Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 14, 1990 TAG: 9005120149
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TRACIE FELLERS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Flowers are in bloom, grass is growing . . . and there are gifts to be given and recieved.
Weddings, along with college and high school graduations, make spring one of the heaviest gift-giving seasons of the year. But finding suitable presents for the bride, groom or grad doesn't have to turn you into a pauper.
Trying to find a gift for a couple that isn't using a bridal registry service? Shirley Mills, manager of Heironimus Great Additions at Towers, had a host of helpful wedding gift suggestions, most at prices from $50 to $25 and under.
Armetale, a Pennsylvania-based company, makes items ranging from salt and pepper shakers to serving dishes out of an alloy of 10 different metals. The sturdy, attractive pieces - at $18 to $110 - have a pewter look, and can be taken from the refrigerator to the oven.
"If I have a customer that's at lost ends, I show them that and nine times out of ten they buy" one of the items, Mills said.
One of Mills' favorite gift ideas is a three-piece glass baking set from Toscany's Savannah collection, which costs $24.99. The pretty, practical pieces - covered casserole dish, rectangular baking dish and round quiche dish with scalloped edges - have a delicate floral pattern.
"Bakeware is something you can't go wrong with," Mills said. The bride and groom also can add other pieces to the set later, like a seven - piece salad bowl set at $19.99 or a cake plate, which sells for $9.99.
Creating your own unique gift for the wedding couple is another option, Mills said. You could choose a basket - Heironimus Great Additions has them in a variety of colors and styles - and fill it with kitchen gadgets, potholders and dish towels for about $40.
William Gill, a sales associate in Thalhimers' gift department, often suggests crystal or silver picture frames for newly married couples - most need them for wedding photos, he said. The frames sell for $7.98 to $65.
Both Heironimus and Thalhimers offer bridal registry services.
At Thalhimers, the service is computerized and easy for customers to use.
By touching brightly colored graphics on a computer screen, shoppers can find the name of the registered bride and get a handy printout of gifts from which to choose.
Through the computerized registry service, shoppers can select gifts from china to personal computers at prices from under $25 to well over $100. Computer lists of desired presents are updated daily to reflect each purchase and to prevent duplication of gifts, said Pat Lancaster, Thalhimers bridal registrar.
"It's very convenient, because if a customer is busy, has someplace to go or is in a hurry, they don't have to stop one of us," Gill said. "It really takes the guesswork out of buying the gift."
After a decline in recent years, the number of brides who use a register service is rising - partly because of the computerization, said Peggy Lyons, special events coordinator for Thalhimer's Roanoke and Lynchburg stores.
"It makes it so easy and it just kind of assures you that you're going to get the stuff you want instead of the stuff you don't want," she said.
Leggett stores in the region also offer computerized bridal registry.
Fink's Jewelers at Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke has a more traditional bridal registry service. "We try to make it a very personal service," said bridal consultant Jenny Lou Whittaker.
Fink's keeps a card file which contains information on each registered bride - including her selected china, crystal and flatware patterns. The store also keeps a list of all purchases made for each couple.
Using a bridal registry service "makes it easy for everyone. Then you're giving something you know the person will love," Whittaker said.
About a year ago, Fink's decided not to convert to a computerized bridal registry system, she said. "It just seemed so impersonal."
And some customers have told her they are "a little overwhelmed sometimes by those [computer] lists," she added. "I'm not a very good computer person anyway. I broke the fax machine here two times."
Patrick and Kelly Keister of Roanoke, who were married on March 31, didn't use a bridal registry service. But the couple received everything they needed, Kelly Keister said.
"When we started out we didn't have anything, so we needed . . . glasses, plates, silverware, a slow-cooker - all those things. It turned out real good. We haven't had to buy anything yet."
Steven and Tamara Davenport of Bedford, who were married April 21, registered a china pattern at Arthur's Jewelry in Bedford. But the most useful gifts they received were cookware and appliances, Tamara Davenport said. Something "that really helped out was my electric frying pan," she added.
And Davenport suggested a gift every soon-to-be-wed couple would love - cash. "Money is always helpful . . . if you don't get what you need, then you can get it with that."
For the graduate, you can find classic gifts or presents that put a twist on tradition.
Among the most unique items in Thalhimers' gift department is a Kirk Stieff silverplated purse atomizer, etched with an elegant floral design. You fill a small container in the atomizer's interior with a favorite fragrance and it's small enough to carry almost anywhere.
The atomizer is $30. "It's an unusual item and it's a nice conservation piece," Gill said.
A more appropriate gift for a male graduate might be Luminarc's black, octagon-shaped crystal clock, which costs $19.98.
Other suggested gifts for grads are: traditional Cross pens ($14 to $66, Heironimus Great Additions), silver- or gold-tone announcement/invitation frames ($26, Great Additions) letter openers in cloisonne ($20), silverplate ($25) or brass ($27) at Thalhimers, Pewter tankards ($37 and $45) and pewter shell bookmarks ($15) at Thalhimers.
by CNB