Wedding Gifts You Should Not Give

Don’t fall for the cliché: ‘The best gift comes directly from the heart.’ Although this is true, you also need to be more considerate for the needs and wants of the couple receiving the gift.

This means not all wedding gifts will be appreciated by newly-wed couples. There are wedding gifts you should not give in order not to spoil the happy beginnings of new lovely couples.

Avoid Giving Generic Gifts

You may be tempted to buy common item wedding gifts such as toasters, household mats, coffee makers, or punch bowls. These wedding gift items can fit on anyone’s budget and they can be very easy to find.

Unless these generic gifts are listed on the wedding gift registry of the couple, always avoid giving such gifts. If these generic items are not on gift registries, chances are the couple already owns such things.

Also, other unthinking guests may have already bought generic household items so it is best not to add your gift to the list of unwanted presents.

Do Not Give Perishable Gifts

It is quite amusing to see guests bringing baskets of fruits on These baskets are usually wrapped in colored translucent plastics with a large ribbon.

The newly-wed couple can easily buy a basket of fruits from their local grocery. So why give such gifts on a wedding day? The worst thing about fruits as gifts is they will rot easily if not opened immediately.

Because newly-weds are very busy during their first days as married couples, your gift may end up in the trash bin because they are already rotten.

It is also worse to pack your perishable wedding gift in a box and wrap it. Couples usually open their gifts days after their honeymoon. So your gift may rot inside the box unnoticed until too late.

Recycled Gifts: A Big No-No

Do not give wedding gifts that were also given to you. If you cannot find a suitable gift for the couple, just enclose cash on the wedding envelope or buy the couple a gift card.

Do not give hand me downs to the newly-wed because it will be noticed easily. Always avoid giving recycled gift unless it is a very precious heirloom that is very valuable to you also.

Damaged Gifts Means Damaged Reputation

If you want your wedding gift to be well appreciated, don’t give damaged goods. If what you bought has been damaged, just buy a new one.

It is not good for your reputation to give an obviously repaired wedding gift. Even if the gift costs a lot, the couple may think that you do not value them because you have given a damaged gift.

Wedding Gifts Must Be Useful for the Bride and Groom

Do not give a wedding gift intended only for one of the couple. If the groom is your fishing buddy, it is not good to give a fishing rod. You are obviously alienating the bride.

Give a personalized gift during birthdays or other special occasions but not on a wedding day. If you cannot avoid buying something for your
friend, then you need to buy something for the partner. In this way, no one will get hurt by being left out.

Giving wedding gifts is a part of matrimonial tradition. To be on the safe side, always consult the wedding gift registry of the couple before buying your presents.

“Love comforteth like sunshine after the rain…”
Ok, so it isn’t the 1500s, and you aren’t William Shakespeare. Therefore, doting her by way of a romantic sonnet might not be what’s in store for that special gift. What, then? Maybe you are teetering on caving into the idea of the ever-impersonal gift card – ooh, better yet, a universal gift card that can be used anywhere.Stop right there.

Sure, we all love money. But what most of us love even more, is to be thought of with deep consideration; to have someone know us well enough to choose a gift that is fitting for us, to know that someone cares enough to take that extra step.

Money is a fine gift for your favorite local charity. It is even of good character to drop a few bucks into the collection plate on Sunday. However, to give the gift of cash (even when it is disguised by an American Express logo) to someone with whom you personally interact, is socially inept. You may as well crumple up a fifty-dollar bill, slap it in her hand, and bark something to the effect of, “Hey, go buy yourself something nice because you’re not important enough for me to do it myself.”

Instead of giving someone an open-ended gift, why don’t you take just a few extra minutes, and go that extra mile? The difference would be
between giving a thoughtless gift and giving one with character. Give a gift that she will remember, not one that she will forget all about, as it becomes wedged between a credit card receipt and a flattened pack of Wrigley’s, in the confines of of a Louis Vuitton.

Take, for instance, a chocolate gift basket. You cannot go wrong with chocolate. Research has shown that a moderate intake of dark chocolate has many positive health benefits. Firstly, it has been clinically proven to reduce LDL cholesterol. It can also reduce blood pressure in individuals with hypertension. You might even be surprised to know that dark chocolate stimulates the production of endorphins in the brain. (Just in case you nodded off the day Professor X covered this in Intro to Psychology class, endorphins give off the feeling of pleasure.)

Not only does chocolate have healthy rewards, it speaks a million different phrases in one universal language that everyone understands. It speaks in tongues, so to speak. Chocolate says, “I love you.” Chocolate says, “I’m sorry.” Chocolate says, “Congratulations.” Chocolate says, “Thank you.”

One of the greatest things about this gift idea is that, with most gifts, you can only give them one time, or else they will lose meaning. With a
unique and sophisticated chocolate gift basket, you can give repeatedly, and the recipient will appreciate it just as much as the first time.

Maybe words don’t flow from your quill quite like they once did from Shakespeare’s, but that doesn’t mean you can’t give a gift that’s even
sweeter, and equally meaningful. The next time you are having a hard time finding the right words, let a chocolate gift basket do the talking for you.