Bad Wedding Gift

Buckeye_43 · July 2010

A wedding gift was delivered today from one of MIL's friends. It's a Waterford picture frame with hearts all over it. I'm an interior designer, so I freely admit I'm a total snob when it comes to what goes in my home. My style is very much contemporary (fortunately that's what H likes too) and not the least bit traditional. Anything with hearts on it tops my list of things I dislike and Waterford crystal follows close behind.I know I should just be happy with the gift and be grateful that they got us anything, but I hate it. The thing that really gets me is that is was $225! The thought of spending that much on a picture frame just absolutely blows my mind and I just think about all the other stuff we could buy with the money...stuff we would actually appreciate. If it didn't cost that much I would just put it on a shelf some where and deal with it, but dang!I'm thinking we write a really nice thank you note, return it, and hope no one ever asks to see it. We live on the other side of the country, so it's not like they're going to come visit. We do plan to move back closer to home in a few years, but hopefully by then they will have forgotten about it.My mom lived with a huge ugly clown statue for 38 years because she was afraid the people who gave it to her would come over and want to see it. I don't want this to be my clown.

Olivea12 · July 2010

I have a similar situation! We received a nearly $300 waterford crystal bowl that looks like it has hearts or fruit on the side as well as a heart shaped picture frame!

We didn't register anywhere because we didn't want gifts, but a few people went out and got us some anyway. I guess if I didn't give anyone a registry to work from than I can only blame myself.

goldgold · July 2010

I would thank them kindly and return it for something else you would like better (if you can). If they ever ask you can always say you appreciated the gift, but it didn't match your decor/wasn't your taste so you exchanged it for something else. If it's a friend of your MIL I can guess it would be doubtful she would ever be at your place.

dvohnout · July 2010

I would LIE LIE LIE. Write them a nice thank you and return the thing! The things I could buy with that money! If you are asked about it, I would probably lie again. A lil white lie is fine!

katyp51 · July 2010

Write a nice thank you note and return it. Thankfully I only had to return one gift, a spice rack because we received two. I ended up returning the one SIL gave us because we liked the other one better. We used the money to buy things we needed that we didn't get.

JEHC · July 2010

WHY WHY WHY do people insist on buying artwork for other people??? That has got to be one of my biggest pet peeves. Art and home decor is SOOOO subjective. What I love might be something that you absolutely hate, and vice versa. HH and I are lucky in that we didn't get any horrible wedding gifts, but last summer his parents came to visit. This was a mere two weeks after we closed on our home, so the walls were still pretty bare. They took it upon themselves to go out and buy us four huge paintings, totally into the hundreds of dollars. They. Were. Hideous. A big painting of a silver wolf? Umm...have a look around. Notice that the few pieces of art that we have up are very abstract and modern. Where the hell are we going to put these monstrosities? We ended up keeping three of the paintings and hiding them in rooms we don't use much, but that Silver Wolf picture had to go. Since they were there and trying to hang them, we had to be honest with them and say that while we *ahem* LOVED the other three, we thought it might be best if we returned the wolf and picked out something that would fit in a bit better...they took it back to the store in a huge huff, and came back with a ladder for us instead. To be fair, we use that ladder ALL the time. I think they've gotten over being mad at us for not loving that painting, but who knows...we probably got written out of the will, haha

manda4paws · July 2010

jehawley:
WHY WHY WHY do people insist on buying artwork for other people??? That has got to be one of my biggest pet peeves. Art and home decor is SOOOO subjective. What I love might be something that you absolutely hate, and vice versa. HH and I are lucky in that we didn't get any horrible wedding gifts, but last summer his parents came to visit. This was a mere two weeks after we closed on our home, so the walls were still pretty bare. They took it upon themselves to go out and buy us four huge paintings, totally into the hundreds of dollars. They. Were. Hideous. A big painting of a silver wolf? Umm...have a look around. Notice that the few pieces of art that we have up are very abstract and modern. Where the hell are we going to put these monstrosities? We ended up keeping three of the paintings and hiding them in rooms we don't use much, but that Silver Wolf picture had to go. Since they were there and trying to hang them, we had to be honest with them and say that while we *ahem* LOVED the other three, we thought it might be best if we returned the wolf and picked out something that would fit in a bit better...they took it back to the store in a huge huff, and came back with a ladder for us instead. To be fair, we use that ladder ALL the time. I think they've gotten over being mad at us for not loving that painting, but who knows...we probably got written out of the will, haha

i have to agree with people buying art work as a gift...NO NO NO!! and i love that you use the ladder all the time, lol....we would have so done the same thing. i would rather have a ladder any day over a picture of a wolf!! lol...sorry that cracked me up! i would hate to see what is on IL's walls, i hope you never have to stay there.....it would cause nightmares, lol

my MIL has FLOWERS on everything and everywhere in her house....it is hideous. to top it off she thinks b/c we have dogs and cats and are animal lovers EVERYTHING she buys us has to have cats or dogs on it. My cheese spreaders, set of 6, have a different cat on each handle. i have probably 6 pairs of socks with tags still on them that she has given me on every occasion since DH and I have been dating....they all have cats or dogs on them. keychains, trivets, pot holders, etc....all cats and dogs...NOT ONE THING MATCHES ANYTHING ELSE WE OWN!!! it's awful!

