Tips on Handling the Wedding Gift Table
When you’re planning a wedding, you don’t want to forget the gift table. Not only will this be covered with your presents and money gifts, but it will also be out in the open. And although you don’t want to think that anything could happen, you might want to put a few precautions in place.
Better to be safe
The gift table is best kept safe by being out in the open, where everyone can see it. You might want the deejay next to it, or at least nearby, because people will be going up that way all evening.
However, you also want to keep the gift table somewhere where your guests can find it to deposit their gifts or cards. A nice slit top box works well for cards (maybe you could put a locked tin inside so that no one can peek except you) and a card table with a table cloth is fine for the wrapped gifts.
You may also want to have the guest registry next to the gift table so that you have an idea of how many presents should be there when you finally get to opening them. If there seems to be a discrepancy, then you will be able to find out if something was lost or stolen.
What to do with the gifts at the end of the night
You will need to have a plan or someone in place to take care of the gifts once the reception is over. You may want to enlist one of the members of your bridal party to load them into their car and drive them to the hotel, or perhaps, a parent can take them in order to have a brunch the next morning—where you open the gifts for everyone.
Either way, you will want to store them somewhere safe. It’s generally not a good idea to leave them in a car overnight. First of all, a car is easily broken into and two, you don’t know if the gifts are sensitive to temperature changes. You don’t want to ruin anything.
The gift table is just another detail that you want to be aware of. Most of the time, there are no problems with people upsetting the gifts or raiding the envelopes, but if it makes you feel better to have a back up plan in place, go right ahead.
Amy Spade
