same. That was when the salad shooter made it's debut. MIL and her friends all had one and thought they were wonderful. I think I got 2 or 3. It was not something I registered for. Since MIL loved it, I kept one and tried to like it. I used it 2 or 3 times before it was gone. It never worked like in the commercials for me. I think we got 4 picnic baskets and only registered for 1! Same thing with vases. But I still have the vases. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-FL Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 I can't think of one I got, but my sister got a 3' tall basket w/a calico chicken nesting in the top! Great, I guess, if you have very country decor, but for the rest of us. . .:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 We got 3-4 of them. We kept one and I tried it, and sold it at a garage sale later on. I put vases on the registry because I had none and got over a dozen crystal ones. We also got multiple sets of pots and pans, which was problematic because DH and I were in our thirties and had already lived on our own and bought decent cookware. One of DH's cousins gave us a whole bunch of baskets of all types and sizes. I never figured that one out. A close relative gave us a crystal pitcher which I later realized was a martini pitcher (DH and I don't drink). When I tried to sell it at an upscale consignment store, the owner pointed out that it was a decent brand, but was a second because of a major flaw in the base. I think I got $10 for it. Funny if you think about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staci in MO Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 A co-worker gave me a gift. This was someone I barely knew and certainly didn't expect a gift from. I'm not even sure if she liked me. It was given to me in the middle of the workday, in front of all my other co-workers, including my boss (who didn't get me a gift). This made everyone else feel awkward, as they hadn't gotten me anything. I'm not the most socially astute person now, let alone then, and I remember being unsure as to whether I was to open it right then or wait. Since she presented it to me right there in front of everyone, I decided she wanted me to open it right then (still not sure if I handled that correctly). When I opened the gift, it was obviously a recycled gift. I don't know if she sincerely wanted to get me something and was trying to save money, was trying to purposely make the boss feel awkward, or what, but the whole situation was strange. I think I ended up giving the gift to Goodwill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in IL Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 What the heck is that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 We got about 4 ice cream scoops. Also a ton of dishtowels. They have both been fairly useful...we love ice cream and we use the dishtowels as napkins. It works. :) I can't remember anything truly bad we got. We did get some knick-knacky things and some crystal vases and things. For a long time we had a "wedding closet" with all those gifts in them. We used them for various times we needed a gift (No not other weddings :) think office white elephant kind of things...I kept a list so I knew we never gave something when the person who had given to us was around.) I finally gave all the crystal stuff to church to use for holiday decorations and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plaid Dad Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 We got several crystal bowls - the ultimate generic wedding gift. In retrospect, we realized that if someone needed to get us a crystal bowl, it meant that they didn't know us very well and we probably shouldn't have invited them in the first place. ("Our bad," as they say.) By far the strangest gift we got was two talking Teletubbies dolls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowWhite Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 $100 from FIL who refused to wear a tux, pay for BIL's tux, or pay for a rehearsal dinner. Way to act all generous, while still being unsupportive.:glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkpan Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Dh and I were married and lived in central Florida. One of dh's relatives sent us one of those Entertainment coupon books, full of local coupons for .. NEW JERSEY, lol!:tongue_smilie: Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 a very expensive crystal vase. She then made a big deal making sure my parents knew she wanted it back if the marriage broke up. My brother has been married 26 years. She gave me a cheaply constructed set of tv tables which I did not register for and could not return. My registery included inexpensive items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dayle in Guatemala Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 A piece of wood shaped like a lake trout with a big moveable green eye and our names painted on it. I think it's something to hang on the outside of our house, you know "Mark and Dayle __________ " live here or something like that. We laughed until we cried and then we proceeded throughout several years to hide that thing on each other in the strangest places. I would lift up the toilet seat, theres the trout. My dh would go out of town and unzip his suitcase and there was the trout. I would open the oven to put in something, there's the trout. You get the picture. Our thank you note went something like this: "Thank you so much for your gift. It has brought us lots of joy!" :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2legomaniacs Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 I don't think we got anything that was horrid. We were poor grad students when we got married. We so appreciated all that we got. We did receive some impractical gifts. A silver chaffing dish? Lovely gift, but not for us. One odd one was a teapot shaped like a bunch of grapes. But it is cute. It is sitting on my fridge right now in formation with other cute pots and the teabag box in the mix. People were so amazing and generous. People we didn't even know, who were friends of our parents, gifted us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 An electric wok from dh brother and sil. He really believes it was a regift from their wedding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumping In Puddles Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 I didn't get any bad gifts but I got many more gifts (instead of money) than I