OS wedding list

Tondella

Thanks, there's some really well-thought out ideas here. Actually, here's me considering myself to be living student stylee but, being a bit of a kitchen enthusiast, I already have some good knives (big little bread and cleaver), good pans and a set of baking scales from previous birthdays and christmasses! I wouldn't want to replace them as they are perfectly serviceable and I'd feel a bit bad about getting new knives in when i had a decent set already. I also made sure that I inherited my grans bakeware, so i'm sorted for cake tins, loaf tins, biscuit trays etc.

Kenwood chef - is that a food processor? Will it do the job of a stick blender or should that be additional?

I sooo want to put a sewing machine on the list, but OH thinks it's not a proper gift and insists on putting something outdoorsy (i.e. hiking equip) on because the sewing machine is "mine". He obviously doesn't think he'll benefit from us having one, that or he doesn't rate my sewing!

keep em coming, this is really useful!

melancholly

i love my rice cooker, especailly when there are 3 or more people.
and my goodhousekeeping cookbook - covers everything (almost!)

nabowla

I think I'd go for a mix of practical and things that you'd love to buy yourselves but would feel guilty buying because you ought to be paying off the debt


Practical
- Kenwood Chef and/or food processor
- Set of old fashioned mixing bowls in different sizes
- Cafetiere
- Couple of sets of good quality bedlinen and good quality towels.
- Solid wooden breadboard.


'Luxury'
- Picnic hamper or picnic backpack complete with contents. This is the sort of thing that three or four of your friends could club together to buy. Great for moneysaving days out in the summer!
- Posh photo frame(s) for wedding photos.
- Posh wine rack
- Table dressings for dinner parties: candlesticks, coasters, placemats, napkins, table runners etc.
- Vases. A girl can never have too many vases for the flowers that the OH should be bringing home every week

tootles_2

Sheets, pillowcares, duvet covers, of you have not lived together you may need a new bed and bed linen.

Fluffy towels, extra large size bath towels.

A really good set of baking tins, meat tin etc.

Table coths and mats.

Set of pyrex casseroles, can be used to both cook in and serve.

I once bought a washng basket as a wedding present and filled it with things like, clothes pegs, dishcloths, washing up liquid, etc......

Set of really good saucepans.

Cast iron frying pan.

seraphina

As a newly wed who was extremely fortunate with generous wedding guests, my one piece of advice is don't be afraid to put luxuries on your list!

We had a combination of excellent kit that we can use every day (we replaced our motley crew of saucepans with a Le Creuset set) and the special stuff that we could never justify buying ourselves - we got a Wedgewood dinner service. It might not see much daily use but it is still very important to us. We don't live in a big place and we had to be creative about storage (gravy boat under the bed anyone?) but it's worth it - all our gifts will set us up in life, when we move to a bigger home.

By far and away my favourite present was the Kenwood Chef which my parents in law gave us. It sees daily use and we never could have afforded it anyway.

We shied away from bed linens etc as when we were looking in John Lewis a kingsize duvet was NOT cheap - if we use cheap and cheerful bedlinen/towels we're not going to hesitate to chuck them out when they get a bit threadbare, just because they were a wedding present.

nabowla

Just had another thought. How about asking for a joint membership to something - e.g a year's subscription to the National Trust, English Heritage or similar? It'll give you a year's worth of free days out and benefits a charity at the same time.

kittiwoz

I think if I was getting married I'd ask for:

A really good set of pans including a frying pan (not necessarily actually part of the same set). I wouldn't want a big set, I'd rather have a few good ones. I wouldn't mind if they were second hand. In fact if meant I got a better quality set than I could have got new I'd be delighted.

A casserole dish

A pressure cooker

A coffee percolator

Some good kitchen knives

I think I need a rolling pin. My mum gave me a good one but I can't find it. I think last years housemates must have taken it. Probably a genuine mistake but annoying as it was her 2nd best rolling pin and I'm back to using an old wine bottle.

