I’ve been invited to my boyfriend’s brother’s wedding. I’ve never met his brother nor his fiancee, due to the fact that they live out of state. They are not registered for gifts and I don’t know what their tastes are. How much am I expected to spend? What should I get them as a wedding gift? They are in their mid-twenties, if that helps at all.
You can’t go wrong with a gift card to Target or Wal-mart. And how much you give depends on how much you CAN. Typically between $25-50.
Not to go off-topic of sound rude, but shouldn’t your boyfriend help you out with this, or well, pay for the wedding present? That said, if you don’t feel comfortable with a gift certificate, you can always get them something for the home like a simple vase. I like gift certificates, but I know some people don’t like giving money because it seems impersonal and you know straight away how much the gift cost.
My boyfriend is paying for the airfare and hotel in order to go to the wedding. I don’t want to give a joint gift either. I’m just clueless on what to give. I don’t feel comfortable giving a gift certificate for the reasons stated above by Peg. I can always go the traditional route by giving a vase or candlesticks, but I’m sure they will end up with a bunch of them. Why, oh why, didn’t these people register? More suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Why don’t you want to give a joint gift? Clearly you are being invited because of your relationship to your boyfriend. A joint gift is expected.
A nice frame, vase or candlesticks never go amiss, even if you do get tons.
Beyond that I’d say think more or less practical. Leave the silver and crystal to relatives.
My favorite wedding gift was the coffee grinder so that we can have fresh-ground coffee in the AM and not have to grind our beans all at once at the supermarket.
A set of steak knives is nice too.
How about some cloth napkins and napkin rings in a simple pattern/color?
A wok is something many folks wouldn’t think of buying for themselves but really is great to have in the kitchen.
A set of 3 fun and funky cookbooks could be well appreciated.
A lighthearted gift would be a set of bathroom decor items all shaped like rubber duckies - soap dispenser, rug, shower curtain clips, etc.
A gift basket with wine, cheese and fruit that shows up at their door a week after they return from their honeymoon might be appreciated.
If they are drinkers a mixing set for mixed drinks, or how about nice wine cork topper thingys along with 4 glasses and charms to go on the glasses.
I love to give a smiple set of glasses you can get at Bed Bath and Beyond - 8 tall glasses & 8 tumblers. Everyone I know is always breaking glasses and appreciates getting a new matching set.
Hope this helps,
Twiddle
I’d say any gift, no matter the cost, would be very much appreciated, so don’t worry about that. You say they’re in their mid-twenties. Do you know if either of them has already established a home of their own, or are they going from a college situation into building a home for the first time? That might make a difference?
How much personal info can you gather about them from your boyfriend? Knowing what kinds of things they enjoy doing would give you lots of clues. I just got married last year and I can tell you some of the gifts we got that we just love…
This is a totally awesome wine cooler. You just put a chilled bottle of wine into it and it stays cold – no ice! It’s relatively inexpensive at $34.95
It might seem like a weird thing, but we LOVE our butter warmers! We use them when we have steamed artichokes or lobster. And they’re very inexpensive at $9.95 each.
We love lighting tea candles all over the livingroom and bedroom. Crate and Barrel has quite a nice selection of candle holders. These are great and they’re on sale for $3.95 each! (Be sure to buy them a bag of tea candles to go with them.)
We love to go hiking and bring along a picnic. It’s not easy to schlep a picnic basket on a long hike, so we LOVE the picnic backpack we got! Ours was nearly $100, but the one I linked to is on sale for $29.99!
Do you have a decent camera? You could bring it along, take some candid shots at the reception and frame some of the prints for them to remember the day from their guest’s perspective, saving them some of the big bucks the wedding photographer will surely charge for extra prints. Our favorite pictures are the ones our friends took!
Well, that’s a start for some ideas. Hope it was helpful!
Ask your boyfriend to go in with you. Even if you pay for the gift, he can help pick it out. Don’t worry about how much you spend. Unless they’re tacky, tacky people, they won’t be trying to figure that out. I tend to give people cookbooks, because, hey, everyone has to eat.
I just got married on Saturday (eep!), and several of our friends gave us beautiful homemade gifts. I don’t know if you’re a crafty kind of gal, but if you are, that’s one option which I’m sure they’d appreciate.
Aside from the homemade gifts, I’m most excited by the ice cream maker. Who doesn’t like ice cream?
“Basket full of goodies” usually works – something consumable that they don’t feel obligated to keep around the house, since you don’t know their tastes. I once gave a box full of my friend’s homemade natural soaps, bath salts, massage oils, etc., which went over VERY well – I received very effusive thank-you notes from both the bride AND the groom! Another idea is to give an assortment of fancy gourmet pastas, sauces, condiments, teas/coffees/cookies, etc.
And I’m of the mind that you can never have too many nice clocks or picture frames.
Even if you’re not going in on the gift with your boyfriend, can he (or his mom) clue you in on what the couple might like?