best engagement gifts?

[AceP]

my fiance and i are trying to come up with a nice engagement gift idea for his sister and her fiance, who are having an engagement party. i''m of the school of thought that engagement gifts are unnecessary, so i''m thinking of something that''s more of a token with some thought put into it, rather than something extravagant or something from the registry. she''s a girly-girl who has been waiting her whole life to get married... any ideas? toasting flutes - something i''d never ever want myself, but something i *think* she''d like - are what i''ve come up with so far.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Champagne?

 

[Pandora II]

An ultrasonic!

 

[Rosebud8506]

Lenox has a nice pair of toasting flutes, and they are pretty reasonably priced.

 

[Haven]

You''re right--engagement gifts are not necessary (rather, they are not and should not be expected) but giving gifts at these engagement parties has become the norm in some regions. I think it''s lovely that you want to give a nice token as a gift, meaningful gifts are always more fun than appliances!

Are you and your FI''s sister close? You could give her a card with a note that you''d like to take her to lunch and a manicure some time. Surely she''ll want to keep her hands pretty now that she has a ring to show off! Your FI could take his brother to a sports game of some sort, or maybe a day at the batting cages? I love to get gifts of "quality time" with my friends, it''s so much more special to set aside some time to spend together than it is to get an object of some sort.

Are you sure people will be bringing gifts to the engagement party? I''ve only been to one engagement party where people brought gifts, and that was because it was a cultural thing. The bride warned me that it would happen, too, so I didn''t show up empty-handed.

The truth is that traditionally, a true engagement party is a social gathering thrown by the bride''s family during which the father of the bride makes a surprise announcement that his daughter is engaged. This is why the engagement gifts are not expected--how can you bring a gift if you don''t yet know there is anything to celebrate?