I went to a shower over the weekend – baby, not bridal – but they’re really similar. The mom-to-be sat in a chair with all of the guests around her (about 35 women) and surrounded by gifts. Some gifts were in big boxes and others were baskets filled with multiple (5 or more) items.
There was one person to write down who gave what and another person was on garbage detail, but no one helped the guest of honor unwrap anything. So after sitting for over 2 hours in a small room with no food or any entertainment (except watching the gifts being unwrapped) I’ve decided that an assembly line is so important when you have so many gifts to unwrap – for a baby or bridal shower.
Some of you may remember my post last July about the assembly line debate I had with a fellow bridesmaid at a shower. (The bride had agreed that we should have an assembly line to help her open gifts.)
I understand that people want to see the gifts opened and the idea of the bride opening each one herself, but if you are having more than 20 guests at a shower and each person has brought at least one gift – and sometimes a basket filled with multiple items – it can be boring for your guests to sit there for longer than 20-30 minutes.
And there’s nothing wrong with an assembly line – your ‘maids are there to help you and you still go through each item, just at a faster pace. Here are the roles you’ll need filled for a gift unwrapping assembly line: 1-2 unwrappers/hand to the bride, 1-2 packers to repack opened boxes, 1-2 ‘maids on garbage detail, 1 person to write who gave what, 1 person to make the ribbon bouquet.
