Gifts Engraved With Love

I have wedding gifts on the brain. One of my closest friends is getting married this summer, so in addition to the responsibilities of being a bridesmaid, I have been doing a lot of thinking about what to get them as a wedding gift.

Oddly, I find buying gifts for close friends can be easier and more difficult in equal measure – you know them well, so you would think it would be easier to pick something out that they would like, BUT the trick is getting them something personal. You want their gift to be something useful, something that will help them remember this special day and that speaks to them as a couple. Somehow a gift card to Walmart just doesn’t seem to quite cut it, know what I mean?

One idea that I keep coming back to is engraved or personalized gifts. What’s more personal than a keepsake engraved with initials, a special date or other symbol that represents the couple and their life together? What I really like about engraved gifts is that you know they are not going to get the exact same thing from someone else (I mean, honestly, how many gravy boats does one couple need?!).

I found some good ideas for engraved gifts on this site. So many wedding gifts can be just cheesy and saccharine, but there are some elegant options. For example, this bottle of champagne with an engraved pewter label would be perfect for the wedding night! 

I love the heart design on the label:

A set of personalized flutes would match nicely and be a nice keepsake of their special day. It would be rather romantic to share a glass of bubbly each year on their anniversary from the very flutes they drank from the day of their marriage. 

(What is really neat about this particular engraved gifts site is that you can type your message into the provided field and it immediately appears on the product photo – you can see what the message would look like in real-time. Very cool way to make sure you like what you see before ordering.Try-before-you-buy = love).

My friend is obsessed with photography and decorating her home, so a personalized gift that combines these two loves would also be a great choice. I love this wedding frame:

  
It would be great to include personalized text in the windows on either side of the photo – perhaps the words from their first dance song, or handwritten portions of their vows. Or my scrapbooking obsessed friend could even scrapbook these sections using clippings from her wedding invite, fabric swatches, pressed flowers from her bouquet, etc. Again, personalized! Sure, I could get her any old frame but it is so much more special to include their wedding information somewhere.

A photo album would also be a great engraved gift for her (considering I KNOW she’s going to want to print, like EVERY photo from the day off for safe-keeping). Again, I could have their names and wedding date engraved on the front of this one – more organized AND more beautiful.

On the other hand, a personalized gift from the couple to, say, members of the wedding party would also be a great idea. For example, I wouldn’t be averse to receiving one or two (or ten) of these personalized gift chocolate bars:

They could personalize it “To Kim – Our Beautiful Bridesmaid” on the wrapper, along with something about what awesomely good ideas I have.

What? Wedding gifts are still wedding gifts as long as they are going to someone IN the wedding. Come on, it’s not ALL about the bride and groom….ok, so it is but what do you want from me? I’ve gotta take advantage of any chance to get free chocolate!

I’m not sure what exact wedding gift I will end up deciding on for them, but I know it will be personal and it will hopefully be something they appreciate for years to come. I hope their personalized gift will serve as a reminder of their special day and what it meant to them.

What about you? Have you ever had to buy a wedding gift for a close friend? Would you consider an engraved or personalized present? I would love to hear your special wedding gift ideas!