Unique Wedding Gift Idea

With so many couples having set up housekeeping either together or separately, before the wedding, the old standby of a kettle or toaster just doesn't cut it for a wedding gift these days. Couples are getting married later in life, so have already established their own homes, along with all the necessary small appliances, linens and decor items. And with the wide choice of household items available, taste plays a bigger part in what the new bride and groom want to use or display in their homes making it even more difficult to pick out a gift you are sure they will like or be able to use.

A wedding gift recently given to two friends who married on New Year's was interesting, innovative, practical and fun. It was given by a group of friends to a couple in their group, who were already set up with all the everyday essentials they needed.

The friends purchased gift cards to various merchants and created a scrapbook with each page having  a theme which was tailored to the newlywed couple and their interests.

In this instance there were 12 couples who were gifting the newleyweds, so they used a calendar format to add a special twist to the scrapbook.

The couple were avid skiers, so January's page had a gift certificate to a local ski shop, which could be used for lift tickets or ski equipment at the pro shop. The page was decorated with ski themed items and pictures.

For February, the theme was Valentine's Day and the enclosed gift card for a meal at a local restaurant was surrounded by cupids and hearts in a colourful collage.

Since the couple had plans to go south for a delayed honeymoon in March, their friends used a Visa gift card as the centerpiece of a resort themed page, so the bride and groom could use it for any incidentals they might need to make their trip complete. As well there were coupons for a few tanning sessions to make their transition to the sunnier climate of Aruba more comfortable.

In April, after they arrived back home, the couple were planning to merge their two homes in one, and sell the bride's former condo, so a gift card to a rental company to help pay for a moving truck along with a couple of gas cards was surrounded by hints on how to pack and "gift certificates" from each couple offering their services to help make the work go faster.

For May, the friends placed gift cards from a couple of greenhouses to allow the bride to buy bedding plants for her new home and do a little landscaping as she enjoyed gardening.

June is all about summer, so the groom was the center of attention in his birthday month with gift cards to a couple of local golf courses for a round of golf or a cart rental. The background of score cards showing his bogeys and lost balls poked good natured fun at his golf experiences.

In July the couple planned to travel part way across the country to visit family and take part in a long planned family reunion. To help them out, the page had gift cards for a couple of nights at hotels along the way and was decorated with road maps showing their intended routes, and hilighting attractions to see on their trip.

August was a time the newleyweds had set aside some time to do some renovations in their home, so gift cards to local builders marts and lumber supply stores were placed on a page with paint chip samples as a background.

September's gift was a membership to a fitness club for the couple and the page showed pictures and charts of various workout routines.

Because the bride's birthday was in October, that month was dedicated to giving her some pampering with a day at a spa which included a manicure, pedicure, massage and other treatments. Her friends made the page all about her, with pictures showing her transformation in hairstyles and colours through the years.

Both the bride and groom sang and played guitar, and entertained their friends often, so surely appreciated the November page which held gift cards to a favourite music shop for new strings and a few picks or maybe even a new strap, to get the guitars all ready for the upcoming holiday parties. The friends surrounded the card with their list of favourite songs and requests.

With December and the upcoming 1st year anniversary, the page held tickets to a dinner theatre that the couple enjoyed two years prior and where they had actually gotten engaged.

Although it was a lot of work for the friends to put together the end result was a work of art. The couple was so impressed with it that they had colour copies made of all the gift cards and gift certificates and placed them in the book as they used the gift cards, so that it could be a permanent fixture on their coffee table and it certainly was a great conversation piece and a truly unique wedding gift.

This gift is one that can be personalized for any taste or hobby and can be scaled up or down to control the cost. If giving as an individual gift or from just a few friends, a smaller version, with just a few theme pages could be designed. Only your imagination limits the possibilities!!


Ginette is the owner of The Perfect Day Miramichi, a wedding rental business in Miramichi, New Brunswick Canada. Her web site http://www.theperfectdaymiramichi.com/ shows some of her ideas and products. Also visit us on facebook at theperfectdaymiramichi to see albums of our decor items.

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