credit: bridalsmakeup.blogspot.com
Save-the-dates inform you - not so subtly - that you are to
procure a preselected wedding present from a preselected venue the happy couple
deems appropriate. Infallibly, the registry is bursting with knives, colanders,
and dishtowels. My first foray into the wedding gift world came late in college
aka I had not had to purchase a wedding gift until after I had seen several
high budget Hollywood movies. By that point I was under the impression that
appropriate wedding gifts consisted of crystal wine glasses or silver
candelabras. Imagine my confusion when I opened the first registry and saw the
couple had requested napkin rings at $3 a pop. I was horrified. Won't I be
morbidly embarrassed coming with $18 worth of napkin rings?! I sought out the
most expensive gift on the list - a $60 version of the George Foreman grill.
When I showed up with it they were stunned at the extravagance. Their reaction
was touching but also puzzling to me - I thought you were supposed to give
fancy, extravagant gifts for the wedding? No? Okay...
Later, independent of this wedding I was informed that wedding gifts serve to start off the couple's life together. That is the reasoning behind all the everyday items like dishrags. This made sense to me and I made peace with the notion of buying practical gifts.
Then came the mid-20s avalanche of weddings and I found myself buying tons of glasses and toasters all the while thinking that I am contributing to the couple having a tastier breakfast with some warm bread. Along comes the next rude awakening! Turns out couples in their mid-to late twenties generally have all the stuff they need for living. Not only that but it is quite likely that they have two of everything because they merged their stuff (I know this because thanks to this process I have acquired a toaster). So why, I then ask myself, would anyone register for a third toaster? Are wedding gifts becoming obsolete in a time when people marry later in life? What about giving personal items - for instance a purse the bride wants? Or are you of the traditional school of thought and believe that we should stick to household items because they signify the couple's joint life rather than her vacuum, his iron?
Later, independent of this wedding I was informed that wedding gifts serve to start off the couple's life together. That is the reasoning behind all the everyday items like dishrags. This made sense to me and I made peace with the notion of buying practical gifts.
Then came the mid-20s avalanche of weddings and I found myself buying tons of glasses and toasters all the while thinking that I am contributing to the couple having a tastier breakfast with some warm bread. Along comes the next rude awakening! Turns out couples in their mid-to late twenties generally have all the stuff they need for living. Not only that but it is quite likely that they have two of everything because they merged their stuff (I know this because thanks to this process I have acquired a toaster). So why, I then ask myself, would anyone register for a third toaster? Are wedding gifts becoming obsolete in a time when people marry later in life? What about giving personal items - for instance a purse the bride wants? Or are you of the traditional school of thought and believe that we should stick to household items because they signify the couple's joint life rather than her vacuum, his iron?
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