Wedding gift

pgj2015

Hi, I am looking for any ideas for a gift to get for a friend of mine who is getting married, I am not giving cash as I prefer to give gifts, budget 100-150 euro.

davo2001

You might prefer to give a gift, but would the couple prefer cash?

The Cool

davo2001 wrote: »

You might prefer to give a gift, but would the couple prefer cash?

This ^^
I think most couples would prefer cash than have people spend that amount of money on something they may not want or have use for. And given that most couples these days already live together when they marry, they'll probably already have anything they need. Unless you know there's something specific they want, and that nobody else is already buying it for them.

Of course I only speak for myself but I would much rather €20 in a card than €150 spent on a coffee machine when I already have one, or an ornament that I hate.

GingerLily

davo2001 wrote: »

You might prefer to give a gift, but would the couple prefer cash?

I think giving a gift is fine, as long as it's a gift they actually want!

OP, you're in a better position then strangers on the internet you choose a gift for your friend, if you can't think of one I'd advise you to give cash/ voucher

Just give cash, easier for you and more useful to the couple.

pgj2015

I try not to give cash, its just too predictable and boring. I wanted some original ideas for a present. maybe a gift you got that you still remember unlike a few notes in a card.

mcgiggles

My friend was telling me they got a lovely slate with date they met, date they got engaged and date they got married on it, and an engraved chopping board which were cute, if you are really against cash on its own you could get a small momento like that and put cash in aswell? I think in this day and age people have houses full of stuff, the predictable gift of money would nearly be more useful to them!

pgj2015

im determined now not to give money

surely a gift can be given that is not something for the couples house.

fima

I got married recently and we received a gift card for meadows and Byrne and I can honestly say it was brilliant, I went and got so much in the sale last week that I would have never have bought had I had the cash.

missmatty

Maybe a voucher for a restaurant that they might like or for a nice department store where they could choose something for themselves?

We got one of those framed things with Mr & Mrs X and the date in one corner, and our first names spelled out in scrabble tiles intersecting against the background. It's really nice.

Teyla Emmagan

pgj2015 wrote:

Hi, I am looking for any ideas for a gift to get for a friend of mine who is getting married, I am not giving cash as I prefer to give gifts, budget 100-150 euro.

I give framed prints, photos or paintings. Preferably something that means something to the couple (like a photo of some beauty spot in their home place or whatever). I only give cash to people i'm not that bothered about

judeboy101

Bitcoin

GingerLily

judeboy101 wrote: »

Bitcoin

Please do not do this unless you actually know the couple would want it

zoobizoo

We got a present of two nights away glamping in the countryside - it was so nice to be able to use it nearly a year after the wedding. It's not something or somewhere we'd have ever gone and it was really lovely.

OP - I gave a present of wine to one of my good friends. He and his wife are wine lovers. One bottle cost me UK£70 and the other UK30...... (going back a while now)........ they were delighted and had looked up the wine's background etc and were saving it for a special time.


If you are giving a voucher, give it for a shop you know they shop in or would like to shop in. We have €500 of vouchers for Brown Thomas and although we will use them, I can never find anything I like in there because it's so expenisve. I would never normally buy such expensive clothes so it's hard to say "Ah yea I'll spend €150 on this shirt" - I can't bring myself to do it

Same with All 4 One vouchers - pain in the ass trying to figure out where you can spend them and how much credit you have.

davo2001

zoobizoo wrote: »

Same with All 4 One vouchers - pain in the ass trying to figure out where you can spend them and how much credit you have.

Just an FYI here, you can use All 4 one vouchers and convert them into credit on an amazon account.
Alot more buying options!

missmatty

zoobizoo wrote: »

We have €500 of vouchers for Brown Thomas and although we will use them, I can never find anything I like in there because it's so expenisve. I would never normally buy such expensive clothes so it's hard to say "Ah yea I'll spend €150 on this shirt" - I can't bring myself to do it

I couldn't bring myself to spend it on clothes or shoes in BT either but I'd totally manage to spend it on nice homewares, something for the kitchen or just really good quality bedlinen!

Delphinium

Home decor is so personal it's difficult to choose for someone else. Most people display some wedding photos so I have given a voucher for an excellent local picture framer so they can coordinate the display. Two couples actually bought work which was displayed by a local artist in the frame shop instead of the frames. Pay for voucher by credit card and if there is a time limit drop a reminder to couple before it runs out.

Atomic Pineapple

If you're not giving cash I think buying or putting money towards an experience such as the glamping mentioned earlier or something like the Rally school in Monaghan if you think they might like something like that, basically enable them to do something they might not have done without your gift.

