Said It Here

Affordable bridesmaid gifts they will actually use

Bridesmaid gifts often cost hundreds of dollars on items that end up in the bin or charity shops, which feels wasteful when you are already covering their dresses, hair, and makeup. Because friends have very particular tastes, standard trinkets risk missing the mark and becoming clutter rather than meaningful keepsakes.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Buying consumable items like eye masks, foot masks, candles, and electrolyte packets.
  2. 2
    Getting matching pajamas, face masks, candles, and sweets.
  3. 3
    Gifting a bag with coordinating items such as a facial spray, lip gloss, perfume, face mask, tiara, and handheld fan.
  4. 4
    buying personalized items like gift cards or birthstone jewelry
  5. 5
    treating it like birthday present shopping with a personal friend budget
  6. 6
    getting tailored items like nice lotions, favorite wine, or restaurant gift cards

In their words

Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.

“I was wondering what to get them that doesn't cost hundreds as I'm covering their dress, hair & makeup.”source ↗

“some have very particular things they like and dislike, so I'm moving away from the idea.”source ↗

“is this a good present or will it all end up in the bin or a charity shop ?”source ↗

Miserable_Handle_104 · r/weddingplanning · 2 upvotes

“my friend group is generally pretty mindful about not wanting to accumulate junk, so I don’t wanna give them something for the sake of giving them something”source ↗

prednisoneprincess · r/weddingplanning · 2 upvotes

“I don’t get the idea of spending hundreds of dollars on things they probably won’t use again either.”source ↗

Forsaken_Recover_633 · r/weddingplanning · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

r/weddingplanningbridesmaidsbudgetinggift givingwedding planningweddings

People with this problem also raised