Here comes the bride. Wedding gift ideas, anyone?

[Alpacalia]

My male friend from childhood is getting married. He got engaged a year or so ago but due to Covid they put off the wedding until things opened up a bit.

This is both their first marriage.

He's into sports (mainly football) and cooking (mainly grilling and hosting bbqs) and the bride to be is pretty low key but is very family oriented.

I've been to countless weddings but not in a while so I don't know what the protocol is these days.

I got them a matching ring dish for their engagement but no clue what to get for their wedding.

What are some good wedding gifts to give these days?

I was thinking of a personalized quilt with pictures of them embroidered (but is that too cheesy)?

Thanks!

Edited February 19, 2022 by Alpaca

[Happy Lemming]

1 hour ago, Alpaca said:

and cooking (mainly grilling...

Air fryer??  So he can "grill" for her on those rainy or cold days!!

Stand up mixer (Kitchenaid) although those can be a little pricey.

Waffle Iron (maybe)??, Does he have a smaller convection oven (I use mine a lot for cooking meals for two)?? Electric Countertop Grill/Griddle?? Blender?? Cuisinart Chopper/Grinder??  Rice Cooker/Steamer?? Deep Fryer?? Pressure Cooker or Instant Pot??

[ShyViolet]

Don't they have a registry?

[Happy Lemming]

I just wandered into my kitchen and found three more items that might be interesting.

Bread Maker, Slow Cooker/Crock Pot, and Hot Air Popcorn Popper (these are really great for watching DVD's at home)

[Alpacalia]

34 minutes ago, Happy Lemming said:

Air fryer??  So he can "grill" for her on those rainy or cold days!!

Stand up mixer (Kitchenaid) although those can be a little pricey.

Waffle Iron (maybe)??, Does he have a smaller convection oven (I use mine a lot for cooking meals for two)?? Electric Countertop Grill/Griddle?? Blender?? Cuisinart Chopper/Grinder??  Rice Cooker/Steamer?? Deep Fryer?? Pressure Cooker or Instant Pot??

Yes, air fryer, totally forgot about that one!

Good call!

Now that I think about it, I like the indoor grill idea. That's a good suggestion.

Maybe I could get one with his fav football team logo on it.

But then I still need to think of something for the bride to be.

33 minutes ago, ShyViolet said:

Don't they have a registry?

No, no registry.

They don't want one.

It's going to be a small wedding I think and they have been together for around 15 years and live together already so they pretty much have everything they need.

Edited February 19, 2022 by Alpaca

[lana-banana]

If it's informal enough that there's no registry, you can ask what they want. After 15 years together they almost certainly have a lot of standard things that you might want to buy them (including an air fryer). I would drop them a line asking what sort of gifts they had in mind and go from there.

[Alpacalia]

Thanks. I could do that (see if there's something extra that they may want).

I know they don't have an air fryer or an indoor grill.

But I think I'm leaning more towards the quilt. 

I have a lot of nice pictures of the two of them and it's cozy.

[Wiseman2]

Avoid household gifts. Most people don't need them or don't want them. It's just clutter.

Consider a gift card or something like that. Something they can use for things they want.  Don't do the quilt thing it's way too personal. 

[basil67]

I made a memory quilt once and at the request of the customer, used iron on transfer paper with images of the deceased.  It looked OK, but the texture of the fabric with photo on was far too rigid and not soft like the rest of the quilt.  Perhaps you have another technique and this would be awesome...but giving you a heads up on my experience.   But if you are a quilter, a regular hand made quilt would be a wonderful traditional gift. 

Where I live, cash is the most requested wedding gift. 

Edited February 19, 2022 by basil67

[Alpacalia]

1 hour ago, basil67 said:

I made a memory quilt once and at the request of the customer, used iron on transfer paper with images of the deceased.  It looked OK, but the texture of the fabric with photo on was far too rigid and not soft like the rest of the quilt.  Perhaps you have another technique and this would be awesome...but giving you a heads up on my experience.   But if you are a quilter, a regular hand made quilt would be a wonderful traditional gift. 

Where I live, cash is the most requested wedding gift. 

Thanks!

That's really nice. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of fabric did you use for the quilt?

A handmade memory quilt I gave to my friend after her sister passed away was made from woven cotton blend I think. (The quilt was made by someone else though). 

I can sew and knit somewhat but I don't think I would be able to do an entire photo quilt.

While a gift card and cash are great ideas, I had already planned to give monetary gifts to the couple.

In addition to cash, I thought something they could use for their house or as a keepsake. 

I'm not sure why a photo quilt would be considered too personal though. 

[SingFish]

I like those hydroponic garden thingies where you can grow herbs or lettuce leaves etc with minimum effort. 

Or a tree. A kumquat tree or orange tree.

 

[Alpacalia]

2 hours ago, SingFish said:

I like those hydroponic garden thingies where you can grow herbs or lettuce leaves etc with minimum effort. 

Or a tree. A kumquat tree or orange tree.

 

This is a lovely idea.

I really like it.

🙂

Thanks!

[S2B]

Get a visa gift card. They can use it for what they prefer. 
 

after 15 years together they likely have all the household items they need.

[Alpacalia]

Thanks!

I think I'm going to go with the orange tree...

I love that idea plus the oranges will come in handy for their bbqs.

Much better than plain boring cash.

[Wiseman2]

7 hours ago, Alpaca said:

I'm not sure why a photo quilt would be considered too personal though. 

It's a lovely very thoughtful gift. I was wondering where the pics are from because what if the bride doesn't like herself in one or some of them? Not your fault of course would be her vanity issue, that's what I meant by "personal". Are they from her social media?

[basil67]

12 hours ago, Alpaca said:

That's really nice. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of fabric did you use for the quilt?

Because it was a memory quilt, the pieces were made from items of his clothing which his family had held onto.  Some of the tshirt fabric and flannel was nice, but it was really difficult to make the high-vis fabric from his workwear look good.  It's certainly not what I would have wanted for myself, but they were happy.  There were only about 4 photos incorporated.

[Alpacalia]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

[Alpacalia]

6 hours ago, Wiseman2 said:

It's a lovely very thoughtful gift. I was wondering where the pics are from because what if the bride doesn't like herself in one or some of them? Not your fault of course would be her vanity issue, that's what I meant by "personal". Are they from her social media?

She shaved her head a few years ago due to cancer and she doesn't care about that kind of stuff.

I doubt she cares about vanity.

But thank you.

Will keep it in mind.