If you’re between 25 and 35 your Facebook timeline is probably inundated with engagement announcements and wedding photos and you will have to attend several weddings each year.
Sometimes it’s wonderful having so many weddings to attend .
It of course can also be time consuming and expensive.
You may be involved in the stag or hen dos. There’s then the travelling to the fancy wedding venues in the countryside, possibly needing an overnight stay before or after the big event.
It all costs time and money.
However, the trickiest part for many people is choosing the right wedding gift – mind you even this is unlikely to be as tricky as the planning and wedding checklist that the bride and groom will be working through!
Some couples make online wedding present lists, and others do not, and some just ask for money.
The whole thing can be very confusing for guests who want to get the perfect gift.
This guide will hopefully give you everything you need to make sure you get the perfect wedding gift.
Original Art
In today’s world of prints and replicas, original art can make a very special gift.
And as most couples already live together and have all of the household appliances and practical things they need for their home, giving them something beautiful that they probably wouldn’t budget for is a great idea.
If you’re unsure about what kind of art your friends like, try asking them – or just ask one of them so that it will be a surprise for their other half.
Cooking, Dancing, or Art Classes
The first year of marriage can be a wonderful experience for a couple if they remember to set work and other distractions aside and spend time together as a couple. There are many great cooking, dancing and art classes that are ideal activities for a couple to bond over their shared passions.
It’s a good idea to find classes somewhere near the newlyweds’ home, but you can also find a huge variety of classes on Groupon.
If you’re not sure which type of class to get them, it’s probably best to spring for cooking classes, as everyone likes to eat, and cooking great food for one another is a cornerstone of many relationships.
Gold or Silver Coins
In the search for an original gift, and depending on your budget, you could buy your friends a gold or silver coin. This gift could begin an investment portfolio for them to add to over time, or it could be a family heirloom for them to pass down to their children.
Gold and silver coins are expensive, but you can get the best value possible by ordering them from a discount online retailer such as London Gold Bullion – so check out their gold coin and silver coin collections and find the perfect piece for your friends.
It’s also a great idea to team up with a few friends so that you can afford an even bigger piece of gold or silver to present as a wedding gift.
If it’s a very large present and you buy it at the right time, then you really will have started your friends’ marriage off with a meaningful financial investment.
Personalised Bricks
If your friends are considering renovating their house or purchasing a new house, you can buy personalised bricks with your choice of message engraved on it.
One with both of their names on it is a good idea, but you can get creative if you like.
This could be the perfect gift if the married couple are sentimental and are likely to be moving into or extending their family home.
There are several different companies that specialise in brick engraving, but Engrave Bricks Ltd is a good place to start.
A Personalised Wedding Dress Hanger
Notonthehighstreet personalised wedding dress hanger
Are you seeing the pattern yet? Personalised gifts are always best – especially as a lot of the same sorts of gifts tend to be given at each wedding.
A personalised wedding dress hanger is a great gift for the bride, as it gives her something special to hang it up on and to remember the day by.
Her wedding dress is already the ultimate memento, but a personalised hanger for it really is the icing on the cake.
This is only a small gift, but the thought will go a long way.
A Plant For Their Garden
Depending on the size of their garden, it could be a great idea to buy your friends a sapling tree and arrange for it to be planted in their garden.
If a tree is too big, then a bush or smaller plant will also work.
For example, if the bride and groom are rather partial to a cup of tea, how about buying them a tea bush – as grown on the Tregothnan estate in Cornwall.
It needn’t be cheesy at all to suggest to them that the tree, bush or plant can represent their marriage taking root and flourishing.
However, if you go this route, make sure it’s a relatively hardy plant that isn’t going to die in a year or two…
A Coffee or Wine Subscription
Why not buy the lucky couple an artisan coffee or wine subscription for the first year of their marriage?
This is a similar idea to the dance and cookery classes, as it places emphasis on the newlyweds spending time together, either with a bottle of wine, having a romantic night in each month, or by sitting around the breakfast table in the morning enjoying a beautiful cup of coffee.
You could give them the subscription and remind them that the wine or coffee is to be enjoyed together – for them to find time for one another.
One thing to watch out for is that they both like the same kind of wine, as some people much prefer red to white and some couples don’t always see eye to eye when it comes to wine.
Remember to protect your gift
Getting the perfect wedding gift can be tough, and it often requires a lot of consideration to get it right.
After all your effort, hopefully your gift choice will be received with great delight. It may or not be of great financial value. If it is an expensive or high value gift, do make sure you have appropriate home insurance if the gift is stored at your house. You may also need to ensure the receiving couple have the right level of insurance cover for it when they become the owners.
I do hope my article has helped you with a few good ideas and that your present stands out from the crowd at the next wedding you attend, making the special day even more special for the lucky bride and groom.
