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Your wedding gift lists

Compiling your Wedding Gift List

Let’s be honest, choosing your Wedding Gift List has got to be one of the best things about getting married. It’s like having 5 Christmas’s and Birthdays rolled into one and on top of that, you get to choose exactly what you get! Wow.

But, hopefully just as with your Wedding, you’ll only get to choose one Wedding Gift List in your lifetime, so a little thought is needed to get it right. 

Now it’s true that there are a growing number of couples opting for a non-traditional take on the normal Gift List. Instead of China or Glassware they are asking their guests to buy them foreign currency for their Honeymoon, or vouchers with a particular holiday company to get them to their dream Honeymoon destination. Some couples are even asking guests to give towards the Wedding Day itself, so they and all their guests can have the big day they had always dreamed of.  (and by the way, this is no longer considered to be bad etiquette!)

The point is that just like the rest of your Wedding Day, your Gift List is about all the things that you really want; you don’t have to follow tradition; just be true to yourself. 

So have a good think about the things that you’d really like as gifts from your friends and family. Try to think about things that you’re probably not going to get round to buying for yourself, things that will last and will be a suitable testament to your big day. 

Once you’ve decided upon the kind of gifts you’d like it’s time to decide where to have the Gift List. 

Many people opt for the big department stores such as House of Fraser, and John Lewis. These kinds of depeartment stores are a great choice as they offer a wide range of gifts that will often cover all the things you want and will also cover a wide range of budgets for your guests. These stores are also represented in most large towns and cities meaning your wedding guests can check out what you've asked for, or even purchase it in person.

These large department stores offer some great services for your Gift List. They’ll often arm you with a special barcode scanner so you can run around the store zapping all the wonderful items you’d like added to your list and they’ll often let you have access to the stores at special times for you to set up your list, such as evenings and weekends. 

Once you’ve compiled your Gift List many stores will provide a fantastic online facility so your Wedding guests can log-in and see what gifts you’d like, which one’s have gone and which are still available. This is a really useful tool and ensures you don’t end up with too many photo frames, frying pans or even the dreaded toasters!

There are also a growing number of excellent online retailers who offer many of the gifts and services you’ll find in the likes of Marks & Spencer and Debenhams, while offering you gifts and services you wouldn’t necessarily get on the High Street. 

These online retailers offer everything from elegant Dinner Services to sensual Hot Tubs, Crystal Glassware and stylish Silverware alongside once-in-a-lifetime experiences like romantic Hot Air Ballooning and even Ferrari Racing. Two of these leading retailers are The White Company who offer a specialised weddings range and http://www.thebottomdrawer.co.uk/.

Once you’ve chosen where to have you’re Wedding Gift List there are just a few things left to consider. When you’re choosing what to go on your list, give your guests a good range of items both in terms of the kind of gift and the price.

Don’t be afraid to put a few expensive items on the list. It’s your Wedding day, people will want to treat you and if the gift is too expensive for one person, many people at Weddings are quite happy to club together to get you the special gift you’d really like. Also remember though that not everyone has deep enough pockets to buy you that £300 guilt edged mirror you’d like and therefore a few smaller items on your list might be appreciated as well.

You can make sure that you get more of the items you’d like and make it a little easier on your guests if you distributed your Gift List in good time before your Wedding; at least a couple of months before your wedding day if you can. 

Finally, in all this excitement try not to look past the fact that your nearest and dearest are going to be spending a good deal of money sending you off into married life with your arms full of fantastic gifts. Make sure you take the time to pick out some beautiful Thank You cards to let them know not only how much you appreciate their generosity but your gratitude for their being part of your wonderful Wedding day.