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**MSE Andrea** · 22-06-2009, 4:29 PM

What's it about?

The wedding season's starting. While most happy couples try to put a mix of lower and higher priced items on their lists often the less costly items have long gone by the time you're looking.

It may be that you can't quite afford to give something from the list or that you'd simply rather give them something that little bit more personal with some thought put into it.

Whatever the reason I'd like to tap MoneySavers' wealth of knowledge to compile suggestions for a lovely but less expensive way to wish them well and future happiness.

What to do?

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*Louise* · 22-06-2009, 5:43 PM

I love making cross stitch pictures, and these have always been extremely well received by family and friends, so I would most likely do a special personalised commemorative cross stitch picture for the couple.

MsChazzer · 22-06-2009, 6:01 PM

Think about what the couple like and see if you can come up with a gift around that. We both love the coast and we got a small model boat that had been personalised with our names and date of the wedding, we love it.

In the past I've made up small food hampers for the couple (small because I wanted quality not quantity when it came to the food), make sure it's stuff that doesn't need refrigerating and won't go off while they're away on honeymoon. Having some nice food when you come back is always appreciated.

Echoing what Louise said, use any creative talents to make a gift or to make a shop-bought one better. We got a waffle maker and our artistic friends made up personalised recipes with a photo they took of us eating waffles when we visited them.

Horace · 22-06-2009, 6:03 PM

I look in charity shops for antique glass - I usually get pressed glass dishes that nuts and olives can be put in. If I like it then I know that whomever I am buying the gift for will also like it. I never pay more than a fiver and will get away with paying as little as possible. I do it so that they have something to keep.

MsChazzer · 22-06-2009, 6:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Horace

I look in charity shops for antique glass - I usually get pressed glass dishes that nuts and olives can be put in. If I like it then I know that whomever I am buying the gift for will also like it. I never pay more than a fiver and will get away with paying as little as possible. I do it so that they have something to keep.

What a great idea, I'm collecting up bits of vintage china for a friend's birthday.

Neeny82 · 22-06-2009, 6:14 PM

Check out photobox website, you upload photo's and they send you a book back with all your pics in. There are LOVE books which would be a lovely present!

joolesw1972 · 22-06-2009, 6:17 PM

think about offering talents! I made friends of ours a cupcake wedding cake a couple of years ago & we gave them that as a wedding present & my partner does stained glass & made her best friend a stained glass window for her wedding present, other things that might be appreciated are vouchers for babysitting(only if they already have kids!!!) or jobs in the house-painting, cleaning windows, gardening. I know that I would find that more useful than guests spending money they can't afford on expensive presents.

sparklylime · 22-06-2009, 6:36 PM

My idea is to either make (if your creative!) or buy a guestbook for the bride and groom. If you buy one you can always personalise it by adding your own embellishments. They needn't been expensive as you can buy a plain scrapbook quite cheaply from art shops and then decorate it nicely.

Then at the wedding take responsibility for getting everyone to sign the book and leave thier messages for the happy couple. If no-one takes charge of doing this you can end up with quite an empty looking book. So take it round all the tables and make everyone sign!! Some poeple like to have a theme like writing a tip for a happy marriage or each person writing their favourite funny story about the couple.

I did a guest book recently for a friends wedding and made sure every other page was left blank then while they were on the honeymoon I filled the blank pages with silly snapshots from throughout the day and re-wrapped it for when they got back. They really loved it as it is so personalised and brings lots of happy memories when the look at it.

freebiequennie · 22-06-2009, 7:01 PM

littlewoods, empire and kays have free postage and have a silver plated vanilla scented candle with 75% off at the moment its lovely ordered one for my mum for xmas and was £4.50 (there is a code around for £5 off no min spend) and also some other gift things on there so worth a look.

funky_snow · 22-06-2009, 8:52 PM

I take a lot of photos - not a pro yet - but lots of colour/abstract style. I have invited my friends that got married to come over - pick a picture they like and would want in their home and I'll have it made into a print for their wall. Although its not a mega cheap option as still have to pay for printing - its more personal...

talulahbeige · 23-06-2009, 8:22 AM

A couple of ideas that I have done in the past.

