Wedding gift - Help!!

bugs

Galtizz wrote:

They are going to tour Canada on their honeymoon (lucky pair ). They like America too (esspecially New York) and have been there a couple of times and want to go again.

I always think plants and food and house stuff for weddings. What about a Canadian home kit...you can buy a sugar maple or a blueberry...some Canadian recipes (you could get these from the Internet and make up your own book..if you have quite a while, buy the plant now and nurture it up to the wedding, which will be cheaper..couple of bottles of beer and maple syrup and I don't know, stuff to cure their own Canadian style bacon (or a similar thing based on New York or another destination they haven't visited...eg Thai herbs and ingredients). Try to get hold of some maple (or sycamore would do!) leaves soon, and press/dry to use in wrapping/decorations.

Include an album, perhaps suitably decorated as you're arty (ooh, maple leaves again!) for them to fill with holiday mementoes. Are there any typical Canadian crafts you could incorporate in to the present, which they might find out more about when they get there? Quilting? Or is that American?

You could also make them up a guide to their honeymoon destination based on what you know they like.

r.mac_2

i like the Canada 'pack' suggested above.

My idea is along the same lines - they like travelling, so why not take that as a theme. What about creating a travel journal for them to use - areas for them to make notes, include ticket stubbs etc and photos, a page for address of people they meet etc etc. You could make one for their Canada trip, which is a bit themed and/or one which is just general travel related.

Or what about making passport covers/travel wallets/ticket holders that co-ordinate with their luggage?

it didn't cost much to buy - but I have a personalised strap for my suitcase. perhaps you could get them one each with their 'new' name on it - or just married or something. Alternatively, with some strong fabric and ribbon and a buckle, you could probably make these.

Galtizz

Loved the idea of something they can plant and keep in the garden (like the passion flower) so I think I'm going to get them a maple.

Martin's book is a great idea too, it would set them up for life financially. I could get that and a big 5l bottle of vinegar and 25kg of bicarb. It would certainly be an original idea.

Then I just need so decide on what to make. Thanks for all your ideas I'm spoilt for choice now.

Luis

I like the idea of something to plant too - I think ivy is supposed to be the traditional wedding good luck plant.

I think a sampler is a fab idea - my granny did me one for my first house which I still have.

Another good idea along the lines of a photo album / scrapbook, is to gather together a load of quotes about marriage, love, living together, sharing etc, and make a nice book of them - either practice your calligraphy, or print out. (you could include that 'recipe for love' thing, which is on here somewhere).

Or make a box, and in it put things that they can start to do together - a nice album for their photos / memories to go in, newspaper from the date of the wedding, cork from the champagne, slice of cake, the confetti etc.

Or invent a 'marriage survival kit', and put anything you can think of in it - from saucy ideas, to romantic; books, wine, board games, maybe even get each guest to write a line of advice on a card and put that in.

apple_mint

Why not his 'n' hers recipe & ideas books based on money saving old style?

A couple of hard backed note books (each different) with:

recipes (fun, romantic meals, themed meals (takeaways, mexican nights etc), valentines meals etc) (you could decorate the pages with little sachets of spices and herbs)
home made cocktails & wine recipes
home made sweets
cleaning tips
growing your own food tips (you could pop a packet of seeds between the pages)
lists of web sites for booking holidays, buying bargains, Martin's site etc

.... lots of other things such as family contact information, lists of birthdays

You could then personalise it further with little drawings and doodles and comments about what is good about the cleaning tip or recipe.

You could even add pledges from members of the family to do key tasks e.g. clean the windows (with vinegar of course), clean the car, bake a cake, look after the goldfish while they are holiday ....

.... or you could get every wedding guest to add their moneysaving tip, recipe, cleaning advice etc ...

.... getting carried away with this now. Should do one for each of my student daughters ....;)

Katgoddess

Luis wrote:

Or invent a 'marriage survival kit', and put anything you can think of in it - from saucy ideas, to romantic; books, wine, board games, maybe even get each guest to write a line of advice on a card and put that in.

That's what I'm planning to do (hopefully) for a friend of mine's hen night present. Planning on making her laugh and cry by writing comments for each one.

These's are my ideas so far:

Gin - Mother's ruin, also number for AlAnon.
Wooden Spoon - Talking stick, cooking utensil, and for wacking hubby
Condoms - Ribbed for HER pleasure
Batteries - For when the ones in the vibrator runs out
Thong - For honeymoon.
Granny Knickers - For middle age spread.
Asprin - So she'll never 'have a headache'.
Babysitting voucher - For their future children.
Burn a cd of oldie songs

Any more ideas?

mink35

Catching up with Luis' post about the box - I saw a really nice box for a new baby. Basically it was one big box with different sized little boxes in side. These were for things like birth certificate, first tooth, first curl etc etc. Suppose you could adapt for a wedding box - wedding certificate, invitation, champagne cork, confetti etc like Luis said.

If you're artistic you could decorate your own boxes to suit - perhaps the big box with pretty weddingy type decorations and their names etc, then little boxes with appropriate picture?

mink35

Just another thought - you could line each box with pretty silk offcuts

Luis

Katgoddess wrote:

These's are my ideas so far:

Gin - Mother's ruin, also number for AlAnon.
Wooden Spoon - Talking stick, cooking utensil, and for wacking hubby
Condoms - Ribbed for HER pleasure
Batteries - For when the ones in the vibrator runs out
Thong - For honeymoon.
Granny Knickers - For middle age spread.
Asprin - So she'll never 'have a headache'.
Babysitting voucher - For their future children.
Burn a cd of oldie songs

Any more ideas?

Furry handcuffs
Emergency chocolate / red wine / bottle opener - for those crisis moments
L Plates (surely de rigeur for hen night?)
Chocolate / confectionary 'bits' (if you see what I mean?)
Disposable camera to record the hen night
A list of challenges and forfeits
A set of keys - to her / his heart (or chastity belt?)

greenlogo

for a good friends' weeding last summer; I did them a wedding night survial box.

the reception was in the hotel they were spending their first night in, and then they were dropping in home before jetting off so anything they didn't use could be kept and I know that most brides (and grooms) don't eat properly etc during their "big day" so I got a "peppers" box from the supermarket and covered the sides in beautiful paper, lined it with white paper and shredded tissue in the same colours and put in a bottle of bubbly, two cans of juice (coke and dr pepper as I knew that's what they drink), a tube of pringles, pack of chocolate hobnobs, some posh nibblies (bread stick things and mini poppadums), a large bottle of water and some strawberries, raspberries and blueberries in a mini cool bag with OODLES of ice. I covered that with more tissue paper (the top of the bubbly peeping out and laid two cheapo chamagne flutes on top, tied together with a bit of pretty ribbon and connived with the hotel to have that delivered to their room with two buckets of ice while the room was being changed over from the meal for the dancing.

I reckon it cost me about £20 all in but it could be done for a great deal less than that fairly easily. The couple were very touched and VERY grateful as the Bride hardly managed to eat anything all day (she had a corset-style dress). I believe they finished the hobnobs before they went to bed