Whatever happened to …

… gift registries?

Later this afternoon, my wife and I will be attending an outdoor wedding. Given the cool breezes and winds lately, we were starting to worry. But, it looks like it will be 19 degrees at some point.

When you attend, of course, you’ll bring a gift for the bride and groom. Around here, the trend seems to be to just drop off money or a gift card and let them buy something that they really want/need.

I know that if I walk through our house, I can spot a few things that we asked for when we got married and put on a gift registry. I smile when I think of the good dish set that we absolutely had to have. I can still recall the manufacturer without going out and looking; it was Noritake. The set is above the fridge in a cupboard, collecting dust. At the time, it was to die for apparently. Quite honestly, the only piece that I can think of that we use at all anymore is the gravy boat. The kids have said that these will be the first to go when they clean out the house. <sob> There was another fond-ish memory that came back of our wedding; in a small community, the reception was often the biggest event on a Saturday night and so it wasn’t unusual to get dressed up and drop in on a reception even if not invited. It was just what you did. There was a bowl at the door so that you could drop in a few bucks for the privilege of attending.

My Mom took great pride in her gift-giving and it’s one of the things that she’s passed on to my wife. Mom said that she always appreciated that people would do research on the couple being married and gift something appropriate. We did that for yesterday’s wedding. I can post it now since this post won’t go live until tomorrow morning so I’m not spoiling the surprise. We gave the gift to the groom’s mother a couple of days ago because it was heavy and potentially breakable and I had a sense of relief when I put it in her trunk and it was out of my hands.

The gift?

There is an artisan in Essex who does incredible work and we’ve commissioned a number of things through her. For today, we know that the two of them each have a dog that is all their world and will somehow be worked into the ceremony. (stay tuned; there may be pictures) We obtained a picture of them and went to our artisan and this is the result.

It’s about 3cm thick and pretty heavy. It can reside in a garden or mounted in various places

As I mentioned, we have had a number of these made over the years. We had one made for my parents whose love was visiting beaches, lighthouses, and feeding seagulls – a love that we’ve continued – and this was the result. When we cleaned out their house, we took this off the front outside wall and it’s now on ours. So, if you’re driving down the third, you can spot our place easily.

We like to think of the gift as a one-of-a-kind that will never be replicated. We hope they like it.

For a Sunday, your thoughts ….

• do you have a gift – wedding or other – that has stood the test of time?
• do you buy gifts from a gift registry or do you prefer to do your own research?
• do you give money instead of a gift?
• what’s the most unique gift that you’ve ever given someone?
• what’s the most unique gift that you’ve ever received?
• should wedding gifts be laid out so that everyone can see them or are they private gifts not to be shared?
• have you ever wedding-bombed someone’s wedding as a night out or was this just a Huron County thing?

As usual, please share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a regular Sunday morning post around here. You can check out all the previous ones here.