What Are The Best Bride to Be Gifts?

If you’ve got a hen weekend looming then it’s time to start thinking about gifts for the bride to be.

Although it’s in no way compulsory to give the bride hen party gifts, it is definitely a nice little extra that doesn’t have to cost much as you can split it between all the hens.

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While it’s often easy to default to typical bridal gifts such as letterbox flowers, there are so many other creative hen party gift ideas you should consider first.

We’ll take you through 10 of the best mementos you can gift the bride to remember her special weekend with her best girls.

The Best Bride to be Gifts

Deciding what hen do present to get for the bride can feel overwhelming, but the best tactic is to keep it simple and not go overboard.

After all, she knows that you’ve all spent considerable sums of money joining her on her hen do and your presence is really the best gift you can give her.

That said, some bridesmaids will want to club together and get hen party gifts for the bride, so here are your best options.

1. A Photobook

This is one of the most popular bride to be gifts and it’s definitely one of the best sentimental hen party gift ideas.

You can organise it in advance so that each hen attendee sends you a photo of her with the bride alongside a message to include inside.

Where to order a Hen Party Photobook

The best sites to order a photobook for the bride are:

• Etsy
• Photobox (often has voucher code discounts!)
• Bonusprint
• Snapfish
• Inkifi

You can either order one online for a professional look, or do a DIY hen party photo book where you all stick your photos in yourself and hand-write your messages which is a really cute touch.

Another option with a homemade hen party photobook would be to leave some blank pages at the end so that the bride can add in all her favourite photos from the weekend and jot down her memories from the event.

2. Personalised Cosmetic Bag

Brides tend to come with a lot of baggage giving a personalised cosmetic bag is a classy hen party gift for the bride. She can use it to keep all her bits and bobs she’ll need on the wedding day which makes it a lovely hen party gift idea that will keep on giving.

You can choose to either have her name on it, or you might want to go for her new initials if she is changing her name.

There are lots of beautiful options for personalised cosmetic bags online, just make sure you order in time for it to be made and delivered before the big weekend.

We love this option available for just £13.50 on Etsy (View)

3. A Bridal Party Print

Getting a personalised print of your bridal party is such a cute hen do gift idea that the bride will absolutely love.

There are various designs of print you can go with but the classic is a drawing or painting of the bride surrounded by her girl gang, usually in appropriate hen party attire.

You can choose whether the drawing includes the whole hen party or just the bridesmaids and the bride.

We love this one from Etsy.

4. Personalised Lingerie

As gifts for the bride go, some fancy lingerie is one of the more out-there options.

You can either go with something really fancy, or get her something personalised (Browse personalised lingerie on Etsy) with her new name on.

Then she can surprise her new husband on the honeymoon!

5. A Wedding Advent Calendar

If you’re up for making a DIY gift for the bride then why not try your hand at a wedding advent calendar?

It can be put together really easily and is totally doable for even the least crafty hens.

You just need a large cork board, some pins and some little gift bags to get started.

In each little bag you can add a small gift, such as a chocolate or sweets, a pair of earrings or similar as well as a little message.

A nice idea is to give each hen attending the hen weekend a different day to fill to share the workload.

Then the bride has a message from each hen to read in the days leading up to her wedding.

You can give it to the bride at the hen weekend and the idea is that she then starts with day one thirty days before the wedding so as the big day draws closer she has a little gift and message from her best girls.

If you’re overwhelmed by making it for a full 30 days, then a 7 day wedding advent calendar is also a really lovely hen party gift.

6. Keepsake Jewellery

This is a classic bride to be gift but one that often gets overlooked.

Don’t underestimate how touched the bride will be if she receives a piece of keepsake jewellery from her much-loved bridesmaids and hens.

A lovely idea for a hen party gift in terms of jewellery would be a locket, or a bracelet that could be engraved with the date of the event or a short message from the gang.

No doubt wearing a piece of memorable jewellery from her hen party on the wedding day would mean a lot to every bride.

7. A Customised Denim Bride Jacket

If your bride-to-be is a bit of a trendy one then she would be absolutely blow away by the gift of a personalised denim jacket*.

You can order these online and if you split the cost between all the hens it can work out as a great unique hen party gift.

You can choose to have bride written on it or use her new married name, eg, Mrs Smith.

We particularly love this one which comes in at just £45.00: (View on Etsy*)

You can also order leather bride jackets – and you never know, she might love it so much that she decides to wear it on the big day itself!

8. A Bride Tote Bag

As we mentioned earlier, brides tend to have a lot of things to lug around with them pre, during and post wedding. For that reason, a hen party gift of a bride tote bag is always going to go down well.

A bit like the other customised bridal gifts, you can choose whether to have their name on it, their new initials or simply “The Bride.”

It’ll come in really handy for lots of things like bringing all their stuff home from the hen weekend, packing a spare pair of comfy shoes for the wedding day and much more.

9. Bridal Party Robes

Yes it’s a super twee hen do gift idea, but just imagine the gorgeous pics of your bridal gang when you’re all lazing around your hen party house in matching hen party dressing gowns adorned with your names on.

The bride will treasure her “Bride” dressing gown forever.

You can decide between various different fabrics, designs and customisations for your bride’s robe and then choose how to tie in the bridesmaid’s versions.

We think this design is beautiful (View on Etsy*) and would make the perfect hen party gift for the bride.

10. Bridal Book Hamper

This is a lovely and unusual hen party gift idea that the bride-to-be will be so touched by and probably won’t have seen done before.

Grab a wicker hamper or basket of some kind, you can buy these online or at a local craft or hardware store.

Then ask each of the hens and bridesmaids to provide a copy of their number one favourite book ever to include in the bridal book hamper.

Each could also include a little handwritten note to the bride to explain why they love the book they’ve chosen.

Each hen can choose any kind of book, a sentimental book, an advice book, a funny book, a recipe book, just a damn good read.

Then the bride can enjoy working her way through a pile of great reads when all the wedding madness is over.

This is a great bride gift idea especially for the bookish bride, but also for any bride who might feel a bit deflated after the hen party and wedding excitement is over and therefore needs a new project to focus on.

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There you have it, our list of the 10 best bride to be gifts, along with some suggestions of where to buy them.

Tips for buying hen party gifts.

• Start early – as soon as you’ve got the date in the calendar, assign one or two bridesmaids the job of sorting out the gift for the bride-to-be.

• Popular hen do gifts often involve customisation or have personalised features, such as the bridal denim jackets and bride robes. These can take longer to make and arrive so the earlier you start the better.

• Too many cooks – while everyone in the bridal party no doubt has an opinion on what to get the bride as a hen party gift, sometimes it can be better to just keep the decision-making to a smaller group. Take ideas from everyone, agree a budget and then make a decision from that based on what you know the bride would love.

Did you receive a brilliant bridal gift at your own hen party? Or did you give your friend one of the best bride to be gifts and want to share the idea? Let us know in the comments to help other hens.

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