Miaireland

If they are in their Long-term house and they have a garden consider a tree or a plant.

appledrop

We got a gift of voucher for a restaurant + it was a great present so I'd recommend that if you don't want to give money. I'd advise against anything for the house. Peoples taste are very different +something you might like they might hate.

Atlantic Dawn

Always cash, the most thoughtful gift.

freshpopcorn

The nicest thing I saw was a hand painted picture of the church with the couples name and wedding date on it. It was professional done.
You've to be very careful with glasses/vases/set of ware/etc. Your taste may not be the same as the couples.

SozBbz

freshpopcorn wrote: »

The nicest thing I saw was a hand painted picture of the church with the couples name and wedding date on it. It was professional done.
You've to be very careful with glasses/vases/set of ware/etc. Your taste may not be the same as the couples.

This just goes to show how subjective this all is. I wouldnt like that at all and neither would my OH, because we're not very sentimental people and have quite minimal/modern taste in home decor. I'd probably feel obliged to hang it up and then just resent it everytime I walked past it!

I do like nice glassware but I have my own already so I wouldnt need more - this probably goes for almost any household item.

I think vouchers for good department stores (Arnotts, BT's) are a good idea if you really don't want to give cash - it could help the couple invest in something long lasting for their home, which could be something wholly unglamorous like a vacuum cleaner or a cake mixer or similar. I'd rather have my gift go towards something that they want/value rather than something that would potentially be considered clutter.

Other gift ideas could include a case of wine (if they like wine of course) or a voucher for a nice hotel/restaurant that they could use later in the year when the madness from the wedding itself has died down. Or you could get them cash in the currency they'd need for their honeymoon? Or indeed a voucher for a restaurant for during the honeymoon? Friends of mine recently received a voucher for a michelin starred restaurant in a city they visited on honeymoon and thought it was a great idea - but they're foodies so its horses for courses.

mcgiggles

You know what this is a good idea! And I'm one that said to give cash lol.. I was just saying to my mum the other day one of her cousins is quite old fashioned and would prefer to give a gift and i was trying to think what she could tell her. Because we havent our house built yet, we are just renting we didnt shell out big money on good appliances - like a good hoover or decent blender or anything and its not something we would go out of our way to buy ourselves right now so a gift like that would be good in our situation :-)

GingerLily

mcgiggles wrote: »

You know what this is a good idea! And I'm one that said to give cash lol.. I was just saying to my mum the other day one of her cousins is quite old fashioned and would prefer to give a gift and i was trying to think what she could tell her. Because we havent our house built yet, we are just renting we didnt shell out big money on good appliances - like a good hoover or decent blender or anything and its not something we would go out of our way to buy ourselves right now so a gift like that would be good in our situation :-)

While I know this is very frowned upon, we're asking (only for people who specially ask, it's not written on the invitations), for no "boxed gifts". We're living with his parents now and have literally no place to put anything. We've added "gift tokens/vouchers or contribution for the honeymoon" would all be greatly appreciated.

DwightKSchrute

We got married almost 3 months ago. To be honest, quite a few of the non-cash gifts were either not our taste at all or else we got more than one of the same/similar item.

We got a crystal vase with our names engraved on it, which I am sure was quite expensive, but it just isn't us at all. We can't even give it to anyone who might like it because it'd been personalised.

We got a gift of a frame with cartoon versions of ourselves with things like our names, the wedding date, the date we met, the venue, etc. It's really sweet and very pretty. The problem is, we got 2 of them. They are practically the same with the exception of the colours and fonts used.

The best non-cash gifts we got were a voucher for Avoca and a night away in a 5-star hotel. I love the products they sell in Avoca but could never justify buying anything there because it's just so expensive. It's great to know we can have a little guilt-free shopping session and get something completely to our taste. The same for the hotel. We'd rarely be in a position to splash out on such a nice hotel. It's great to enjoy a little luxury after all of the wedding fuss dies down.

If you remain determined not to give cash as a gift, I'd advise you give the couple something they can enjoy using together.

Malari

Most people gave us cash. As the non-cash gifts we got some art (one was perfect, but from a very close friend who knows us both very well. One was a voucher from a gallery where we struggled to find something we actually liked.), garden centre vouchers (perfect - we got a tree), high end department store vouchers (useful but we didn't get one Big Thing from them) and a restaurant voucher (nice, memorable meal there).

You really have to know someone very well to give a non-cash gift, even a voucher gift.

missmatty

missmatty wrote: »

Maybe a voucher for a restaurant that they might like or for a nice department store where they could choose something for themselves?

We got one of those framed things with Mr & Mrs X and the date in one corner, and our first names spelled out in scrabble tiles intersecting against the background. It's really nice.