expected. I always think of gifts for the shower and cash for the ceremony. I always give money and I thought everyone else did too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 My husband and I like to entertain and have veggies and dip or other such combinations, so the veggie tray was a great idea. And I really don't mind re-gifts or garage sale finds of such things ... as long as they've been cleaned out. I must admit I was kinda grossed out when I pulled the pretty glass dish out of the box and there were little bits of broccoli florets stuck to the glass. Then I ran it through the dishwasher and I've used it for years :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 I guess it was supposed to be kind of an architectural piece. Maybe it looked like it belonged in a formal garden that had Roman type statues. It was open so we couldn't use it for someone's ashes, which was our first joke about it. We did joke about filling it with sand and putting it by our front door so people could put out cigarettes before coming in. It was from dh best friend, so we kept trying to find a place for it. Sometime after we had children, it was broken as a result of careless play. It was good to not have to keep moving the thing around. I would have gotten a lot more use out of the cooler with beer mentioned earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 And then every single person over the age of 30 got us crystal. I have crystal vases, bowls, serving dishes, pitchers. crystal. I have used it NEVER!!!! I did finally move it out of a box in the garage into the kitchen cabinets and now there is a remote chance I may use something ;-) It's been 10 years this summer....so maybe, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Crystal candlesticks. We didn't register for any crystal (or candlesticks, lol), and got several sets. As far as I know, they're all still in my parents' basement. And a piece of "art" that incorporated symbols from a religion that dh and I are not... Most of our other gifts were fine, but since we were really very young and starting out with almost nothing, we sure did appreciate it when people gave us *basics* from our registry or cash. Maybe I wouldn't have resented the crystal candlesticks so much if I had had enough everyday dishes and flatware, etc. ETA: I forgot the absolute worst! A "wedding plate". I think it was meant to be hung on the wall. It came with a lead warning that it wasn't meant to be used with food. It was this cream, Baroque sort of bas-relief thing with doves and bells and stuff. Not personalized or anything (not that that would have helped), just so ugly, so lacking in usefulness, so bizarre... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karenciavo Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 We got all cash at the wedding and all wonderful gifts at my shower. I'll count my blessings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Dh and I were older (26 & 32) when we got married. We already had "stuff" so we asked for camping equipment. It came in very handy as we camped on our honeymoon. Ironically, I think all the camping gear has worn out and the only thing left from the wedding gifts is the artwork I gave to dh and a CRYSTAL VASE!! :w00t: Crystal must be like plastic, it lasts forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valerie in MI Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 A single plain white candle from a friend who sold PartyLite candles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 a green oil lamp, the base was ceramic with some kind of leaf motif. The shape was round about the size of a soft ball and it had a typical glass flute. We were prepared for our first power outage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee22 Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 from my MIL... Given the fact we had nothing, not a coffe maker, toaster, pans this was by far the worst gift. We had no idea where we'd be living (my husband was in the military and he hadn't signed in at his new base) so it wasn't very likely we'd have a place to use it. We also received way too many crystal picture frames. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 We got all cash at the wedding and all wonderful gifts at my shower. I'll count my blessings. We're the opposite -- we didn't get any gifts. So no terrible gifts, and no great gifts either, lol! The glass is half full... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Y'all are funny... Hot air popcorn poppers were all the rage when we married and we got five of them. We already had one, so we regifted a couple and returned the rest. The best wedding presents we got....a wonderful yellow metal baking pan. I don't think we could make brownies without it. Almost thirty one years now. We also still have our blender given as a wedding gift. Last night I used a wedding gift crystal pitcher to serve peach tea to some women from church. I never used it in the early days, but now I'm pleased to have something so pretty and nice to use. Tastes grow as you mature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntergirlnc21 Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Funny, I didn't get any crystal for either of my weddings. But I was up to my armpits in brass candlesticks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 It was a wooden dog lifting its leg. It was anatomically correct. It was a gift from our best man, who thought it would be hilarious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DIY-DY Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 What present did you receive and wish they had just saved their money? Or what was the trendy kitchen gadget that you got and hated? Or what present did you get multiples of, even though you registered?:-) It was this hideous larva-looking "baby" in a plastic star. The paint had come off of it around the edges. I have NO idea why someone would give us that. Well, no, I take that back. I do know. it was from my insane sister. When I showed our Mom and asked her, "What on earth---?" Mom said, "Oh, she said she was giving you that to let you know she hopes you have boys." (Which, in my family was tantamount to putting a curse on someone - weird family.) I laughed so hard I snorted. What a lunatic. It kind of worked, though (tongue in cheek, here) b/c we do have four wonderful, fantastic boys. I just don't think this is what she was thinking of when she did that. That's what happens when you try voo-doo the cheap, used icon route. LOL. We also got something that we think was a very nice glass casserole dish. We'll never know for sure, though, b/c the bellhop dropped it on the way to the elevator. For years, we referred to the "Johnny Bag of Broken Glass" as the best gift, ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in KY Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 A piece of wood shaped like a lake trout with a big moveable green eye and our names painted on it. I think it's something to hang on the outside of our house, you know "Mark and Dayle __________ " live here or something like that. We laughed until we cried and then we proceeded throughout several years to hide that thing on each other in the strangest places. I would lift up the toilet seat, theres the trout. My dh would go out of town and unzip his suitcase and there was the trout. I would open the oven to put in something, there's the trout. You get the picture. This is hysterical! Thanks for the laugh! Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeOnTheRanch Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 We didn't have anything and we didn't register. We got a lot of great stuff. We got a lot of gifts at the wedding and a bunch more at a reception in the state DH was from. TONS of exact duplicates which we took to Wal-Mart and exchanged for other stuff we needed. What we thought was one of the worst actually has turned out pretty good. The old ladies in the church DH grew up in would get together once a week and piece & tie quilts for the poor & homeless. They gave us a huge quilt that they made. Sweet of them, but it was obviously made from recycled clothing and the color choices were hideous. I thought it was one of the ugliest things I'd ever seen, but smiled and thanked them anyway. It is our official "picnic quilt" in the summer and in the winter we use it as an extra layer under the spread on our bed. We've gotten more use out of that than many of our other gifts. One of my favorite pics of my oldest is when he was 6mos drooling on that quilt. The best gift was a set of Pyrex mixing bowls that we use daily. We were married in '90 and the colors of these mixing bowls are oranges and brown. I was in a thrift shop a few weeks ago and saw an identical set advertised as "vintage mixing bowls" for $35. Vintage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie in OR Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 It was a wooden dog lifting its leg. It was anatomically correct. It was a gift from our best man, who thought it would be hilarious. I don't know why, but that makes me happy! We registered at Pottery Barn for these great Mexican Glass glasses and water pitchers. For some reason, the registry wasn't working across the country well and we wound up with 57 identical glasses and 5 identical water pitchers...where do you store this??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria/ME Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Ah, the crystal. I had plenty of that. Hardly use it. I also got some odd ceramic vase from a very well meaning person. It was a kind gesture, but it "broke" in a move a few years late. My bad. My cousins and I love to "regift" to each other on purpose. We like to see if we can get away with it w/out any of the other cousins knowing. It's a hoot. And helps us not to take each other, or our gifts, too seriously. Then there is the ubiquitous, full lace, hot pink, unitard, crotchless, body suit thingy we've all re gifted to each other as a bridal shower gift. It was tacky in the extreme...yet very, very funny to watch the face of the giftee when they realize they rec'd the "family heirloom." Ah the memories...makes me nicer when I give wedding gifts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akmommy Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 That was when the salad shooter made it's debut. MIL and her friends all had one and thought they were wonderful. I think I got 2 or 3. It was not something I registered for. My DH's stepmother gave us a used salad shooter. It still had dried cheese or carrots or something stuck in it. :thumbdown: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdie Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Ours was an electric teakettle. The gift itself wasn't bad, but we didn't drink tea and had a gas stove top. On the rare occasion that I needed to heat water, a pot on the stove was a lot quicker. I think we were married before the salad shooter phase. Drat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindee Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 At a small reception attended mostly by family, and a few people from our church, we opened one of the gifts. It was some very "interesting" silverware, I don't even remember how to describe it! It was from my brother and ex-sil. SIL was actually quite proud of herself! She then said LOUDLY, "I looked at your registry and wanted to get the silverware. But what you picked out was so ugly I got this instead!" Ummmm....thanks???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 We got duplicate food processers. Not bad. Our funniest gift though was a broken sandwich maker from our friends who were married a few months before us. It still had the card from their wedding stuck in the box! :) We still laugh about that one. We gave them the card back and thanked them for the gift, then threw the thing away! LOL We did get many gifts we didn't use. I'm the only daughter of a woman who eloped so I had a bigger wedding than I really wanted or needed. But it was worth it to see my mom's face. The formal gifts were the ones we didn't need and still to this day don't use-crystal vases, serving sets, platters. But we were so grateful for all that we did get! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigitte Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Ours was a Mikasa glass bowl that had frosted flowers in pale red and green embossed on the bottom. The bowl was wrapped in a box that a case of envelopes came in and had old wrapping paper stuck to it. The piece-de-resistance were the dead bugs (you know the ones that accumulate in things stored in the basement or attic) in the bottom of the bowl. Clearly this was a re-gift and they hadn't bothered to look inside the box before they wrapped it for us. If you consider all the laughs we have had over the years about that bowl, maybe it wasn't our worst gift afterall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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