- I did a reading at my brothers wedding, so I printed out the reading on good quality paper in a nice font and then had it framed.

- 2 mates got married so i put together a "1st anniversary box" which was meant for them to keep until their 1st anniversary, if I remember correctly it had a bottle of sparkling wine, nice bubble bath, massage lotion, a romantic cd, well dated chocs, etc etc. They kept it under the bed for a year

Noggin the Nog · 23-06-2009, 10:08 PM

I'd suggest saving money on the wedding card so as to leave more to spend on the gift, by making a lovely and special card yourself. For example you can make one using a card blank (you can get big packs that work out cheaply i.e. 10p per card/envelope from Ebay or large craft shops and you can use the rest for other greetings cards) and sticking a photo that is special to the couple, is a picture of the couple, or is just a particularly nice and appropriate photo that you have taken yourself.

I got this idea from a charity blogsite that gives tips each week to help people save money so they can donate part of their saving to biomedical research into ME/CFS - the instructions about making your own cards are at http://justfourquid.com/2009/06/02/w...-of-greetings/

purple30 · 23-06-2009, 11:01 PM

I recently bought a rose called 'together forever' from my local garden centre. It cost under £10 and is a lasting gift.

VickiB · 23-06-2009, 11:32 PM

From an experienced gardener to an inexperience-but-really-interested-in-gardening couple: how about a suitable plant plus a couple of hours of advice and ideas?

TheToothfairy · 23-06-2009, 11:42 PM

A thoughtful gift we received was that a couple of friends took photos of our wedding, nipped off between the ceremony and the evening do', got the photos processed (1 hour deal) and presented them to us in a wedding album at the evening do'. It was really great as we didn't receive the photographers photos for several weeks after the event and any evening guests that hadn't been invited to the day could see the wedding pic's too.

Horace · 23-06-2009, 11:49 PM

Whilst reading a wedding magazine today I came across a cheapy present idea. Lacquered bud vases in three different shades of glossy teal, suitable for a single flower stem or simply as a decoration on their own. The set is priced at £4.49 from Dunelm Mill - www.dunelm-mill.com

or if you have a bit more money then you can buy a striking black handcrafted vase from the Influence Collection by Lawrence LLewelyn-Bowen at Matalan for £20 www.matalan.co.uk

jamtart6 · 23-06-2009, 11:51 PM

I made my friends wedding invites as a present once, she was made up!

Loobs2001 · 24-06-2009, 12:09 AM

My Sister asked my for Table Bombs for a wedding present. They were about £12 each (one for each table needed) and certainly made the reception go with a bang!

sheenaf · 24-06-2009, 1:55 AM

A childhood friend of my DH had become 'rich and famous' and was marrying another celb. DH sent me off with a £100 (which we could ill afford) to find a suitable present as the family had given us a good present when we married. After much searching and agonising I ended up in a glasswear department where I spotted the biggest vases I have ever seen. They were 'seconds' in crackle glass and I could not detect any flaws so bought one. Took it home to DH who thought it was just the very thing and asked hopefully for 'any change?' He was totally amazed when I handed over £92.50. Then he tried to argue that it was too cheap!

However, we got a lovely note of thanks from the bride, which said that she was desperate for a giant vase for all the bouquets she kept receiving. I suspect the vases were so cheap because only a select few need big vases for big bouquets!

sassysez · 24-06-2009, 7:49 AM

We recently bought a pressy for friends getting married which was a bin for their bathroom which was actually on their wedding list anyway and was only £10 but then we filled it with 2 mini bottles of champagne and some bath bombs. They were very happy with it.

Another suggestion is to buy various tupperware storage tubs which most newly weds have on their list and fill them with fun things such as various kinds of sweets, stuff for the bath etc. Makes it a bit more fun and is certainly different!!