Well, I think they're lovely, and I'd be thrilled to get one, myself. However, I'm not the bride. Is she very young? Most young people these days I know, don't use clocks as decorative features--they don't need them, many don't want them. They have digital displays on their cable box, microwave, range, cable boxes, etc etc etc, not to mention they all have their cell phones in their pockets. And they tend to prefer digital to analogue, also. Do you know any of the family? Can you ask the bride's mom for a suggestion? Mostly, at showers I've been to lately, the gifts are either: exotic lingerie OR useful things that the bride/groom have expressed a need for. Things like enameled cast iron pots (or other specialty kitchen equipment), or lawn equipment, or nice linens. Again--I'm NOT saying it isn't a beautiful clock--just wondering if it's something a young person might like. Now, if the bride is older--40s,50s or so--then the situation is completely different, of course.

Sorry, but I would find an invitation to a gift card shower to be just as tasteless as an invitation to a cash shower. It's virtually the same thing. I also think that it would be really boring, and even a little embarrassing, to sit and watch a bride "unwrap" a stack of gift cards. Kind of hard to ooh and ahh over that ... The only difference between the gifts would be the amount on the card. How very pleasant, and how satisfying to watch the expression on the bride's face when she opens my carefully selected ... gift card. I'm with Sweet Pea when she says, "And why would a bride be 'trucking through the store scanning items that in most cases she already has?' If she has it, and doesn't need it, then why add it to her registry?" I don't know what to make at all of the OP's comment, "As for a gift is from the heart, well....We all know why people have showers anyway. Why not save them a trip to the return line and just let them have fun with their new spouse on a shopping spree." Let me get this right: the reason people have showers is to get others to fill in their own shopping list? That is news to me. I thought it was for friends of the bride to buy her gifts for her new home, whether from the registry or not, and to have fun seeing her open the pretty packages and discover the thoughtful gifts chosen by the guests -- from the registry or not. A wedding is not an excuse for a "shopping spree" for the couple. Gifts are of course customary, but the idea is to outfit the couple's new home -- not to be the functional equivalent of winning a lottery or getting "fun dollars" from a mall. Cash gifts aren't meant to be spent all at once; they are for buying the things you need to set up a household, plus perhaps a few treats, and -- gasp -- saving the rest. I do, however, love the idea of a scrapbook party with each guest making a page for the bride. What a treasure she will have. I would also send pages to friends and relatives far away who cannot attend. I would just do that, and not direct the guests to buy gift cards, too. Something tells me that the original post isn't what it seems.

My roommate hosted a lingerie/honeymoon shower for me, and in addition to lingerie stuff, I got: -a jewelry roll, for carrying jewelry on the trip (I love it--a great idea; I still use it) -a toiletries-case set, w/ stuff for doing handwashing in the hotel rooms, intended to be used on the trip, and beyond--I had a toiletries kit, but it was very utilitarian, and I really enjoyed using the pretty one, and used it for years -WARM jammies, since my friend said nights in England would be chilly I like the evening shawl--pashmina or cashmere, maybe. They're surprisingly warm. If you got one in white (esp. sparkly) or in the wedding color(s), you'd increase the chances that she'd find it useful on the day of the wedding itself. You could add even more "personal touches" or make it fancier if you got a plain one, by sewing on a trim, or beads, or something (though watch out for whether the shawl will be comfortable if she leans back while wearing it--you don't want lots of little beads poking her and making her uncomfortable). You're not the only person, by far, to ask total strangers to help you pick out something personal and special--but it always strikes me as odd. For a gift to be truly personal, it needs to have some resonance between you & the recipient. If you don't know her well enough to come up w/ something personal based on what you know about her, it won't be very personal. And I'm wondering, personal to whom? To you, in that you invested some of YOUR person in it? in which case, what matters to you? I usu. give baking pans at showers, and I consider that a "personal" gift in that it is from me personally. I put my own personal taste and opinions and regard in it--I love to bake, use baking pans w/ Pillsbury tubes & to reheat pizza, and firmly believe that most brides in my circles start out w/ way too few. So, I give them a piece of myself. Or do you mean, "personal to the bride," in that it has some of HER personality invested in it? In which case, what do you know about her? About her values, her tastes, her activities, her wish-list? The most personal present I ever got was a pizza cutter! No lie, I'd admired my friend's Pampered Chef pizza cutter w/ slip-on case, and **she remembered.** I laughed so hard when I opened it, and felt so loved, because she *remembered.* That gift was give to me, personally, and not to some "category": "my friend the mom" or "my friend the baker." it was to "Talley Sue who told me she wanted one." So, what has the bride said? What object has she admired, of yours, or in a store, or a catalog? Get that. Or, do you mean "personal" as in "intended for her personal use and enjoyment as opposed to being used for her household"--the way a jewelry box is personal and a sofa pillow is not; or a blouse is personal and an apron is not. In which case, get something that you think is fun, or lovely, or useful. I've taken, w/ my friend who bought me the pizza cutter, to buying her things *I* would love to own (but either know I wouldn't really use, or don't feel rich enough to buy). So, I've bought her -aqua-crystal & silver jewelry -a small faux-leather-covered travel jewelry box similar to this (in fact, I really like this one--wonder who I can drop a hint to...) -an umbrella with the collapsible cap to catch drips (to keep her car seat from getting wet, sinc eshe lives in Car Land and I do not.)

if you weren't invited to the shower, you don't need to give them a shower gift. If you DID go to a shower, you would give both, as you know. If you wish you had been invited to the shower, you *could* give them a shower gift, but I wonder if that might make them feel bad for not inviting you--in which case, don't label it a shower gift. But the wedding gift alone is just fine--and I bet they'll like it, LOL! it'll certainly fit w/ their decorating scheme.