Help. Need hostess ideas for gift to bring to a brunch!
 

Hi,

I accepted an invitation for a bunch without thinking through how much stress this will cause me.
Is brunch usually before noon ??!! :Oops:
I think you might have some good ideas about what I can bring as a hostess gift.

What I cannot bring:
1. I cannot bring any food items. She and her husband are foodies.
He is a chef. She has a refined palate. Any food I bring would be lame.

2. I cannot bring any tchotchkes or knickknacks. It's a second marriage and she has complained about having too much junk in the condo.

What I could bring:
1. I love when someone brings me cut flowers. They would work for an evening event but I cannot go to the florist in the early AM before the brunch.

2. I could bring a plant.

3. I thought of a cute book.

http://www.ehow.com/facts_6174573_pe...t-brunch_.html
This web site suggests
-- soap
-- candles
-- decorative hand towels

The same web site says that Emily Post says I do not have to bring anything to a brunch. I want to bring something.


Thank you.
M

If emily says not to bring anything then I think I would take the pressure off of yourself and just bring yourself.
A box of chocolates if you must bring something....godivas are fancy and you can get those at barnes and nobles.
bizi

I would take flowers and a little candle maybe... plus chocolates !! :)

Enjoy your brunch Mari !!! yummy...

they don't make those candles any more?
 

i have always loved decorative candles of different types.

possibly my favourites are the kind that are usually globe-shaped, and have a stained glass pattern or design on the outside. as the candle burns down, the light comes from within and lights up the pattern.

well heck. i swear i saw these things but maybe they have gone out of fashion or something. or maybe the ones i saw were ehh hand made and not commercially... sigh. all i can find are holders ("knick-knack category), and not even with the same look. even the decorative candles i find are not of this type.

and come to think, either holders or candles would have to suit their decor.

--------- scratch.

i know you said no food, but what about something traditional and store-bought... something fancy that most people like, or something unusual but simple.

An assorted box of Godiva chocolate truffles?
OR

can you get hold of After-Eights? these are slim dark chocolate envelopes, about 1.5" squares, 1mm thick, with a layer of distinct but not overpowering mint glace. The brand is modest - Nestle - but taste and style is simple, subtle... quite excellent, imho.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5254/...cbf7a73a71.jpg

i think there's about 16 or 20 pcs per box. if i recall they also come in boxes twice that size. two rows instead of one.

that's the best i can do for now.

perhaps if not appropriate these might at least provide stepping stones for other ideas.... :o

~ waves ~

oh. i see others have posted while i was image-hunting, and we've all said the same thing. candles and chocolates! :p

and yes cut flowers or a houseplant are always a good fall back but like Bizi says, if time comes and you haven't found anything, take the pressure off and just show up.

if you want to do a plant, i recommend a bromeliad already in bloom. they are sturdy and do well as houseplants. their flowers last a LOOONG time, so even if they die, they will "outperform" cut flowers and you'd probably spend less than on a professional floral arrangement.

~ waves ~

brunchtime
 

Mari

brunch is usually before noon ... likely around 11, not likely before unless those guys are reall early birds. it can be as late as noon or even at regular lunchtime, where the food is just breakfast-like. the hosts will likely be flexible based on people arriving at different times... always happens.

no meal has a universal fixed time. i suggest you simply ask your friend what time she will expect you to arrive. ;)

~ waves ~

no gift -- expected to purchase something
 

Hi,

First I got a text. I said "yes" without knowing fully what was up.

Then she sent me an email. The invitation is for a "house party" that starts at 11:00. She is a close (in proximity) colleague so I have to go. We are office mates. I can't not go after I already said "yes."

I really do have to go. Work buddy and I both need her to be on our side for the ongoing war at work.

Dear Waves, Majo, Bizi,
I thank each of you for your marvelous suggestions.

M

hmmm...

i am confused by your last post title "no gift - expected to purchase something"

ok.... purchase something... that is ... not a gift?

which would be what then? food/bevs? so then this is like a pot luck?

:Scratch-Head: sorry if i'm being really thick here... i'm just really confewwwwwwwwwwwzd.

i wish you could not go. maybe you could say you have a prior engagement you compLETELY forgot about....


~ waves ~

Hi, Waves,


The 11:00 am -3:00 pm gathering is going to be like tupperware. I was sent a link to stuff like a $26.95 vegetable peeler, a 24.95 spatula, a 27.95 banana tree, and a pair of etched glass beer mugs for 24.95.

