Wedding Gift ideas

StarBright01

Hi, does anyone know of anywhere I can get a nice wedding present for a friend? As its a good friend I don't want to give cash. They've just bought a house. Any ideas welcome!

Tigger

Atm

TwoShedsJackson

A waffle iron is always appreciated.

MonkeyTennis

The lovely shop

seamus

As they've just bought a house, you should either give them money or ask them what they want.

Seriously, trying to think of something that they might like and surprising them with it is risky. The amount of wedding presents that we got which are now sitting in the attic is crazy. Nice idea, but the kind of thing you would buy for your home is not the kind of thing I would buy for mine.

kneemos

Paint roller and tray.

kylith

Just ask them if there's anything they need for the house. It's much better than trying to guess. I remember when my brother got married he wound up with 3 toasters and a half dozen (incredibly ugly) lamps.

Or a voucher for Woodies/B&Q/Homebase.

Sleepy

Cash is king.

The only present we received which I appreciated more than the cash gifts was a family heirloom: a mantlepiece clock my grandfather was gifted on his wedding day. Without that familial attachment, it wouldn't ever have been something I'd have been interested in but as such it was priceless.

TwoShedsJackson

TwoShedsJackson wrote: »

A waffle iron is always appreciated.

Why would you iron waffles? Then they'd just be pancakes.

anncoates

As tacky as it sounds, a small money gift or even a donation to a named charity is usually the best option.

When you get married and buy a house around the same time (we did) you have so much duplicate or unwanted stuff that you could never hope to use.

Even lovely thoughtful gifts just get overwhelming in terms of storage and usefulness when you multiply them by X guests.

Birneybau

anncoates wrote: »

As tacky as it sounds, a small money gift or even a donation to a named charity is usually the best option.

When you get married and buy a house around the same time (we did) you have so much duplicate or unwanted stuff that you could never hope to use.

Even lovely thoughtful gifts just get overwhelming in terms of storage and usefulness when you multiply them by X guests.

I'm gonna be brutally honest and say I'd be fairly disappointed if somebody donated money in my name as a wedding gift.

Menas

Welcome to the zoo OP.
For non Zoo related topics to do with weddings you may prefer http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=670 !!

A nice gift card for a department store, so they can buy whatever it is that they happen to need themselves. It's less tacky than cash but gives them the freedom to choose for themselves.

hairyslug

If they are going on a honeymoon, get the money equivalent in the relevant currency

biko

A massive dildo

smash

sex swing!

MonkeyTennis

the OP asked WHERE folks

smash

MonkeyTennis wrote: »

the OP asked WHERE folks

ms fantasia

The Backwards Man

A tea set

PhoenixParker

Does the house come with a garden? Are they interested in Gardens?
Vouchers for a garden store, maybe with a bird house/table to give yourself something to wrap.

biko

biko wrote: »

A massive dildo

MonkeyTennis wrote: »

the OP asked WHERE folks

Ye olde porno shoppe

5starpool

I'm getting married fairly soon and I'd prefer any/all gifts to be in cash to be perfectly honest. I differ from the OP's friend in tat I haven't just moved in somewhere and have no need of new house stuff, but even so it'd be clearly preferable to get cash.

Obviously I'm not one of those that say anything as crude as 'Cash Only' or mention anything about gifts at all. If people don't want to give cash, or even if they want to give nothing at all that's up to them obviously, although I can't imagine the latter happening in many cases. I'm not looking forward to deciding what to do with 3 vases, 4 cutlery sets and 2 vouchers for obscure shops that stock nothing I want though, but the givers will be thanked regardless.

I'm going to a wedding this weekend though where my friends have just moved into a new house (more relevance to the OP) and they will certainly be getting cash though.

I've five weddings this year. I always seem to have five feckin weddings a year. I'll be giving cash to them all.

biko

Go classic - toaster.


* from a toaster shop

ixoy

Stand mixer.

ixoy

ixoy wrote: »

Stand mixer.

And a portrait of the couple.

biko

A portrait of the pope to put over the mantelpiece.

Wossack

hmv voucher

StarBright01

hilarious biko...! Good idea on the honeymoon gift. Was thinking of a dinner set from Meadows and Byrne but not sure as would like to get something more meaningful since its a good friend. Thanks for all the suggestions , lots of ideas to go on!

SEPT 23 1989

a lawnmower

fleet_admiral

A voucher for homestore and more. They have great stuff

DulchieLaois

cash is king, saves on useless gifts, however, if your keen on a gift, a voucher for a nice weekend break inc dinner is ideal as it will be one gift that ur friend will remember when they are away on the actual break.

