Hello! I’m getting married in June and have been working on getting the thank you gifts prepared for our wedding party and families. I had figured, based on previous weddings I’ve attended, that we’d give the gifts to everyone at the rehearsal dinner. This raises a few questions for me. Some context is that my parents have been divorced since very shortly after my birth, so my stepmom isn’t just my dad’s wife. We often don’t necessarily caveat introductions with the “step”s when either of us introduces the other to new people, and I’ve called her a special nickname for most of my life (since elementary school) that indicates she’s not “mom” but she’s also not “stepmom”, and I lived with her and my dad (and their children, who I don’t like to categorize as my half-siblings but just my sibs) for a good chunk of my life, as well. My mum has struggled with some mental health issues that made her a little difficult to depend on growing up but has always been close emotionally/ is still very much my mum. Throughout the planning process, I’ve found she’s sensitive to the thought of ceding any ground regarding being the only mom figure on my half of the equation, but that feels disingenuous to me to exclude my stepmom from recognition for her mom-like role in my life. It’s been mild, such as not wanting the exact same florals as my stepmom, not wanting my stepmom to be introduced with any title that includes “mother” or “parent” (in conjunction with my dad as “parents”, even if mum goes first as “mother” as a standalone role), but as I’m coming up with gifts and the timing of giving them, it’s raising some new questions:
1. The dads are getting fairly matchy matchy gifts, and I was thinking of getting the moms (including MIL) some matchy matchy jewelry with personalized notes. This seems better than “downgrading” my stepmom’s gift, but is it considered customary to get my “mom mom” a “better” gift? Or at least something distinct? If so, I could certainly do something different for all three moms, but I did like the jewelry sets I found
2. If I get them all the same thing but her personalized note is still sentimental and references her maternal influence in my life, would it be better to give them these gifts outside of the rehearsal dinner timeframe?Sorry that it’s a lot of context, and thank you all for any insight you’re able to offer! First time getting married lol so I don’t know all these intricacies