Unwrapped Gifts

I Love to wrap things so as a guest I would rather wrap it up for the bride. And no matter which way it goes thank you cards are a must since you are getting gifts from people.

I'm not a fan of it personally. Part of the point of a shower is that people are there for you to receive and open the gift. My mom went to a shower this way and she said it was very disheartening as a gift giver and she found it kind of rude and felt the bride was dismissive of the gifts since she never opened them and got to see the brides reaction.

You have a shower and open the gifts at the shower so everyone can see. That's the point of the shower.

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I would write thank yous regardless, but I was just saying that because they wouldn't see me open it, so I couldn't say a specific thank you at the actual shower like I would if it was unwrapped.

If you don't plan on unwrapping the gifts at the shower, don't have a shower.

A lot of people enjoy this part of the shower. I, however, do not. but like PP said.. as a guest I love getting cute ideas for wrapping gifts, etc.

The whole point of the shower is to watch the bride unwrap gifts. If you aren't going to do that, why have a shower? You can have a party without presents then.

If the bride can't be bothered with opening gifts, I won't be bothered with buying one. That is what a shower is all about.

I like the idea of unwrapped because I hate wasting wrapping paper, but unless I'm told that gifts shouldn't be wrapped I'll always assume they will opened during the shower.

If you do go this route, make sure you have someone dedicated to opening the door and writing down gifts immediately, since you'll be busy talking to your guests and mingling and won't want to stop every time the doorbell rings.

I mean, I think you see the bride's reaction when she opens the gift. I don't like this idea at all. Especially if you have a group of people all coming in at the same time, the bride is going to rush through looking at the gifts because she won't want people standing outside waiting to come in, and that's not giving each gift, and the giver, the proper attention they should get.

Either way though, thank you cards need to be sent. A verbal thank you upon being handed the gift is not sufficient for a shower.

To me it sounds awkward all around. I mean to me the whole thing is awkward anyway, no matter if you open during the party or not - but definitely seems a little uncomfortable and potentially weird the way you're suggesting.

As a guest, I like to wrap presents, because it’s fun to watch the bride open them.

FWIW here’s my experience with doing this: My aunts decided to do this for my shower, because I’m painfully awkward in front of a crowd and they were trying to save me from it. When I arrived at my shower they had all the gifts displayed on a table. We ate and played a couple of games, and then we got to the part where the bride would normally be opening gifts and it was really obvious that everybody was noticing that this was not happening. I opened all of the cards that went with the gift because it didn’t feel right, after everyone took the time to pick out a gift for me and to come celebrate, not to acknowledge them individually. I appreciate that my aunts were trying to make it easier for me by asking guests not to wrap gifts but honestly I felt more uncomfortable doing it that way.

Whatever you decide to do, as PP have said - send prompt handwritten thank you notes!

I absolutely HATE wrapping gifts, so when I attended my first unwrapped baby shower last year I was thrilled! It gave us guests more time to mingle and not sit there bored out of our minds trying to ohhh and ahhhh over every gift. I didn't feel my gift was any less appreciated either. I think it's fine and rather enjoyed it

I think you should send a thank you card regardless. Thank you cards are not just for gifts but for them coming to celebrate your day.

Uh I'm so torn on this. I would 100% never want to do this at my shower because I love opening presents (lol) and to me it would be awkward just standing at the door waiting to get a gift. On the flip side, I spent 90 minutes at a baby shower watching someone open up gifts. That was so boring and it went on wayyy too long.

Either way you 100% need to send out Thank you Cards

I mean I get that the shower is to get presents. But it would sort of rub me the wrong way, and neither would I want to be the bride in this case, to be standing at the door waiting for people with their presents. Even though it's not meant to be gift-grabby, it could come off that way.

As a guest I’d feel like my present is some kind of cover charge to get into the party if she was standing by the door accepting them as people came in.

Unfortunately, I can't think of a way to get around nerves or a lengthy gift opening, and so from what I can see, this seems like an unavoidable part of a shower and one of those things where you just bite the bullet. If you're having a shower, you should open your gifts in front of your guests, otherwise, just don't have one.

I would rather wrap my gift for the bride to open. I, personally, like to wrap presents and also like opening them, even if I do feel a bit awkward about the attention on me.

I love love love this! I have been to 3 showers this year and each was an unwrapped or clear wrapping shower. We did not have to sit through an hour of watching the poor bride sit there and open gifts.

I'm a fan of wrapping gifts, so I prefer to wrap them. I think it can come off as rude asking guests not to wrap gifts. It can come off as pretentious asking guests not to wrap the gifts so you can just look over what they got you without really looking at it. I've been to a few showers whether it's a bridal or baby showers where it takes place and it doesn't seem to go over well.

I love the unwrapped idea