If your spending high, try Rathsallagh/Castle Durrow, there are nice breaks to be had there

Tarzana2

5starpool wrote: »

but the givers will be thanked regardless.

That's good of you. :pac:

rainbow kirby

Seriously, just give cash.

Birneybau

Cash, don't even consider anything else. if they just bought a house money towards paying for the wedding or towards costs associated with the house will be far more useful that some gift.

Birneybau wrote: »

I'm gonna be brutally honest and say I'd be fairly disappointed if somebody donated money in my name as a wedding gift.

+1 on that, why someone would give a "present" to someone which was donating money to charity is beyond me.

rainbow kirby

Joanna Substantial Tollbooth wrote: »

+1 on that, why someone would give a "present" to someone which was donating money to charity is beyond me.

Friends of mine requested that donations be made in their name to two charities of their choice rather than people giving them cash gifts for their wedding a few years back. This would be awkward if it wasn't specifically requested like that though!

bb1234567

Nice cutlery. Its a new house, they need it, how wrong could you go with that.

libelula

bb1234567 wrote: »

Nice cutlery. Its a new house, they need it, how wrong could you go with that.

If someone bought me cutlery as a present, I just know right now that it'd be getting returned unless it was a specific set that I'd asked for.
Buying cutlery for me is a military operation, I've done less thinking about cars I've bought :pac:

5starpool

Tarzana2 wrote: »

That's good of you. :pac:

We're just that kind of couple

Seriously though, some of the things I've read of people doing for weddings such as asking for set amounts, or telling people what to give, and I even heard once of a couple giving back gifts they didn't like and asking for cash from the givers instead, nothing would surprise me, so just thought I'd make it clear.

PhoenixParker

bb1234567 wrote: »

Nice cutlery. Its a new house, they need it, how wrong could you go with that.

From my point of view, and we're getting married in six weeks, we bought ourselves a very nice cutlery set back in October/November. Another set of the same cutlery would be great, but a different set would be really annoying because it wouldn't match and it's not like cutlery breaks or needs to be replaced within 20 years.

Unless you know what cutlery they already have and that they like it enough to want more in the same style, then cutlery is a risk option. Cash.

jimgoose

Money. Loads and loads of money. Failing that, a set of really good knives, Japanese ideally.

Summer wind

Waterford crystal clock or photo frame.

Tarzana2

Birneybau wrote: »

I'm gonna be brutally honest and say I'd be fairly disappointed if somebody donated money in my name as a wedding gift.

Even though I hate grasping brides and grooms, I'd be inclined to agree. If you are going to give someone a gift, it should be something they'll like not something you think they should like.

fussyonion

A Fray Bentos Steak and Kidney Pie.

DulchieLaois

a kick up d backside

Irishcrx

Divorce Lawyer...very romantic...

homerjay2005

Luc01 wrote: »

Hi, does anyone know of anywhere I can get a nice wedding present for a friend? As its a good friend I don't want to give cash. They've just bought a house. Any ideas welcome!

As they are a good friend, you SHOULD be giving them cash...

Birneybau

Irishcrx wrote: »

Divorce Lawyer...very romantic...

Well, a voucher for one maybe.

homerjay2005

Luc01 wrote: »

hilarious biko...! Good idea on the honeymoon gift. Was thinking of a dinner set from Meadows and Byrne but not sure as would like to get something more meaningful since its a good friend. Thanks for all the suggestions , lots of ideas to go on!

If a good friend of mine gave me a dinner set for a wedding, I'd find it tacky, disrespectful and cheap. Just give them the cash and job done.you can be pretty sure that if you give your friends that present, they will be insulted.

Cash is the best (and only) wedding gift you should give anybody, can't believe there's people out there who are so out of touch to think otherwise.

Dinner sets as wedding gifts went out of fashion 20 years ago

SparkySpitfire

Seeing as the idea of giving people wedding presents was to help them build a home together when they moved out of their parents house - shouldn't this nonsense be done away with all together?

If you ask me for money you're getting a toaster. If you want my present to cover the cost of my attendance then don't invite me. Weddings are expensive enough to attend as it is and no one asked you to have a huge scale wedding that you're relying on guest's gifts to repay. On the same note, if you can't afford a wedding don't go.

The above really hammers home the way some weddings are literally all about the money these days, how much is spent and how much they hope to recuperate. I would be mortified to take €100 off my friends tbh.

bee06

When I got married we got a couple of lovely gifts one was a framed picture spelling out our name in pictures (hard to explain but they do them on etsy) and someone else got us a wedding cake tree which is now planted in our garden. We also got some great house stuff gifts but it was all very specific things that they knew we needed like a really good knife set. Unless there is something you know they specifically need I wouldn't be going with cutlery sets or dinner sets.