JEHC · July 2010

manda4paws:

i have to agree with people buying art work as a gift...NO NO NO!! and i love that you use the ladder all the time, lol....we would have so done the same thing. i would rather have a ladder any day over a picture of a wolf!! lol...sorry that cracked me up! i would hate to see what is on IL's walls, i hope you never have to stay there.....it would cause nightmares, lol

my MIL has FLOWERS on everything and everywhere in her house....it is hideous. to top it off she thinks b/c we have dogs and cats and are animal lovers EVERYTHING she buys us has to have cats or dogs on it. My cheese spreaders, set of 6, have a different cat on each handle. i have probably 6 pairs of socks with tags still on them that she has given me on every occasion since DH and I have been dating....they all have cats or dogs on them. keychains, trivets, pot holders, etc....all cats and dogs...NOT ONE THING MATCHES ANYTHING ELSE WE OWN!!! it's awful!

This is hilarious, because one of the paintings that we KEPT (ugh) was a painting of a cat sleeping underneath a giant bouquet of flowers. We have a dog, neither of us are cat lovers, I am actually extremely allergic to cats. We hung it in our downstairs bathroom that no one ever uses.

Their house is actually a gong show. They have a beautiful, large home, but they have put up every single piece of artwork that they have ever purchased, been given, or found on their many travels. They'll have a vintage black and white photograph in a heavy black frame right next to a classical painting in an ornate gold frame, next to a carved TABLETOP (picture how huge that is hanging on a wall) that they found in Africa, next to tribal pieces from Australia...it really makes no sense and it is entirely disconcerting. Mixed in with all this are family photos, charcoal drawings that FIL has done (he fancies himself a bit of an artistic, HA), postcards they've received...They are lovely lovely people, but just haven't gotten the memo that less is more.

Kelly5110 · July 2010

Buckeye_43:
I'm thinking we write a really nice thank you note, return it, and hope no one ever asks to see it. We live on the other side of the country, so it's not like they're going to come visit. We do plan to move back closer to home in a few years, but hopefully by then they will have forgotten about it.

Do it. Don't worry about it. Even after you move back in several years, are these people who are likely to be in your house? Or at least in every.single.room of your house? (Keep the bedroom door shut, and how are they to know that you didn't put a wedding picture in the thing and put it by the bed?)

Amanda, we get that, too. Except we only have a cat at the moment, so everything is starting to grow cats. I will say that the cat trivet is very useful, but not something I would have picked out for its aesthetics.

alisaurus · July 2010

I would do exactly as PPs have said.

I remember when we were registering, and I saw these hideous wedding themed frames that were metallic with wedding rings and hearts embossed on them. I said "Oh GOD, I hope we don't get anything like that." Luckily, we didn't get anything that bad. The weirdest thing we got was a magnetic frame with interchangeable "art" (read: pieces of paper with scenes printed on them) that had inspirational sayings. Luckily, the frame is just a simple black frame and it can be easily used as a regular photo frame.

Sarahkay488 · July 2010

KILL THE "CLOWN"

MadeOfAwesome · July 2010

Dude, clowns are scary as hell. Don't let them in your house!!

stephers_7 · July 2010

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This post plus the responses cracked me up! RETURN IT! We got so much crap for our wedding that didn't match anything in our home and I took back to the stores the day after we got back from the honeymoon. I never felt guilty. lol

Buckeye_43 · July 2010

stu31105:
Dude, clowns are scary as hell. Don't let them in your house!!

The clown had a sad face which made it even more scary. Why would you give that to someone for their wedding? My mom tried to sneak that thing in with my stuff when I moved. I made her take it to Goodwill and it probably still hasn't found a new home.

Buckeye_43 · July 2010

Jehawley, I'm thanking my lucky stars that we just got a picture frame and not a painting of kittens sleeping under flowers. Thank you for helping me realize it could be much much worse. LOL!

MadeOfAwesome · July 2010

Buckeye_43:

stu31105:
Dude, clowns are scary as hell. Don't let them in your house!!

The clown had a sad face which made it even more scary. Why would you give that to someone for their wedding? My mom tried to sneak that thing in with my stuff when I moved. I made her take it to Goodwill and it probably still hasn't found a new home.

You know what's weird???? It's the happy, smiley clowns that freak me out the most!! I'd probably have a heart attack if I opened up a box to unpack it and saw a clown sitting there.

Buckeye_43 · July 2010

stu31105:
Buckeye_43:

stu31105:
Dude, clowns are scary as hell. Don't let them in your house!!
The clown had a sad face which made it even more scary. Why would you give that to someone for their wedding? My mom tried to sneak that thing in with my stuff when I moved. I made her take it to Goodwill and it probably still hasn't found a new home.
You know what's weird???? It's the happy, smiley clowns that freak me out the most!! I'd probably have a heart attack if I opened up a box to unpack it and saw a clown sitting there.

The mental picture that gave me is hilarious.

MadeOfAwesome · July 2010

Adam wanted to take me to the circus one time... I told him there's no way in hell I'm going to go to a circus, have some scary ass clown sneak up on me, and then get kicked out for punching a clown in the eye before I get to see the tigers and stuff.

sms274 · July 2010

We recieved somethign from waterford too. We didn't register for any crystal at all and it defintiely isn't our style. MILs friends apparently complained about our registry to her A LOT while we were engaged and they were shopping for our gift. Apparently we don't have good enough style for their gift-buying taste...

I have NO IDEA what I'm going to do with this crystal vase... at least i know I'm not the only one..

MadeOfAwesome · July 2010

My aunt who is very Southern (think Gone with the Wind debutante) says that EVERY bride needs to get some Waterford crystal for the wedding. She got us a vase and included a little note with it that made me all gushy and sentimental... my Nana (RIP) had an absolutely beautiful garden and ALWAYS had fresh flowers all over her house... well, the note said something like "think of Nana whenever you use this vase". The vase is beautiful and although it doesn't really go with any of our other stuff, I'm still going to use it.

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