Congratulations co-worker!
May 14, 2018 9:16 AM Subscribe
Wedding acknowledgment ideas for co-workers in small office.
I recently started a job at a very small office - just 8 people. Two of the women who work here are getting married in the next 6 months. One of these weddings is in 2 weeks, and most of the office is invited; I just started and am not, because that would be extremely weird. I don't expect any of us will be be invited to the next one, because that bride has only worked here a couple months longer than me and the wedding is being held several hundred miles away.
Both the women seem very nice and I'm sure they don't expect anything, but I am inclined to give a card and maybe a small gift. Would it be weird to just give a card? If so, or even if not, what is a nice but inexpensive gift (ideally no more than $25ish, but let me know if that is hopelessly cheap on my part) that I could give 20 and 30something brides I don't know particularly well?
One is from Maryland, has a Great Dane and is looking forward to going to a family beach house for the honeymoon. The other is from Indiana, has a cat and is a big KC Royals baseball fan. I know very little else about either. I don't need their presents to be the same, but would like them to read as equivalent.
This is in the mid-Atlantic USA, for cultural expectation purposes.
I recently started a job at a very small office - just 8 people. Two of the women who work here are getting married in the next 6 months. One of these weddings is in 2 weeks, and most of the office is invited; I just started and am not, because that would be extremely weird. I don't expect any of us will be be invited to the next one, because that bride has only worked here a couple months longer than me and the wedding is being held several hundred miles away.
Both the women seem very nice and I'm sure they don't expect anything, but I am inclined to give a card and maybe a small gift. Would it be weird to just give a card? If so, or even if not, what is a nice but inexpensive gift (ideally no more than $25ish, but let me know if that is hopelessly cheap on my part) that I could give 20 and 30something brides I don't know particularly well?
One is from Maryland, has a Great Dane and is looking forward to going to a family beach house for the honeymoon. The other is from Indiana, has a cat and is a big KC Royals baseball fan. I know very little else about either. I don't need their presents to be the same, but would like them to read as equivalent.
This is in the mid-Atlantic USA, for cultural expectation purposes.
Best answer: I think it would be weird to give them gifts. Cards would be a nice thought if there's no office wide cards, but no more than that.
posted by Kriesa at 9:31 AM on May 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Kriesa at 9:31 AM on May 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I think a card, or possibly card + flowers upon return from honeymoon, is enough. That’s what my team of 3 did for me on my return from my honeymoon.
posted by samthemander at 9:34 AM on May 14, 2018
posted by samthemander at 9:34 AM on May 14, 2018
Best answer: I would let more senior people take the lead on this since they know their colleagues and usual office mores. At some places it would be totally normal, at others it wouldn't. Or ask one of the people not getting married what they thought of passing a card around.
posted by tchemgrrl at 9:38 AM on May 14, 2018
posted by tchemgrrl at 9:38 AM on May 14, 2018
Best answer: I work in an office environment. Organizing a pot luck with a office wide congrats card is easy and everyone enjoys that.
posted by Sara_NOT_Sarah at 9:43 AM on May 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Sara_NOT_Sarah at 9:43 AM on May 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Yeah, a gift is unnecessary, an office-wide card is a nice gesture. In my office (larger, very social, mostly 20 and 30 somethings), we would probably also decorate their cubes in some ridiculous way, but as a new employee I definitely wouldn't take the lead on that.
posted by natabat at 9:50 AM on May 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by natabat at 9:50 AM on May 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Cool, thanks for the input. Will stick with card (maybe shared with the other newer non-wedding attendees). There has been a lot of wedding talk, and I didn't want to undervalue their big days.
posted by the primroses were over at 9:51 AM on May 14, 2018
posted by the primroses were over at 9:51 AM on May 14, 2018
Best answer: If you decide to go with a gift, consumables to share with their future spouse are probably the most appropriate. A bag of really nice coffee beans is my usual go-to. If they're not coffee drinkers, perhaps a pot of local honey or the like. That way you're not gifting anything that 'competes' with a registry and it's less likely to be inappropriate or step on toes. Fancy olive oil and a card hoping they'll have fun using it is nice, and nicely low-key.
Organising a signed card from the whole office is probably not right for this particular circumstance, as it's likely that a card already made the rounds when their engagements were announced, before you started working there.
posted by DSime at 9:53 AM on May 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
Organising a signed card from the whole office is probably not right for this particular circumstance, as it's likely that a card already made the rounds when their engagements were announced, before you started working there.
posted by DSime at 9:53 AM on May 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
I would probably buy her her favorite Starbucks (or local donut/pastry, or whatever treat you sometimes see her in the office with) and give it to her with a card on her last day before the wedding or first day back. A gift does seem like a bit much, but I don’t think it would be weird or anything.
posted by sometamegazelle at 10:54 AM on May 14, 2018
posted by sometamegazelle at 10:54 AM on May 14, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:18 AM on May 14, 2018 [4 favorites]