Some bakeware

Some good cutlery. My little brother has already got a nice canteen that my dad bought at a car boot sale. It has a plate that says it was awarded to someone for winning a race. Don't remember how he came to be the one with dibs on it!

A tea pot. I would want my dad to make me one because he is a ceramicist and then it would be a really good one that would pour well and keep the heat and it would remind me of my dad everytime I made a pot of tea.

A reasonable set of china

My mum to help me make curtains

My auntie, who is a seamstress, to make me some loose covers. I'm not religious so if I get married it probably won't be a big do and I won't need a dress but if I did I'd like her to make it. It still wouldn't be a very fancy traditional wedding dress though because that would take her too long and it wouldn't be fair. My parents have a blanket made of lots of different coloured crochet squares that she and her daughters made. I love that blanket. If someone gave me something that nice I'd be really made up.

Some sort of piece of furniture from my uncle who is a joiner. Or maybe a clock, he refurbishes them.

Cookbooks would be nice too. I've got a few Sophie Grigson books but I'd like the Jane Grigson and Elizabeth David classics.

I definitely wouldn't want to get anything ornamental that I wouldn't like and couldn't use but would have to keep in case whoever gave it me came round and I had to fish it out from the depths of the cupboard under the stairs and put it on display. I also wouldn't want any gadgetry. Slow cookers, kettles and toasters are all useful but if someone gave me a sandwich maker, waffle maker, ice-cream maker or any other cluttersome single-purpose device I would be less than thrilled. In fact if it was a relative or friend of the prospective hubby it would probably make me re-think the whole thing!

otterspasm

Hi there,
I only have a few minutes before dashing out of the door so I haven't been able to read all of the thread so sorry if I am repeating someone else's post.
When me and OH got married we put on the invitations that we didn't expect presents from people (as we had already been living together for 10 years and had a bulging house!), we just wanted everyone who could come to the wedding to come and enjoy the day with us. But, if anyone REALLY wanted to give us something we asked for money to put towards a honeymoon as we hadn't had a holiday for years. People were very generous and we managed to have a week camping in beautiful Cornwall and a week all inclusive in Egypt, by the Red Sea (bargain on teletext). A friend collected the 'donations' for us and just gave us a list of names of the people who had contributed so that we could thank them. That way no one need feel any pressure to give more than a fiver if they didn't have it! We didn't know how much each person had given. It was a wonderful gift and we treasured each moment of the honeymoon. As a bonus I came home pregnant with our first child!

I suppose my point is that you could ask people for contributions toward one big item...like a freezer or washing machine etc if you need anything like that.
I hope this helps add to your pot of ideas and I hope you have a wonderful wedding whatever gifts you decide to go for.

Tondella

Some great ideas guys, thanks so much! I had mixing bowls down on my mental list, I have plastic set but they are cracking at the sides (too much vigorous mixing of stiff cake mixtures!) and are well in need of replacing.

I'm really keen to put a food processor on my list - is that what the kenwood chef is? I've googled kenwood chef but there seem to be a lot of items in the range. The main one appears to be a mixer ... or is it really a food processor? Can someone please describe what exactly it is???

This is what i have got so far
kenwood chef
slow cooker
bread maker
cast iron frying pan/skillet
roasting tin
lasagne dish (ie long and low)
casserole dish
cutlery
tea pot & tea set
Good housekeeping cook book
duvet/pillows
photo frames
candlesticks and place mats
vase
bed linen
towels
sewing machine (you never know?!)

tootles_2

A Kenwood chef is a food mixer, what you want is a kenwood food processor....... if you are contemplating a family go for one of the bigger ones around £80 you will get a lot of kit with this. I have a smaller one which is fine for the 2 of us. Do a search on the Kenwood site you will see all the different types and models, I bought mine from Tesco on line...... if you do a search on one of the comparrision site you will find the best buys. You could also ask for a decent canteen of cutlery.......a set for 6 covers most eventualities.