Wedding presents

[Harrysmum]

We are struggling to think of a great wedding present for a mutual friend who is getting married in a few weeks time. We (dh and I) have both known him since the beginning of our university days and want to get something significant, not least because he co-ordinated the purchase amongst 10 of our friends for the most amazing stereo for our wedding - a gift for which we would never have dreamed of asking and were completely overwhelmed by. It's not a need to compete or anything, we'd just like something really special; there may be others if it's something v large/expensive so tell me your best presents and hopefully we'll be duly inspired! Thanks.

harrysmum, it all depends on what kind of person he is...for some of my friends I can imagine they'd be overwhelmed by a really nice framed picture which was relevant to somewhere they'd been...maybe where they'd met their loved one. but others would like something more practical like your fabbo stereo. my ante natal group clubbed together for John Lewis vouchers which helped us buy a new tv..so they effectively bought us BBC1!

One of our best presents was a picnic basket - even if all we've used it for this summer is to take stuff out to the back garden on the (very) odd occasion that the weather has been amenable.

We too got a picnic basket and a great rug which have been used to bits! Other things- nice cutlery in a cutlery box, tickets to shows, painting of where we went on honeymoon. Can't think of anymore at the mo. HTH.

If he likes gardening, a plant or tree, so your present keeps on growing year by year. My favourite standby for special presents is a gardening voucher.

hi harrysmum

you haven't given us much of a clue wrt his hobbies, likes, dislikes etc!

FWIW, some ideas:

*lastminute.com vouchers for a post honeymoon romantic break
*a top-notch photo album PLUS going round to help them sort out the hundreds of wedding photos...
*a year's subscription to a concierge service
*state of the art tv and dvd player
*set of sabatier knives (apparently they last forever)
*lay down a case of port ready for drinking on 10th anniversary (or other as appropriate...)
*waring blender plus cocktail recipe book
*a memory book based on photos and reminiscences of your friendship over the last x years (put together with a group of friends if appropriate)

if all the above are wide of the mark - give us some more specific pointers and i'm sure we can come up with something!

hth.

We were given The Times Atlas of The World, signed by the whole family and wishing us a 'world of happiness'. That was a lovely gift and still very useful.

I got the Times Atlas of the World from DH when we got married - he wrote inside 'I give you my world ....'
Awwwww
Wonderful idea for a present for others though - wonder why I've never thought of it !

Tickets to a long weekend in New York and if you can afford it, accommodation at a decent Manhattan hotel or meal at posh restaurant in New York...

Great presents we were given

A painting comissioned from a local artist of the place we were married
Two bottles of very good wine to cellar for our fifth wedding aniversary
Some original art (tricky this one if you don't have the same taste)
A beautiful carved wooden bowl made from native New Zealand wood made by an artist in NZ (I'm a kiwi)

We gave close friends a Times Atlas of the World too - they often say how useful they've found it when planning their globetrotting travels (no kids yet!). I also took loads of informal black and white photos throughout their wedding day, and put them into an album to give them when they got back from their honeymoon.

The mosst-used wedding present dh and I got was an unbreakable stainless steel flask!

sis, do you mean someone actually gave you this as a wedding present? If so, I am pea-green with envy. We got a couple of toasters, a particularly horrible blue plate in the shape of a fish, a couple of lasagne dishes .... NOTHING as exciting as a trip to New York However, if anyone is offering, its not too late (11 yrs on !!)

Lots of great ideas - thank you!! I love the picnic basket etc but he's more the rugged mountain type who takes kendal mint cake and high energy bars squashed by his tent and crampons than summer meadows. The craft fair is on in Edinburgh and might be the place to get beautiful wooden things (safer than art, probably). Also v taken with the wine idea - it's something they both really enjoy. A colleague who has since retired was once bought a share in a French vineyard for a year or two and part of the deal was being sent (or rather she went to collect and made a holiday of it) cases of "her" wine. Struggling to find info on the web - has anyone else heard of this?

If he's the rugged mountain type, then forget art (always tricky IME) - how about really nice framed photo(s) of somewhere mountainous he's been? You can get some superb prints of the Alps, Lakes, Scotland, Himalaya etc. As a rugged mountain type myself (well OK, I used to be before I had kids) I'd love that.

We were given a star named after us. We thought it was an amazing idea. Dh is into star gazing and it's fun guessing which one is ours. Details available on the net. We have since given them to godchildren as christening presents

We got a painted cartoon picture of a bride and groom with spaces where their heads should be to insert photos of me and dh! That was original and lovely.

A bottle of good wine to store is also a lovely idea, that way they can open it on their 10th wedding anniversary if they can wait that long!!!

oxocube, sadly the tickets to new york are what we would have loved to receive as opposed to what we actually received...I just thought that if there is a to be a collective present then the flights would not be too expensive and after having ds I really appreciate the fact that dh and I went to new york before ds was born.

My best friend had a fabulous picture frame made for us by a papier mache artist - like a little box frame with a bird and a heart on top - which we used to put one of our wedding pics in. It's one of my favourite things. My parents asked a potter friend to make us a big jug with our names and wedding date on (v useful for tall flowers).

How about really nice prints of where you went to Uni and one of where they're getting married? Or of somewhere he's been climbing.It's a personal touch and IME goes down very well. The print shop on the Royal Mile just across from the Reform and up a bit is very good and will track things down for you.

I know bundle has suggested this too and would second it.

It is also possible to get rucksack type picnic "baskets".

How about gift certificates to a spa for some pampering.

Harrysmum - regarding the vineyard present, a great idea & my parents gave this to DH for Christmas & we plan to visit the vineyard this year on holiday to collect a couple of cases of 'our' wine!!

Details:

3D Wines
1-2 North End
Swineshead
Lincs PE20 3LR

Tel: 01205 820745
email: [email protected]

HTH