Acquaintances of ours are getting married in the next two weeks and we’re preparing to go to a pre-wedding party over the weekend for them. About two months ago, we received an email from a friend of theirs who had decided to put together a really thoughtful gift: she requested recipes from everyone invited to be assembled into a book which will be given to the couple. The bride enjoys cooking, and the groom loves to eat so it’s a really nice gift for them. And they will have a great collection of recipes that have been tried, tested and improved by their friends to sample from in the future. We’re sending 5 of our favs, including the new pizza recipe and a few classics like meatloaf and chili.
Sometimes wedding gifts can lose their personal touch or people just get wrapped up in the monetary value of things. While it’s always nice to consider how much the couple is investing into the party for you to enjoy yourself (which you hopefully reflect in the gift you purchase), it’s just as important to try to give something thoughtful, meaningful and/or useful to the happy couple that they can hopefully use and cherish for many years to come.
When we got married, we asked for money. We had just graduated college and moved to Germany and we needed all the money we could get. What we didn’t expect was that some people would go to great lengths to make the money gift either challenge us or just look incredible. For example, one person tossed about €50 in coins into a 2 foot square box and then filled the thing with insulation foam – the spray in stuff that you have to cut and chip away at to get out. Another person built us a 3-tier mock-cake from paper that had little wedding Smurfs and various coins and bills stuck all over it. And one family gift we actually “unwrapped” during the reception included sending us on a “beach vacation,” complete with inflatable train, a pile of sand and digging for buried treasure.
Weddings should be a time of fun and celebration – so instead of just giving a card with a few bills stuffed in it next time, maybe you can find a more creative way of giving the cash that shows how much you care as well.
