Gift Awkwardness

Ljljljl · March 2016

Since I hate hate HATE being in the spotlight, I tried to decline having a baby shower in my honor. Of course, my mother and MIL didn't listen and now the event is planned for March 19th. I know for the most part guests can chat together and whatnot, but how do I properly open gifts in front of a crowd? Generic "thank you" after each gift seems impersonal, but saying nothing at all is rude. The shower itself doesn't sound so bad, but I'm really dreading the last few minutes of gift opening!

jonesl12 · March 2016

I held up items and opened really fast so I could get through it in under an hour and it worked out pretty well.
People love to see what you receive.
i also had baby bingo going on at the same time so it turned gift opening into a game .

RoseShadow873 · March 2016

I hate opening gifts in front of people too. I felt super awkward about it. You can have someone serve cake during it; that can help distract people a little...

3dogs_and_a_baby · March 2016

My shower is this weekend and I have decided that I will not be opening up gifts. All guests were asked to wrap in clear and the gifts will be displayed on a table for everyone to see. My DH family is quite large and there's always a bridal shower or baby shower going on. I know his family doesn't mind not opening gifts and if we're being honest most guests are talking to one another while the honoree is opening them up.
I will thank everyone for coming and their generous gifts me write them a more personalized thank you. Once LO arrives I'll probably send a photo too of DD using/wearing the gift they bought.

elasticheart13 · March 2016

Luckily my shower was small so I was able to hug each person after I opened their gift as a thank you

momofmanyinthemitten · March 2016

A quick thank you, followed by a hand written note after will suffice. I agree that having a game (bingo is a good one!) going on during present opening will work in your favor.

JulienneNicole · March 2016

I had two showers and at the first one thrown by my SILs we actually opened gifts throughout the event. Granted this one was a laid back shower with people coming and going at different times, so it worked out well. We got a few minutes with the guest as we opened their gift so we could thank them individually.

mumistheword · March 2016

I just had my shower the last week of February, and my MIL booked a venue that had a 50 person minimum. I too am very shy, and to be truthful I hadn't ever met more than half of the guest list. I was super uncomfortable from the minute I walked in until when I left. I did my best to smile and hug everyone and make things as polite and comfortable for my guests as possible. My husband has a very large Greek family, so large family gatherings are to be expected but I had no clue just how generous everyone was going to be. I had my husband's cousin actually start unwrapping gifts ahead of time and line them up to help save on time. I had my mother and cousin walk around with the baby gifts, so everyone could see what I received. Also, one thing that I wish I had thought of before hand...if you are going to be sitting in front of everyone for a stretch of time do yourself a solid and go to the bathroom before you start. I had to go about half way through, but felt awkward or rude getting up so I had to hold it.

Cowboycorgi · March 2016

I went to a baby shower for a eco friendly family that had everyone wrap in either a reusable basket, of in fabric ribbons they ended up making the cutest mobile from. Then they didn't open presents (no wrapping paper) they just opened cards and served cake. Everyone could look at the gifts on the table and they said a huge thank you at the end.
It all felt appropriate, and they sent cute cards made of recycled paper with flower seeds you could plant in the spring. I really enjoyed not having to go through 2 hours of sitting watching gifts be opened.

skc040512 · March 2016

If you're having the traditional type of shower, where everyone brings wrapped gifts (although I REALLY like the ideas PP have had in not wrapping the gifts at all), just power through it. I had a chair set up by the gifts and my hostess lined the gifts up beforehand so I could easily grab them. I said a quick thank you and passed around bags after I opened them, so people were too busy looking at the gifts or talking to each other to pay attention to me.

jkffx7 · March 2016

Can I suggest maybe a couples shower? That's what we did- that way you can split the present opening duty with baby's daddy and the spot light isn't only on you? It's awkward but everyone knows it- they'll be more interested in the cute little things than anything else.

Ljljljl · March 2016

I mentioned bingo to MIL, and she loved the idea!! Thanks ladies!

mrstrax · March 2016

I highly recommend either bingo or passing the bags, even having dessert right before. That way people have their attention divided between you and whatever's in their hands.

katynnew · March 2016

I had my shower last weekend and as much as I appreciate everything we got, I hated every minute of the present opening! We had probably 60 or more people at our shower because our moms invited so many people. It took over an hour to open the gifts! We did bingo but someone won after like 6 gifts so that was over really fast. I would open a gift and then try to make eye contact with the person who it was from and smile or mouth thank you because there was so many people there. But it got really awkward because my MIL invited so many of her friends that I didn't know a ton of people. So I would open a card and had no idea who to look at!! It was so awkward. That plus I was burning up and having contractions from all the bending, twisting, and lifting it took to open gifts haha. I would have loved to have done what other people have said, either not wrapping or not opening them there but both our moms pushed it so hard, claiming that everyone loves to watch people open baby gifts. But I could tell after 20 minutes, nobody cared anymore.

So basically after that point, I opened them and said something like "aww" and didn't look at anyone but made sure to write really personal, sweet thank you cards to send out afterwards.

amandac12581 · March 2016

I had the cake sliced and handed out to everyone before I started opening gifts. I also don't like being the center of attention (odd for an only child I know) so it was nice that people could eat their cake and not just stare at me as I plowed through gifts

jmoew1 · March 2016

My sisters are throwing me a Facebook shower because of us living in different states. I'm supposed to take pics of gifts that family sends me and post them. Still awkward lol!

kimey1 · March 2016

We took out the gift opening portion of the shower and ate lunch and dessert and played games. On our shower invite we specifically stated that gifts be sent to our house - we didn't want them to wrap it, we didn't want to unwrap it then and there. We created a slideshow of us holding the gifts we received and will be sharing it with everyone that sent us gifts. It worked for us since neither DH nor I'm a fan of gift opening when we're guests at showers. We think it's boring for guests (you only wanna see the hosts open your gift, not so much other peoples' gifts) and hosts have to rush since there can be a time limit to the rented space.

fourtsixand2 · March 2016

I don't think there would be anything wrong with declining to open gifts at the shower. You can fill your time with just visitation and lunch. Your host can get the word out that gifts will be opened privately with a cute note on the gift table or something of that sort.

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