No doubting that it might be really nice, but if we received something like that, I know my fianceé would like it, but I would think it's rubbish, and not appreciate it.
It should be a gift for the couple, and not just for one side of the party.
I'm sure if I bought my friend a new driver as a wedding gift, he'd love it, but his wife wouldn't be happy

timothymaxy

Here's what I will do if I were you, I love drawing, so I will draw a pic of them 

GingerLily

[Deleted User] wrote: »

No doubting that it might be really nice, but if we received something like that, I know my fianceé would like it, but I would think it's rubbish, and not appreciate it.
It should be a gift for the couple, and not just for one side of the party.
I'm sure if I bought my friend a new driver as a wedding gift, he'd love it, but his wife wouldn't be happy

A gift to decorate your home about the couple is a gift for both the B&G even if it's not to everyones taste, so is an acceptable wedding gift. A gift for the groom (a single gold club) is not a gift for the couple so not an acceptable wedding gift.

Some people here seem extremely ungrateful, I'm sure we'll see ticketed weddings soon by the way things are going!

HeidiHeidi

How about a Blue Book voucher? Someone I know recently got one (not as a wedding present) and they're delighted with it! Some really gorgeous places to be had in it, and not necessarily something you'd spend money on / indulge in yourself.

http://www.irelands-blue-book.ie/

Or if they're foodies, a voucher for a lovely restaurant that they might like.

SozBbz

GingerLily wrote: »

A gift to decorate your home about the couple is a gift for both the B&G even if it's not to everyones taste, so is an acceptable wedding gift. A gift for the groom (a single gold club) is not a gift for the couple so not an acceptable wedding gift.

Some people here seem extremely ungrateful, I'm sure we'll see ticketed weddings soon by the way things are going!

I don't think its a matter of being ungrateful - these types of posts always read the same to me - the OP says something like "I don't like to give cash" or "I want to give a gift"... Its all about them and what they want to do. Why not think about the couple and their life stage and individual circumstances. If a couple is already in their forever home and have it fully furnished, why make it all about you by giving something physical that you've no idea if they'd actually make use of.

When I'm giving someone a gift, I think about them and what they like or might need or appreciate, not what I like to give. You said yourself you're asking for no boxed gifts due to your specific living arrangements. What I don't like is people who are determined to give art/glassware/whatever despite a couples circumstances.

If someone gave me some soft of framed commemorative thing with our names on it etc, I'd honestly just think they clearly don't know me/him well at all. I hate waste, and in my view giving me something that I don't want and have no need for (and was probably expensive) is just wasteful. I'd rather have a card with your best wishes than something unnecessary. I think a specific hotel/restaurant voucher overcomes the issue that cash is impersonal,and the couple will think of you fondly when using it.

GingerLily

SozBbz wrote: »

I don't think its a matter of being ungrateful - these types of posts always read the same to me - the OP says something like "I don't like to give cash" or "I want to give a gift"... Its all about them and what they want to do. Why not think about the couple and their life stage and individual circumstances. If a couple is already in their forever home and have it fully furnished, why make it all about you by giving something physical that you've no idea if they'd actually make use of.

When I'm giving someone a gift, I think about them and what they like or might need or appreciate, not what I like to give. You said yourself you're asking for no boxed gifts due to your specific living arrangements. What I don't like is people who are determined to give art/glassware/whatever despite a couples circumstances.

I'm only telling people who actually ask me though, maybe you missed that? I wouldn't even mind people holding onto physical gifts till we've moved, which I suspect my sister is planning on anyway!!

I hate the cash gift culture that goes along with weddings, I usually give cash myself but only when the couple haven't been shouting about wanting cash gifts only.

Malari

GingerLily wrote: »

I'm only telling people who actually ask me though, maybe you missed that? I wouldn't even mind people holding onto physical gifts till we've moved, which I suspect my sister is planning on anyway!!

I hate the cash gift culture that goes along with weddings, I usually give cash myself buy only when the couple haven't been shouting about wanting cash gifts only.

But people were asked what the OP should give instead of a cash gift, and are giving their opinions on that. In most cases the advice is unless you know the couple really well, you are unlikely to get it right buying a household item. I think even the people who are advocating cash only are not demanding it. We didn't specify a thing, and if anyone asked (directly or indirectly) we said we didn't want anything!

SozBbz

GingerLily wrote: »

I'm only telling people who actually ask me though, maybe you missed that? I wouldn't even mind people holding onto physical gifts till we've moved, which I suspect my sister is planning on anyway!!

I hate the cash gift culture that goes along with weddings, I usually give cash myself but only when the couple haven't been shouting about wanting cash gifts only.

No, I didnt miss it but it doesnt actually make a difference to the point I'm making. I'm saying that gift giving should be about the recipient and their wants and needs, not the gift giver and any stance they have.

