Wedding Gift 101

The Best Wedding Gifts To Register For

The Gifts You Secretly Wish You Could Register For 

---

Bed Bath and Beyond. Macy’s. Amazon. You’ve signed up on all the listed sites but you can’t think of what items to register for. Of course, each store has their suggested list of wedding related gifts:

Kate Spade china.   No thanks. The closest thing you’ve hosted to a gourmet dinner party was a BBQ on the extra strength disposable plates.

Personalized bath towels.   Nah. You like the feel of the cheap gym towels you steal borrow much better than the fluffy designer ones.

Stemless wine glasses with your etched monogram.  You prefer the non-breakable kind of glassware, and frankly, you find monograms confusing. (Who reads left to right to center anyway?)

Cuisinart Food Processor.   Umm… isn’t that just a fancy blender?

Thanks anyway, Registry Concierge, but I don’t need any of your suggested items. Instead, here is a wish list that any to-be-married couple secretly wishes it was acceptable to register for. Behold… The Gifts You Secretly Wish You Could Register For :

• Halloween decorations …like those giant inflatable grim reapers and 5-speed strobe light
• prepaid monthly prescriptions
• dog toys dog 
• workout equipment
• a gift card to Target …yeah, yeah, I knowwwwww you can register for specific items, but this way no one can judge your purchases. Like, when you go there for a picture frame and leave with half the store
• gym membership that you’ll probably never use
• a month’s supply of milk and eggs #adulting
• any and every thing on QVC infomercials because who hasn’t wondered if the squatty potty really works
• your dream wedding gown
• tickets to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter  Always.
• 6-month supply of massages
• psychic reading aren’t we are all a little curious what our palms would read or which dead relative will make contact?
• a personal assistant
• maid services
• personal stylist
• chef
• okay, a tri-pack of the above 3
• a month’s worth of rent
• plastic surgery treatment of choice
• Lasik
• health insurance this thank you note would be full of legitimate gratitude
• giant cuddle couch
• pressure washer someone to pressure wash your driveway and patio for you

Now, if you are a wedding guest looking for the most unique wedding gift to give, look no further.

The Best Wedding Gifts To Give :

• $$$$$

Honestly, though. I’m all for the non-traditional gift giving. When in doubt, give money to be spent however the couple deems necessary. Is it acceptable to give money as a wedding gift? Sure! Often times, it’s a little embarrassing for a couple to ask for money, even though that’s what they really need. But that doesn’t mean its appearance can’t be unique or classy! The best presentation of money I’ve seen was as a mini scrapbook. Each 5×5 inch page featured a gift card and was decorated in themed stickers and pertinent colors. 

Think movie theater gift card featuring red & white striped paper with popcorn stickers and movie stubs or a coffee shop card with coffee bean stickers strewn about the page.

Don’t be afraid to put what you really want on your registry. Don’t be surprised either, when your friends and family make comments and ask why you haven’t registered for pots and pans or monogrammed towels. It’s your wedding. Do what you want and what you feel suits YOU!

 

Happy Planning!

Here Comes the Blog…

Your Pinterest Wedding

---

 

You’re getting married! (Cue the excited squeal) Does it feel real yet? Maybe you’ve been too busy trying to fit the term “fiancé” into any and all conversation.

Question: How many photos do you have of your engagement ring? ____*Whatever number you insert here is totally fine, because it’s completely normal to want a picture of your left hand holding your coffee mug (even though you’re right-handed), and who doesn’t need a picture grabbing an apple at the grocery store, right?

 … point is, it’s okay to fill up your phone’s memory with picture after picture trying to capture every angle of your newest bling.
Once you’ve gotten your fill of ring picts
Once your camera roll runs out of space
Once your fiancé bans any more pictures of your ring, it’s time to get down to business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, like most millennials, you’ve already planned your dream wedding with the help of your good friend Pinterest. You’ve probably also been fed the unrealistic expectations from your arch nemesis… Pinterest. Funny how that works, huh?

