My fiancee will be arriving in about 2 days to join me.

I would like to welcome her to my home and make this a memorable event...

I was considering maybe getting her a cake, rose along with candles to surprise her!

any other suggestions?

What a lovely idea

You could have a little sign saying "welcome home", maybe you could take her out for a meal, buy her some nice new clothes and hang them in her part of the wardrobe, leave little notes/cards/presents/surprises all over the house so as she explores her new home she will be met with all these things

Maybe you could set up a treasure hunt for her? Oooohh - I hope my OH does something nice for me like that!!!

I've been promised a meal out to a really nice chinese place where we had our first meal out together when I first visited!

Culture might play significantly into whatever you wind up doing. (I don't think my SO would enjoy a treasure hunt, but she'd *love* little presents. ) My fiance is a girl's girl, so I plan on putting together a "welcome home" package consisting of a big fluffy bathrobe, her favorite perfume, some bath stuff, a nice brush/comb set, chocolates, and a few food items from her country that are harder to find here like some black bread and preserves. I'll have some little presents for her too, like a necklace or tennis bracelet or something, and some other things I've yet to figure out. Oh, and flowers. Seriously, I'm a dead man if there aren't flowers. You probably are too, that seems pretty universal.

I do want to be careful not to overwhelm her though, so that's something to at least consider. I want her homecoming to be pleasant, but not so over the top that she's completely overloaded. I expect that after her flight (which will be about 27 hours) she's going to want to either take a shower and then go to bed, or just go to bed. So I'm not going to plan anything where she'll have to be awake for too long. We'll do a nice dinner out if she's up to it, otherwise I'll have a backup plan to cook something nice, and we can do the big dinner thing the next day when she's all rested.

Dangit, now you've got me thinking about this again!

Best of luck to you, and have fun!

Awwwwww MOX that is soooo sweet!!! Your girl better appreciate a man like you...... Can I have your book? Gotta give it to a couple of my male friends to take lessons from LOL J/k- But really glad to see attentive men out there!

We took the long way home from the airport so Andre could get a feel of how big St. Louis is and drive by some of the more focal points of the city.

Jeremy is goign to have to seriously plan ahead for me... he is flying back with me so he will have had to sort something out before he comes over to the UK

I'll also be getting a late b'day pressie. Nick won't tell me what it is just that he didn't want to risk shipping it!

Yes, yes!

This is a pretty perfect welcome package. I know the first thing I want to do after a long journey is have a lovely hot shower (or bath) so a bathrobe and bath stuff is an excellent suggestion.

Also, who doesn't love chocolates or flowers? I'm hardly a romantic but I could never say 'no' to those two.

A light supper with candles, nice hot bath, a massage, and let her sleep!

Ah cool, it's good to know I'm on the right track!

I think the specifics boil down to just being attuned with what would be really special for your SO. If I were bringing Aly home, for example, I'd probably have a marching band and a huge light show because somehow I suspect that's what would push her buttons. For my SO, I'm taking into account that she *loves* girl things, and that she doesn't enjoy traveling. So the welcome home "package" I'm putting together takes that into account. You'll want to kind of put yourself in her shoes and decide what's best for her.

But I also think it's important to think past the first day and even the first week. You don't want to make the first few days like Disneyland, and then run out of steam after that. I don't think you have to have "events" planned for every day, but having a general idea of how to proceed after she starts to settle in is probably a good idea. Just make sure that she's an integral part of the process. If she just feels like you're playing tour guide and leading her around, she's going to get bored fast. But now I think I'm starting to drift off-topic.

I had a house key made for David and bought a special key chain for it.... I mailed it to him is a nice gift box so that he would have it before he arrived... you don't have time for that, but it might be an idea for someone else

That's a lovely idea Aww - now I kinda wish Jeremy was coming here so I could do all these lovely things!!

Actually - bath robe, fluffy socks/slippers... some goodies from LUSH *drools*

A hot bath sounds appealing but SoCal in the summer will prolly cause me to want to jump in the pool over having a hot bath!!! Maybe a lukewarm bath will suffice... thing is - Jeremy is going to be just as travel-weary and crusty as I am We might have to fight over who gets the bathroom first (or share )... will give us something to do on the 11 hour flight I guess

Any more ideas for guys? I like the key idea.

(i'm thinking waaay ahead here, but it's a fun distraction)

I gotta tell you, I agree with everyone that says not to overwhelm her and let her sleep. My flight was "only" 11 hours and I was sooo tired when I got here! have the house clean and in order, some flowers, a bath robe and bath salts sound great! I'm sure after the flight she'll put that to use immediately
Don't bring anything too bulky for when you go pick her up at the airport, I came with 3 huge suitcases, my carry-on and my dog, if she's anything like me, you'll need all your hands free for carrying and loading
Let her rest and maybe have more surprises for after she wakes up, like a nice dinner out, and/ or presents

Saludos,
Caro

my hubby took me to In&Out Burger after he picked me up at the airport.. how romantic is he??

I dunno - a welcome meal in Denny's would be good... or a corn dog

Kirk...
So so nice.
She'll love this

Oh, I love the house key idea. I didn't even think about that! Excellent idea.

Also, for anyone who's SO is from Eastern Europe/Ukraine/Russia, remember not to do anything over the threshold other than walk across it. It's considered bad luck, especially when entering your new home for the first time.


Thanks, I think so too!

Hey moxie - did you ever check out lush?

I've sent them an e-mail to suggest a store in Palm Springs... LA is too far for me and shipping is expensive! But I *love* their stuff... can really recommend the bubble bar slices

Ohhh, I'll have to check that out. Actually I'm pretty out of my depth when it comes to getting girly things like bubble baths and whatnot. When the time gets closer I'll probably start a new thread asking what kinds of powders and gels and soaps and all that kinda stuff to get.

I LOVE that you brought this up. I work at one of the the St. Louis stores. My husband is a Lush convert!

Oh you do!??!!??! *drools* I love the place!! Thing is the closest one to me will be LA and I am 90 minutes away I am so going to have to stock up

** Makes mental note to bug Jomo's girl when it's time to buy pretty-smelling girly stuff **

I recommend the following:

For Guys waiting for Girls:

A full laundry basket
A broom
An iron
A shopping list
A request for what you want for dinner

For the Girls waiting for Guys:

A 30 pack of beer
Strategically placed newspapers and magazines, near the toilets
Maybe a cigar or two
A massage
(2 weeks before maybe little diet, you know we all could use one)
Some lingerie (you know that lacy stuff)


ok sorry I could not resist! Really the best is probably relaxing and cleaning up and nothing to elaborate, unless you are going from Manitoba to North Dakota. Save the big stuff for day 2.

Hey, if you feel the need to stop at a fast food joint you can't do better than In 'n' Out! I never eat fast food here in the UK but I did like eating out in the US.

Lush is amazing, I'm thirding/fourthing it.

Also love the key idea

I went to my hubby's interview so we came back togther. My best friend picked us up at the airport with a bottle of wine and a HUGE balloon...
He was so tired, but hungry too. We arrived in Miami, drove to West Palm where we ate at Applebee's (he loved it!!), and then I drove us home to Orlando - he slept the whole way.

well to be fair I was the one who told him that is where I wanted to go after I got there

but I figured he would have flowers or something too ...

my husband surprised me with 24 long stemmed roses when i arrive at LAX. Then he took me to a very nice candlelight dinner at a 5 star hotel. when we got home, our bedroom was literally full of roses as well... it was so romantic

--------------------------

Make sure to have Bollywood and India network channels on your tv (just in case she get's a little homesick).
Make sure to have all the ingredients needed to make aloo parantha and all the basic foods.
Make sure the place is clean....
Top it off with candles and flowers and some nice Mrs Sees candies (or traditional indian sweets, I always liked ras malai )

Sounds lovely! I am sure she will appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Take care of some practical matters too - I appreciated that my husband had cleared out a whole dresser for my things and half the walk in closet in the bedroom so that I could just unpack. Make sure she has space for her things in the bathroom shelves or counter as well.

Since my husband was driving me back he couldn't really have fresh flowers waiting but we went out for dinner on our first night back - and he had purchased a new kitty litter box with kitty litter already in it so we could let the cats out right away and not worry about having to find and unpack all that stuff. It was appreciated!

Hehehe, he did go out and buy me two dozen roses the next day though:-).

Oh, I just remembered another one! Justin had a working cell phone for me when I arrived, thoughfull and very practical
Also, if she'll be driving, a GPS

Saludos,
Caro

I am so pointing Jeremy in the direction of this thread

naked....with a bow, of course.

That sounds more like what a fiancée would do to welcome her fiancé

I dunno... could work both ways

I definitely regret not having a GPS for David when he arrived.... could have spared a whole lot of frustration....

Take her to a tatoo parlor to watch you get her name tatooed on your forehead. She'll remember it forever.

Thanks everyone..many thoughtful suggestions and for some I just don't have the time...

I would like to keep this simple and wonderful and a quiet time with lots of cuddling between us...Also, don't want to raise the bar too high on the first day! right ladies

Just kidding...am sure her first day in the US will be something she will cherish and remember and you just never forget that....ever...

Hmmm, that's a good idea actually. Might cause a little stir at the airport, but it's all for love am I right?

You can prolly say you are being discriminated against and sue whoever is causing a fuss.

I came into a nice, freshly cleaned house, had red roses on my nighttable and a big Welcome Home baloon. Also, my side of the closet was empty and ready for me to unpack, and the bathroom was nice and warm (my husband likes it rather chilly in there...)!

Oh yes, and I immediately got a tour in the basement to make sure I knew how the furnace works! (well, I arrived in Minnesota in January...)

You're going to make a good American, Aly!

Of course - I've been practicing by watching Jerry Springer - all Americans are like that for real aren't they?!?!

* Throws a chair at Aly *

WOW !!!! you guys are very very romantic.

I dont know what my man is going to do....He already gave me a cell phone with a US number last year so we were able to message text each other I aready got home and car keys as well loll

Well thing is we saw each other alot for the last year and he spoiled me with flowers, gifts, romantic dinners and on and on....We also gonna travel back together once we get the visa so he would have to plan it ahead too loll

I think the banner " Welcome home " would make my heart really smile..because its all we want. Being home together

Well you guys keep up the romance...your girls gonna loveeeeeeee it

Hahahahaha

*@(*%**£((9^&£ you *(^$"^(*" How can you do that you &*$")" &$*")&

*gets escorted off stage by Steve*

When Mags arrived, I went to pick her up at the airport wearing only a Slayer T-Shirt and a thong. Then we stopped at Mr. Happy Burger on the way home and I made her laugh by shoving french fries up Jordan's nose. Once he was released from the Emergency Room, we finished our trip home where we spent the rest of the evening watching liver slide down the wall.

You might try that.....

*jealous*

*wants to be Mags*