Do you need a bit of wedding gift inspiration? Most couples now choose to create a home together well before getting married, It’s a good idea when you think about it. Imagine getting married to someone without having lived with them first – unaware of whether you can live with their quirks and habits. I think if I was thrown into my husband’s annoying habits head first I’d probably have no hair left by now! Traditionally, a wedding gift list was used to build your first home together. But now, as a couple you’ve probably already acquired an extensive household of everything you need.
So what do your guests get you?
If you are wondering whether you should even have a gift list, have a look through this article I found by Prezola. Do I need a wedding gift list? Of course your guests’ presence on the day is the best gift. And whilst it should not be expected that they bring a gift, most guests will want to get you something. Here’s the thing, if you don’t give some sort of direction, you’ll likely end up with a huge pile of Mr & Mrs ornaments. Although personalised gifts are just lovely, there’s only so many you can find a place for. And truth be told, all our tastes are different and having to bring out that one you find garish every time Aunty Margaret pops over for a cup of tea will get bothersome.
It is so easy to get lost down the wedding gift rabbit hole. There can be a lot of challenges and it can be very overwhelming. Hopefully this will give you a bit of wedding gift inspiration!
Well, if you are struggling for a bit of wedding gift inspiration, here’s a couple of ideas for you.
You could start by using a service where you can build your wish list. I like to think that this is similar to those situations you see in films. A couple excitedly bustling around a department store with a barcode scanner, beeping in anything they like the look of. It looks like immense amounts of fun! But in reality, nowadays it’s all online. Register with a service such as John Lewis, choose your gifts and then share your list with your guests. If it was me I’d probably end up raiding their collection of house plants which is my latest obsession. But that’s a story for another day…
Asking for cash contributions
This is what me and my husband did for our wedding. We didn’t need “things.” I admit, I did think it was a bit cheeky at first, but everyone understood that there wasn’t anything we needed and instead we would like to put the money towards a honeymoon. If you don’t want to directly ask for money you could write “no boxed gifts” on your invitations. Alternatively, a cute little poem is a lighter way to ask for money. This Hitched.com article has some fabulous examples. You could put it towards a deposit on your first home if you’re currently renting. Or, you could buy something that you wouldn’t normally have the spare cash for – like an original painting, or a once in a lifetime experience.
Of course if you really don’t want anything from your guests, you could always ask for donations to your favourite charity. Asking your guests to donate to a charity instead of a present fund is a great way to give to a good cause or help others less fortunate that yourself. Set up a Just Giving page and pop the link in your invitations. Alternatively you can set up a tribute fund such with charities such as Macmillan in memory of a loved one.
Now, one final idea for you
Have you thought about what you want to do with your images after your wedding? How about asking your guests to contribute towards getting the precious memories of your special day immortalised in print?
I will often say it, and whilst people may think that it’s a ploy to get you to spend money, it’s really not about my back pocket. I can’t say it enough…you need to get your images printed.
In this day and age everything is digital. And whilst that’s not necessarily a bad thing, what happens when Facebook isn’t around anymore. What happens when your USB or hard drive corrupts? PUFF, gone! Digital images are so easily lost, never to be recovered. We’ve all had that one phone or laptop that has suddenly gone Kaput. Leaving us panicking about how we are going to get our files. Think of our histories, if we didn’t have pictures, paintings, sculptures, books and texts ect, how would we view our history? What would we know about it? Why do we not want to show our own individual history?
There are pictures and paintings from soooo many years ago still available to view today. But, can I tell you where the disc of images I had taken of my children 5 years ago is? Can I heckers. But, the canvas I had made up shortly after my daughter was born is still hanging pride of place on my living room wall.
As a little bit of a back story about why I am so passionate about this.
Back in 2012 I lost my beautiful mum to the devastating disease that is Cancer. I now have a cupboard full of her photos and albums. Those are her memories, and mine to some extent. If she haven’t of had those photos, where would those memories be now? I can look back on those photos at any time. They make me smile and they help me remember… who she was, the memories we made. I feel bad that the children of today’s generation won’t have that with so many of us not having our images printed.
Now I get it, weddings are expensive. And once you’ve shelled out thousands for a wedding there’s not likely to be much left for albums or wall art. But after spending all that money on your wedding, why don’t you want to show it off? Your guests can help you here!
If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could put a note in your invitations, or get creative with a poem. Pop your photographer’s details in there and ask your guests to get in touch to make their donation or purchase a gift voucher.
I hope I have given you some inspiration for your wedding gift list! All the best on your up-coming wedding!
