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Gifts for my mother and future MIL

SMC

SMC

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Sep 30, 2012
Messages
2,035
Hi everyone,

I'm getting married at the end of the year and my FI and I want to get matching gifts for our moms. We're definitely thinking jewelry, but we have no great idea regarding what to buy. The budget is around $500 for each gift. Willing to spend up to $750. They have to be exactly the same so there's no favoritism.

I was thinking of getting these necklaces from Pearl Paradise: http://www.pearlparadise.com/Metallic-SilverPeach-60100-mm-Graduated-Freshadama-Pearl-Necklace5213.aspx

However, I'm really open to other suggestions. I'd appreciate any help!

Thanks!
 
I'd go for a diamond band. Classic, simple, and easy to wear anywhere.
 
I think the pearls are a good choice.
no sizing required.
but are you sure this is a color that will look good on both mothers?
 
Send them to a spa. They can bond over hot stone massage and mani/pedis ;))
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I had a talk with my FI and he wants to get them something really nice. So now the budget's $5,000 per gift. I guess this opens us up to more options. FI's insistent on bracelet or necklace though as his mom doesn't wear earrings or rings.

Sooo - jewelry suggestions in budget? Thanks so much!
 
Awesome!!

I'd put together a stunning halo'd diamond pendant.
 
sortmon|1384577511|3557471 said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I had a talk with my FI and he wants to get them something really nice. So now the budget's $5,000 per gift. I guess this opens us up to more options. FI's insistent on bracelet or necklace though as his mom doesn't wear earrings or rings.

Sooo - jewelry suggestions in budget? Thanks so much!
Click to expand...

With that budget you have a whole range of bracelet options at Whitefalsh:

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamond-bracelets/search.htm (I especially like the "scattered" line bracelet on pg. 3, and the "shared prong" bangle on pg. 2).

Or you could go to Brian Gavin Designs and get each a nice diamond set in the "Barbara" bezelled pendant setting:

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamond-pendants/the-barbara-pendant-18k-white-gold-5352w18

Or you could go for the allure of the blue box:

http://www.tiffany.com/Shopping/Ite...+1884+4&search=0&origin=browse&searchkeyword=

http://www.tiffany.com/Shopping/Ite...1352+10&search=0&origin=browse&searchkeyword=

I'd go for the Barbara pendant or a DBTY necklace, since those are both on my personal wish list. ;)
 
Wow for such a great budget, you could consider a diamond or sapphire tennis bracelet.
I bought my mum a small diamond bracelet for her 60th, and she wears it very often, coming up a decade later.
A diamond bar bracelet may be a more modern take on that as well, depending on your mothers' style.

Another idea I've really loved is the emerald cut solitaire, mounted east-west. Again this might be too delicate. I bought my own m-i-l a delicate necklace at the time of my engagement, and tbh she found it slightly distressing as she hates her neck and would not be able to wear a delicate necklace comfortably. However, beads outside a high neckline she may have found acceptable. :)
A longer strand (rope) of pearls could be fun?
Or possibly a heavy pendant on a longish thick chain, that dangles down the chest in an opera length
.
What ever you decided, there may be some degree of sizing involved. For example, any bracelet for me must be 6.5 inches, even though the standard sizing in 7 inches. My mother will barely squeeze into her 7inche bracelet, it's quite a snug fit! But she has never complained and as I said, she loves it!

Another thing which a lot of older women LOVE - and me too, tbh - is a gorgeous brooch.
I think this would be a great option!! Depending on the design, a brooch might be used as pendants (if you are making custom, add a little bail) or could even be used as a clasp on a long necklace.

I think I'd go for a brooch!!
 
If you go the DBTY route, consider going with a PS vendor rather than Tiffany's. You won't get the blue box, but you will get considerably more carat weight. You could for example go with WF's .75ctw DBTY... only ask them to "supersize it" so you get 1.5 ctw on a 32" chain, rather than Tiffany's .35 ctw, for about the same cost:

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamond-pendants/whiteflash-by-the-yard-diamond-necklace-379.htm

(Speaking as an older woman, please make sure that any necklace you give is at least 18' long :lol: .)
 
sortmon|1384583414|3557495 said:
I love these suggestions!

My FI likes the Tiffany's DBTY idea. I love the WF shared prong bangle: http://www.whiteflash.com/diamond-bracelets/shared-prong-diamond-bangle-755.htm

A pendant is not a bad idea but our parents are older and don't wear pendants much. I think that they don't like delicate chains.