On the e-vite I saw that only one other person besides me has RSVP'ed "yes" and someone RSVP'ed "maybe."

The e-vite says she will have "New Orleans Mardi Gras flair" for brunch although I think she meant spelling for "fare."


M

sounds confusing....
she is selling stuff? like a pampered chef party?cooking and eating what they cook using the products that they sell?,....no party gift needed at all.
IMHO
bizi

Yes, Bizi,

1. She is selling junk.

2, In addition, she is cooking food so that we can sit and talk about food and whatnot.


My sis has gone to one or two of these really stupid things. I might try to call sis sometime this week.
M

Hostess Party
 

Sorry. I added to the confusion. This is called a "Hostess Party" I think. A few posts ago I wrote something different.

M

Arggghhhhh!!! Ewwwwwwww!
 

oh Mari i'm so sorry i hate these things. at least it is not a pyramid scheme. it isn't right? omg i hope not! :mad:

if you feel like you really have to go through, maybe you could bring a mallet, so that if they get too pushy you can call them to order (NO pun intended :p)
http://www.thesmilies.com/smilies/fi...ghting0027.gif :D

Hmmmm :Scratch-Head: ... a $27 veggie peeler http://www.thesmilies.com/smilies/su...w-dropping.gif
What, is it solid platinum? :rolleyes:

~ waves ~

even though you want to bring something, i wouldn't. i don't think it is appropriate, besides adding to stress. if you have to, i guess soap.
bobby

some may find content crass, esp near end of post...
 

LOL, i hope i wasn't confusing about my suggestion to "bring a mallet" ... that was not intended as a gift, lol.

Bobby - why soap? ... would that be for the victims, erhmm, i mean "guests," to wash the sales sleaze off on their way out? :p:cool:

i hope it is clear by now that for these types of gatherings a gift is indeed not appropriate. Gracing them with your presence is THE gift. you will be "persuaded" to buy stuff for the entire time. the food is because, it takes time to eat, so people get stuck eating while listening to (often) a presentation or a demo of products. then once the "show" is on... social pressure takes over not to leave.

i'd not be surprised if the food is all paid for by the sponsor - i.e. your hosts only do prep and present, and most likely make a percentage on anything sold. people don't do this stuff for free.

Mari if you do go just don't get suckered into buying a $5 toothpick or something. Alternatives: please consider having your washer act up that day, or howabout indigestion? wait, i know... diarrhea??? :D:p oh dear i so hate these things. (can ya tell???)

~ waves ~

p.s. had you been invited to "a sales presentation" - because that's what it is - would have said yes? do you really still feel you can't make some excuse to get out of it without guilt or fear of repercussion at work, even though the invitation itself misrepresented the nature of the gathering?

waves
lol.....i like the little soap thingies and they are cheap and you usually don't buy them for yourself
love
bobby

Hmmm,

Going along with Bobby's idea, but not the exact same. Maybe some
of the sanitizer type stuff for your hands. Because you can't ever
have enough. Is what I'd tell the hostess.

I personally don' tusually go to these.

Donna:grouphug::hug:

Donna, it's not a "real" party - it's a sales gimmick.

a gift is totally out of place. seriously.

Waves,

You are great!

I am going to find a way not to go.

M

Waves

I was just getting at, the only gift or item to take to this kind
of thing. If going would be sanitizer.

Donna:grouphug:

I am glad that you are going to try to get out of it.
You don't need the extra pressure of the whole event.
good for you.
bizi

Was the brunch this weekend? did you gracefully bow out? or did you go?
just curious...
bizi

i am curious as to what you decided about this dealy too... (i'm not calling it a brunch though, LOL)...

do we have a $27 dollar spatula to toast to? :p or a $10 hand-carved japanese toothpick, perchance? hee hee. :cool:

seriously. let us know what ended up happening.

(((hugs)))

~ waves ~

Hi,

I went but did not buy anything. It wasn't horrible. I got to talk to my colleague away from work for the first time ever -- I hired her a year and a half ago when I was in a semi admin position.

M

I am glad it wasn't horrible and that you got to talk to her.
bizi

that sounds good Mari. it's nice that you got to talk... i am glad you went after all. :o;):hug:

~ waves ~

Sounds like that was your reason for going in the first place.

Glad it worked out.

Donna:grouphug::hug: