Lepke asked:
Two good friends of ours are getting married. They are middle-aged and have been living on their own forever, and consequently have all of the household appliances, dishes, and stuff that anyone could want. In fact, the husband-to-be is taking a bunch of his stuff to the dump and donating it to make room for his future wife’s stuff. We would like to get them something to celebrate their wedding, but don’t want to add to their stress by giving them something that they probably don’t need. What’s a good present?
Two good friends of ours are getting married. They are middle-aged and have been living on their own forever, and consequently have all of the household appliances, dishes, and stuff that anyone could want. In fact, the husband-to-be is taking a bunch of his stuff to the dump and donating it to make room for his future wife’s stuff. We would like to get them something to celebrate their wedding, but don’t want to add to their stress by giving them something that they probably don’t need. What’s a good present?
a picture frame. can’t go wrong there.
they don’t take up much room, can be hung or taken to the office…
they can display wedding pics in them, or honeymoon pics!
Cash is always good, and it will always be used.
GET THEM A GIFT CERTIFICATE TO A GOOD RESTAURANT
Cash is always good. In NY the majority of people give cash and not a gift for the wedding. If you want to give them somethig more personal than try Personalization.com. They have lots of stuf that you could get engraved for them. I got friends of mine for their engagment party a wine bottle engraved with names and their wedding date. It was nice. A gift certificate for portraits is nice also.
money and a card or a bottle of wine
Cash or gift cards…let them pick out what they need.
1. Cash
2. Gift certificate to their favorite restaurant
3. Tickets to a concert, show, or sporting event you know they would enjoy.
4. A good bottle of wine.
5. Spa day? Give them gift certificates for massages.
6. Maybe something like this? A way to help others?
edit: I like Dixie_n_pixie’s idea of gas and groceries! Cannot go wrong with that.
Perhaps you could make a donation in their honor to their favorite charity.
Gift card/certificate to a local gas station (everyone needs gas) or a card/cert to a local grocery (gotta eat)
Something that is personal for the two of them. Do they have a hobby that they share? Or do you have a special memory captured in photos from long ago? Those old memories might be buried deep inside the both of them and they would probably cherish the gift all that more……tears could start flowing as well.
A lot goes into this answer, for example what your budget is and whether or not the couple is registered anywhere. If the couple is registered, then I would say choose something from there registry that doesn’t require a bunch of counter space or something that will be used all the time if it does require counter space–that way they get the maximum bang out of the gift.
Barring that, if you can tell what a couple’s taste is in their home a painting would be nice. It is something that goes on the wall so it doesn’t require space like most items just wall space and some bachelors don’t take the time to buy nice wall art.
If you want to keep it more simple, something with the couple’s wedding date on it like a nice clock that will fit into a curio cabinet would be ideal. There are always gift cards so that they can choose what they want and donations to charity if they prefer that. I would think with them moving in together though that they might need some updated items.
A great gift doesn’t have to be more stuff. Instead get them something they’d enjoy but don’t have to keep forever.
Why not get them great seats to a show they’d both like? Or a gift pass to a ski resort, enough to cover two lift passes? If they don’t ski try a few extraordinary bottles of wine that they might share with you? Think about the things they like and what they enjoy and find something perishable to compliment their lives.
Then, why not take that idea and apply it to everyone you know. We all have way too much stuff anyway.
Surprise the happy couple with a thoughtful and personal gift that reflects their personal style.
Questions to ask yourself when you are looking to purchase the wedding gift are:
·What are the couple’s hobbies?
·Are they avid fans of art, sports, opera?
·Do the couple have any collections?
·Do they have a favorite charity?
Good Luck
My new hubby and I were the same type of couple, we’d lived together for 4 yrs and already had everything we needed. When we got married, here were some non-space-taking gifts we recvd that we really appreciated.
-Cash (who doesn’t appreciate cash?lol)
-A date night gift basket w/movie dinner certificates,
-A unique, lovely bottle of wine,
-My aunt provided us w/a large $$ amt gas card to go towards out honeymoon travel/driving expenses. CAME IN BIG-TIME HANDY!
-romantic breakfast gift basket: gourmet coffee/tea/hot chocolate, fancy biscottis, gourmet pancake mix (it was apple streusal flavor) with fancy syrup…plus a bottle of champagne to mix w/oj and 2 beautiful glasses.
-we are wine lovers, so my brother got us a wine of the month subscription…we get a gift every month for a year!
-matching/coordinating pj’s for honeymoon
basically anything ‘edible’, wearable, usable is the best way to go.
Firstly, please tell him not to take these things to the dump, I’m sure he could make some money and sell the things, or give them to charity if he is not bothered about the money.
I think that you could get them an experience day, perhaps a hot air balloon ride, or a romantic weekend for 2 at a country hotel somewhere. Or just give them money…
As others said – I gift certificate to one of their favorite restaurants is always a hit. No matter how much money you may have, it’s always nice to have dinner for free.
Giving them a gift certificate for a couples massage is always a nice one as well. Again, no matter how much money one has, these are always nice gestures.
If they are into any charities, making a donation in their name would be a great gift. But make sure they actually have a charity, otherwise this might not seem that great.
If you are crafty you could make them a huge wine basket that has some local red/white wine, cheeses, crackers, wine glasses, maybe some pamphlets to wineries in their area.
You could hire a cleaning service for a week to come and clean the house maybe after she moves her stuff in – would take some stress off of the both of them.
A Home Depot or Lowes gift card. Whether it is tools, a lawn mower or new carpeting, they’ll find a use for it, believe me.
A date night for them, depending on how much you want to spend it could be really cool. Dinner gift certificate, play, movie, or concert tickets, and maybe a limo to transport them. It would make for a memorable night as opposed to another set of towels to shove in the back of an already full linen closet. Or something cool like matching engraved watches…..
Sign them up for like the wine of the month club – wineofthemonthclub.com. Or buy them a gift certificate for mainelobsterdirect.com and they can plan a very fancy dinner with fresh live Maine Lobsters. Or find out where they are honeymooning and surprise them with paying for a nice dinner at the hotel, or paying for some sort of activity there. Good luck!
Money!
Money is always the best gift to give—-UNLESS #1) they have registered for specific things they want or need or #2) they’ve rudely asked for cash.
get them gift cards for a dinner and a movie- no matter age or how long they’ve been together, everyone can appreciate a date night.
donate to their favorite charity.
A tree or rose bushes for their garden and yard.
Mony or a gift card to restraunt they like to eat at.
A gift certificate to a nice restaurant. A paid one night stay at a nice bed and breakfast. A couples spa package. Tickets to a show.