i grew up in tennessee, but the rest of my family has been in europe for at least the past 15 years. while i try to stay as close to them as possible, there’s only so much i can do. not too long ago i found out about some recent and upcoming marriages.
the first one is my uncle who lives in france. he was married this past weekend to an algerian woman. it’s not his first marriage, but it is hers.
the second is my cousin. he’s the oldest of my generation and the first to get married. he’s marrying a bulgarian woman. it will be both of their first marriages. they live in germany. (i wasn’t kidding when i said international family)
both of these are just the civil ceremonies. the religious ones will take place further into the future. my mother will be visiting europe in a month so she will be able to take them some gifts from me… problem is, i don’t know what to get them.
i have a few restrictions… i can’t get them anything electronic or anything that runs solely on 110 power. nothing that would be taken up through customs since my mother will probably be searched. nothing too big because of space limitations. and something that a college student could afford.
any one have any suggestions? it would be greatly appreciated.
European wedding gifts (especially the Central Euro part IMO) are functional. So hit a Bed Bath and Beyond and find something for the kitchen that is nice and small. A nice corkscrew set (ScrewPull has the best, but it is $100 I think), a knife sharpener, a nice paring knife, etc. Just go around and find something for around $25 and you should do fine. Make sure it gets wrapped and attach a card!
A nice cheese board would pack flat, be functional, and not cost too much. Or a small crystal bowl (wrap in bubble wrap). Or a book of beautiful photography from your area–Great Smoky Mountains in Photos, or something. Or a classy photo frame. Or something small from a local artist. Or a brass trivet.
Aw, heck, just go for the corkscrew set. Nice idea.
Contact somone who is in closer contact with those being married. Ask what they would like from the US of A. If somone had asked me I would have ordered a boatload of pop-tarts and a pair of converse and thanked you kindly for your gift. We have corkscrews in Europe you see
Weddings are a bad time to play guessing games for folks you don’t know too well. I still have some of my gifts carefully put away in case the gift-givers ever visit. Nothing against them, they just don’t know me well enough to give me something I would use.
that would be a great idea except that english is not the common language in our family. my cousin used to be fluent in american english when we lived close to each other, but that was when we were both really young. since then he’s gotten more of the british english. when we do speak english with each other some times there is a big communication gap. sometimes american humor doesn’t translate over too well…
our common language is farsi (persian if you’d like to call it that). the new members of our family however don’t speak this… and i don’t think they’re really all that great at english.
thanks for all the suggestions though. any other european dopers that could give me ideas about this? especially appreciated from the countries mentioned… also any iranians out there, if you could help too?
