with a difference Wedding gifts
by Lisa de Silva
Being of a certain age, most weddings that I’m invited to involve people who have been married before. Not only do they have two of everything – homes, toasters, kettles, cheese knives – they often also have children. So, just what do you buy the couple – or family – with everything?
O
nce upon a time, the custom was for guests to bring fruit to weddings to encourage fertility. Over time this has been replaced with gifts and not so long ago, when young couples lived in the parental home before marriage, gifts were given to help the couple set up a home. Yet today few couples start married life from scratch and most newlyweds will own at least one set of crockery between them. To accommodate these changing trends, there have been a fl urry of online companies set up to computerise and customise wedding
lists, giving guests alternative options for presents. Now you can buy newlyweds everything from French lessons to bespoke perfume, from musical instruments to art and antique vouchers and even a session with an interior design consultant.
Another growing trend is for friends and family to contribute to elements of the honeymoon. They could pay for a safari balloon fl ight over Africa, dinner for two at the top of Table Mountain, a sunset cruise on the Indian Ocean or a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon. For couples with children who can’t take the traditional long honeymoon,
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guests can also contribute to a series of mini-breaks throughout the year. Inspiration also comes with the emergence of ‘date nights’ (it’s Wednesdays for the Beckhams), designed to keep the fl ame of romance alive long after the wedding ceremony. In this instance, guests can buy pairs of tickets for events, such as shows, concerts or sporting fi xtures, spread across the fi rst year of marriage. There is also a growing trend to request hard cash. Last year I was invited to a wedding where the happy couple claimed they had everything they needed and asked for cash gifts.
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