Let’s call this “friend” Pin…elope.

See what I did there? Like Penelope. Heh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So like any friend, Pinelope has some sound advice most of the time. You picked out some fabulous color schemes and she even gave you the links to find décor accessories. (She’s so organized!) But Pinelope was also carried away looking at nail polish tutorials and shirtless Channing Tatum photos when you told her your budget. Soooo Pinelope starts showing you these gorgeous acrylic centerpieces. You. Fall. In. Love. Like, slightly more in love with that Lily of the Valley bouquet than your own engagement ring.

Just kidding, Ring, nothing will ever replace you. My precious.

So you start Googling where you can find those 3 foot tall vases and extremely rare flowers only to have a florist confirm that the acrylic pieces were indeed custom-made.

Custom-made = $$$. And that 5 tier cake your bestie pinned for you? 1/5 of your total budget. You and Pinelope don’t talk for a while. How could she?! Waving something in front of your face that you clearly couldn’t afford. Psh. What kind of friend is she? (answer: the hypothetical, anthropomorphic kind)

But then she shows you this really cool recipe for s’mores dip, and the next day you’re both looking at Channing Tatum again.

By trial and error, you’ve learned to be a little cautious of Pinelope. It was fun scrolling through wedding photos pre-engagement until you worked out the dollars and cents of it all.

Lesson: Soon after your engagement, set a budget. And once you set that budget, add about 20% more of what you’ve allotted. And then a little more.

I’ve had clients who were accountants that still went over their budget. This doesn’t mean they were bad with money, or that I referred them to the most expensive vendors I could find. It just means you need to be realistic, and that there’s often “hidden” costs (taxes, service fees, county fees, etc.)

We would all love to spend $10 a head for food and beverage. But would we all love to be in the bathroom during garter toss because of those $5 Taco Bell Gordita Supremes? Creo que no!

 

 

 

 

 

Your budget will depend on a lot of things. Guest count, location, menu options, vendor preference, types of flowers, etc. Sit down with your fiancé and discuss what’s most important to you in regards to your wedding. Are you set on a venue with a 5 star rating? Do you have 12 aunts and uncles on each parent’s side, step-siblings, and more cousins than you can remember the names of? Family kinda, sorta, unfortunately, automatically gets an invite- so make sure to account for a massive guest list because of this. Have you decided that your entertainer of choice HAS to be Maroon 5? … okay, maybe not Maroon 5, but your pricey local cover band “Burgundy 4”. Then that becomes priority #1. If you’ve always dreamed of a destination wedding in the Bahamas, rest assured that only a small number of guests will make it so you can splurge on other elements instead of the guest list.

Only you know what is most important to you. So communication is key. Communicate your “must haves” with your fiancé, your parents (if they are contributing to the wedding) AND your planner. She/he will become your best friend. (Second only to Pinelope.) There will need to be compromise as well. Your fiancé likely won’t understand that the Berta gown you must have is worth more than an average used car. By the same token, you probably won’t understand that top shelf liquor is his utmost priority. After all, he and his fraternity brothers have to relive those Kappa Beta Sigma Drunky parties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t get discouraged when your Pinterest wedding isn’t as feasible as you once imagined. Your planner can help you find ways to achieve certain looks and styles, while still adhering to your budget. It’s a good idea to sort through your “Dream Wedding” board and narrow down what you do and don’t like so that when it comes to the actual thing, you’re not scrolling through thousands of pictures wondering why you ever posted that dress or this color scheme back in 2010.

And it’s okay to still divulge in Pinelope’s suggestions, just make sure you don’t get your heart set on that Juliet Rose bouquet.

Avert your eyes if you’re suceptible to falling in love with things outside of your financial means.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*That’s a 15 million dollar flower, by the way. Don’t believe me?http://financesonline.com/10-most-expensive-flowers-in-the-world-orchids-roses-priceless-plants/ )

Now go take more pictures of that ring because YOU’RE ENGAGED!

Happy Planning,