Not opening gifts at shower?

Personally, I like watching the bride to be open the gifts at her shower as I like to see what she got. What I DON'T like is when the person opening them has a backstory for every gift or every gift giver that she feels compelled to share with everyone and therefore takes forever to open each gift.

The point of the shower is for people to give you gifts, so it seems odd to me that you wouldn't. Personally I would be a little peeved if I spent money on a gift and went to the event to give it to the person and then didn't even get to see their face when they opened it.

You could do a 'no wrap' shower, where gifts just have ribbons and tags.

Showers are boring, that's just the way it is.......

People want to see you open gifts. Point blank. I get it, I didn't want to be the center of attention ohhing and ahhing over gifts, that I registered for. But the gift givers appreciate it, especially the older generations.

ETA The shower is usually when you get the bows and ribbons to make your bouquet for the rehearsal. My Bm's made mine as I was unwrapping and I got a bunch of cute pics from the shower with my bow bouquet. Also the other guests at my shower loved seeing what I had gotten, like the electric pressure cooker I registered for etc.

My friend recently had a baby shower and her mom invited 85 people. They had a note with the invitation saying not to wrap the presents; that a bow was plenty and that the presents would be put on display. As you walked in, my friend was at the door to welcome you and she thanked you personally for the gift (since she could see what it was). They had a beautiful long table where all the presents went and it It worked out very, very well for that shower. I don't know how this translate to a bridal shower or how people would feel if they brought a gift that wasn't opened right there. I could see people getting offended if they brought wrapped gifts and you just took them straight to the car after the party and never opened them there. I also don't know if people would be offended that all the gifts are "on display" and not wrapped. But I agree that as a guest, I personally hate, and dread, watching the opening of presents.

That pointless. everyone likes to see the expression on your face when opening your gifts they brought.

Oh I really like tantrum whole no wrap idea. I was at a baby shower last weekend that was brutally long, and of course my gift was opened last haha

It's kind of expected. In fact, it's typically the highlight of the shower. All of the guests are seated in a circle, the bride is handed a gift by her MOH, the MOH reads who the gift is from, the bride rips open the package, the required oohs and aahs form a choir, and the gift is passed around the circle while everyone pretends to care about a crock pot, a dust buster, or some kick ass cutlery.

If you're going to cut out the gift giving portion of the shower, you'd better find something interesting to fill that hour. My advice? Just follow custom, open the gifts in front of the gift givers, be grateful, and take your haul home knowing that there's more to come on the wedding day. It's been done that way for years for a reason.

People take the time to choose a gift for you and spend money on that gift - they want to see your reaction when you open it. I think skipping that part is a bad idea.

I think most people enjoy seeing the bride's reaction when she opens the gift they give her. You can also make a game out of it.

I agree with Emily. Albeit I felt awkward at mine, I know that those who showed and gifted us something wanted to see me open it and my reaction. I had a 3 hour shower which included gift opening and yes, I moved quickly so people weren't bored.

ETA: Also, I went to a baby shower last weekend that had us do a bingo as she opened gifts. That way it was more fun & with prizes!

I did a no wrap gifts at my shower. People liked the idea. I still sat in the front and opened the card and said who it was from but it went a lot faster. Maybe you could do something like that? I think you need to at least acknowledge the gifts and not just display them.

My BM's did a bingo game where people play bingo with the gifts you get. They can either be preprinted with items from your registry or written in. At least it gave guests something to do and displaced some of the attention off of me. And people won stuff. Maybe suggest it to your hosts?

Unpopular opinion but - I didn't open gifts. I had 80 women at my shower so that would have taken hours lol, and in our family/friend group most people give cash or gift cards (from what I can tell on WW this isn't common, but in my group it is - I literally got two physical gifts, all the rest were envelopes). I can't think of anything more awkward than opening envelopes of cash in front of everyone. I've been to plenty of showers where presents were not opened, and the ones where they were I always thought it was boring tbh. Baby showers I get the opening presents thing - baby stuff is so effing cute. But bridal showers? Nah.

But that might just be my area/friend/family group so I dunno how helpful that is in terms of advice.

My bridesmaids planned for everyone to create their own bingo board out of gifts they thought I would receive. It actually got quite competitive. Would you consider that as a compromise?

I totally understand I got invited to a Bridal shower recently And I actually had a coworker ask me if I thought she was going to sit and open gifts at the party because if she was then she wasn't going,I was like ok don't come then party pooper, anyways that being said most people buy off the registry I know what I put on there it's no surprise you know what I put on there as well and no one will be as excited as me to see me open a brand new crock pot!!! Honestly do what's best for if you want to spend time at your shower talking with guest more then do so just thank everyone personally for what they bought. Once again it's your shower your big day stop worrying about what people will think unless you sign my paycheck your opinion goes through one ear out the other

I skipped that part at my bridal shower and everyone had a blast. My bridal shower was at a wine bar so was easier to skip that part. I told close family and the bridal party they can come to my parent's house to open gifts. I don't like opening gifts in front of people. I personally think it's tacky. Instead of doing that we had a wonderful meal, cake, and played more games. One of the games my MOH asked my fiance 18 questions about himself and I had to guess his answer and if I got it wrong I had to chew a piece of gum... it was a fun one. Most of my gifts were from my registry, so it wasn't a surprise and the guest knew I wanted it. I sent out thank you cards to everyone that attended.

The whole point of showers is the gift giving. At the very least, do a no wrap shower so you can at least recognize your guests for their generosity. It seems a tad rude/ungrateful to cut gifts/gift opening entirely when everyone knows that's what a shower is for.

@Marion I went to a baby shower 3 weeks ago like that. I was totally not looking forward to it because I hate showers. They are boring to me. But she ask for unwrapped gifts and thank everyone as they placed the gifts on the gift table. There wasn't any showers games. She had a DJ instead. And the food OMG. So everyone just dance, drink, and mingled. Best shower ever. After that baby shower my whole mindset on showers have changed.

It's ultimately up to you, but I know my parent's and grandparents generation will be a little upset if I don't open the gifts in front of them and thank them before the party has ended..