IMO if I knew a couple were living with parents I'd hope that alone would be enough to tell people that physical gifts probably are not the order of the day. Actually in that circumstance, hotel vouchers would probably be very welcome! Or an Arnotts/BT's gift card to buy something when you do get set up.

I just think give the gift that makes most sense for the recipients, and if thats cash then what harm. Don't let some anti cash gift stance get in the way of giving people what they'd most appreciate.

Sofiztikated

A baby pig.

Gift voucher for plastic surgery.

Complete Encyclopedia Britannica.

21 cans of Guinness (having taken 3 out for yourself)

A collection of Matchbox Cars.

davo2001

GingerLily wrote: »

I usually give cash myself but only when the couple haven't been shouting about wanting cash gifts only.

So if the couple ask you for a cash gift, you go against what they want and give them a (probably) unwanted gift instead?

Makes sense :rolleyes:

optogirl

pgj2015 wrote: »

im determined now not to give money

surely a gift can be given that is not something for the couples house.

We got Ticketmaster vouchers which I was delighted with because all the cash is getting immediately squirreled away towards a deposit (groan) but this means we have a great excuse to arrange a night out or two

freshpopcorn

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

How about a Blue Book voucher? Someone I know recently got one (not as a wedding present) and they're delighted with it! Some really gorgeous places to be had in it, and not necessarily something you'd spend money on / indulge in yourself.

http://www.irelands-blue-book.ie/

Or if they're foodies, a voucher for a lovely restaurant that they might like.

Be careful with vouchers. Make sure their people who like going away. I know somebody who got these and they all ended up not being used!

Sofiztikated

freshpopcorn wrote: »

Be careful with vouchers. Make sure their people who like going away. I know somebody who got these and they all ended up not being used!

If only there was a piece of paper, that could be exchanged for goods or services, without restrictions or an expiry date.

Badger2009

I would stay away from spending a lot on something the couple may not or may not want. Go ahead with it if you are sure but if you are in any doubt I would say don't. Some people got us a small momento and some cash as well. These gifts really stood out and were very memorable.

gubby

Ah yes the big question. Cash or Gift. I do have to say that, in my opinion it seems that more and more people prefer to get cash. However, as someone pointed out already, you could compromise and get a small gift + some cash.
The very best thing about a gift (not cash) is, if it is something the couple really like they will always remember who gave it to them. Try as they might if they meet someone a year later who gave cash they will not even remember how much they gave (unless it was a really miserly amount)
When my daughter got married she received from her cousin a set of (I think) 6 good quality silver Christmas tree decorations. She really loves them and every year she appreciates them when decorating the tree. The fact the she only sees them at Christmas and not have to dust a picture or vase every few weeks helps.
My sister received a gift from a very good friend of a fully stacked picnic basket. She was a bit unsure about it in the beginning but as they years went buy and little one came bringing trips to the seaside etc she really appreciated this gift. Of course as was said one would have to KNOW the people well.
I think the restaurant voucher is a good idea too. If its all money gifts which got towards deposit for a house it rather becomes swallowed up and you never really remember who gave you how much. best of luck

scarepanda

While this is a lovely idea it could end up more expensive for either the guest or the b&g. The places in the blue book are not cheap and you would want to give a substantial voucher for it to not cost the b&g a whole lot extra to use it, which in turn adds an extra expense on the guest.
We had a voucher for €200 that didn't even nearly cover 2 nights in the cheapest place we could find in the blue book. Now it was lovely and we used it for a trip that we were already planning on taking, so paying a bit extra wasn't an issue for us. But it may be if the b&g are not flush with cash to top up the voucher. There is an expiry date on those vouchers as well, although I think it's 18 months.

A blue book voucher may be a good idea for a group of friends to pitch together on though.

machiavellianme

judeboy101 wrote: »

Bitcoin

It has fallen off a cliff in the last few days so wouldn't be worth as much.

bee06

Someone gave us a tree as a wedding gift. It was a lovely idea but neither of us are blessed with green fingers and the poor tree was dead in less than a year. I like to say it's a symbol of the future of our marriage.

Two really good presents we got were a voucher for an electrical shop as we were in the process of building and a framed picture with our new "family" name. Only works if you know there are no strong negative feelings towards changing of names after marriage.

The worst present we got was a really old fashioned dinner set. Completely not to our taste so will never be used.

OP, it's only a gift from the couple if you actually know they will like it. Otherwise it's a way for you to make a point about not giving money.

GingerLily

davo2001 wrote: »

So if the couple ask you for a cash gift, you go against what they want and give them a (probably) unwanted gift instead?

Makes sense :rolleyes:

If I didn't ask and a couple told me to give them cash as a gift I'd be very annoyed as it's such bad manners. I'd probably not attend if that was an option.