Please keep the suggestions coming!
Click to expand...

Dancing Fire's pictures of his wife's WF 3.0 ct shared prong bracelet in here: (I hope you don't mind my re-posting it, DF!)

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/tennis-bracelet-bangle-or-other-help.185038/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/tennis-bracelet-bangle-or-other-help.185038/[/URL]
 
That is so gorgeous, one of my faves of all time, & I'm not a diamond nut. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't lose her mind to get that! It's a great choice. Goes with everything & dresses up or down.
 
When I got married, one of the mothers had a reaction that I did not anticipate when we got them both the same item for our wedding. OK, it was only buttonholes (which is like a small corsage of fresh flowers that is pinned on to the lapel of a suit) but I think it's illustrative. I was ordering all the flowers for the wedding, and without a second thought, I ordered two buttonholes for the mothers, both the same. My MIL was horrified at the thought of wearing the same buttonhole as the other mother. Absolutely horrified. I could never have anticipated that reaction in a month of Sundays.

So, one or both mothers might not want to have the same as the other. I think what matters is that you make it clear to them that you spent exactly the same amount of money on each, down to the penny. And make sure that one item doesn't "look" like more than the other. I mean, most women don't want a jewellery item that's exactly the same as something another has, especially a woman that she might be seeing quite a bit of in her future life, you know? If the items are exactly the same, I think it makes them less special. As long as you spend the same amount on them, that's what counts, I think. Also, each woman probably has different preferences, colouring, lifestyle, etc.

Also, I'd get the gifts from somewhere you can easily exchange, like Tiffany or Blue Nile. The trouble with custom products from WF/BGD is that you can't return or exchange them.
 
Just read some other responses, and someone said that their mother was distressed with the gift of a necklace because she hated her neck. With older women, I guess one has to be conscious of this, if it so happens that her neck hasn't aged that well.

Lara suggested brooches. I think this is a fab idea, and to completely contradict what I said above, I think one of these brooches each from Tiffany would be F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C. They're diamond dragonflies with sapphire eyes, $4600 each so with tax you'll be on budget. I've seen this brooch and it's stunning.

I know I said above that they might not want to have the same, but I think a diamond brooch from Tiffany is so very special that I'd make an exception in this instance. And, if one mother really doesn't like it, or gets a bee in her bonnet about having something the same as the other mother, she can always exchange:

http://www.tiffany.com/Shopping/Item.aspx?fromGrid=1&sku=13249687&mcat=&cid=&search_params=p+1-n+10000-c+-s+1-r+-t+dragonfly-ni+1-x+-lr+-hr+-ri+-mi+-pp+0+1&search=1&origin=search&searchkeyword=dragonfly

13249687_867547_ed.jpg
 
Smith1942|1384616300|3557574 said:
Just read some other responses, and someone said that their mother was distressed with the gift of a necklace because she hated her neck. With older women, I guess one has to be conscious of this, if it so happens that her neck hasn't aged that well.

Lara suggested brooches. I think this is a fab idea, and to completely contradict what I said above, I think one of these brooches each from Tiffany would be F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C. They're diamond dragonflies with sapphire eyes, $4600 each so with tax you'll be on budget. I've seen this brooch and it's stunning.

I know I said above that they might not want to have the same, but I think a diamond brooch from Tiffany is so very special that I'd make an exception in this instance. And, if one mother really doesn't like it, or gets a bee in her bonnet about having something the same as the other mother, she can always exchange:

http://www.tiffany.com/Shopping/Item.aspx?fromGrid=1&sku=13249687&mcat=&cid=&search_params=p+1-n+10000-c+-s+1-r+-t+dragonfly-ni+1-x+-lr+-hr+-ri+-mi+-pp+0+1&search=1&origin=search&searchkeyword=dragonfly
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion, Smith1942. I know our moms will have no problem receiving the exact same things as the other. The objective of the gift is to remind them of us, and they'll be the same, akin to a really nice wedding favor.

We're trying to think of a significant gift to get our dads too and we're coming up with nothing. They both already have nice watches, and I don't know what to else to get them. They don't drink or anything.
 
How 'bout a matched set of Porsches? :lol: :lol:

What are their hobbies? Do they golf? Go to games -- like tickets to the Super Bowl, etc.? Or a fishing trip? What do they like to do?
 
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