photo by Bonnie BonBon
I was wondering if any of your readers had ideas for
frugal wedding gifts? My youngest sister is getting married and I
would like to give her something nice but our budget is limited. I'm not very creative or crafty, so it has to be something
simple to do. I am a mom of 7, as well, so time is limited. -Michelle
I'd love to hear your ideas and suggestions for Michelle. With "wedding season" fast approaching, I'm sure many of us could benefit by hearing about your frugal but thoughtful wedding gift ideas. Post away!
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I like to go with consumable gifts or practical gifts. One of the more unusual gifts we received was a full-sized cooler. Ours came in handy when we returned from our honeymoon to find that our refrigerator had quit working! You can usually get them fairly reasonably around Memorial Day. After 15 years, it’s one of the few gifts that we still use on a regular basis.
I just got married in June, so I’m pretty “fresh” as far as remembering good and bad gifts.
One of my faves was a basket full of practical needs such as dishsoap, handsoap, toothpaste, tbrushes, air fresheners, meds, etc. It was so helpful to move into our apt. and have little necessities like that!
I gave a basket like this to my cousin in January and it was one of their faves as well.
The awesome thing about this…I got everything in the basket for free or “nearly free” from good ol’ CVS and Riteaid.
I love to quill! Quilling is also called paper filagree. This is a simple, inexpensive craft that can turn out beautiful work looking like you spent hours! One thing that I do for “to be” couples and wedding receptions is frame and mat the wedding invite, quilling flowers, scrolls and roses around the corners of the frame. The total project usually costs me around $20 but is a gift to be cherished for many years to come!
Some of my favorite gifts from our wedding are ones where people gave us their favorite household item. For example, someone bought a kitchen timer with digits so you don’t have to press “minute” many times, and a note explaining that they have the same one, and hope we love it as much as they do. The items weren’t particularly expensive, I’m sure, but they were so thoughtful, and we get far more use from them than from crystal candlesticks!
We just got married a year and a half ago, and I was so thankful for the practical gifts! For newlyweds on a budget it’s GREAT not to have to go out and buy cleaning supplies. My MIL gave us a big box of Melaluca cleaning supplies and I was so thankful for that! We also got some fun gift baskets. One of them was a cute basket with pancake mix, a bowl, pancake flipper and blueberry syrup. YUM! We were also given a picnic basket, which is a great basis for a gift basket! Just add a bottle of wine, an outdoor tablecloth, maybe reusable plastic place settings (you can find GREAT deals on these at Walmart/Target towards the end of summer).
I like the theme idea, someone gave us a small trash can filled with pens, pencils, post it notes, stamps, paper clips etc, that really came in handy one time i wrote down the recipe for my mom’s yummy lemonade and included all the ingredients she would need for it and a gallon pitcher, long spoon, and ice cube tray another gift I received was a plastic storage tote filled with Christmas decorations
IF the couple is not into coupons why not teach them how to, and giver her a coupon binder full of coupons to get all the free and cheap things themselves. I think teaching newlyweds how to save money and be frugal is the best gift you can give them.
I forgot-another frugal but useful and unique gift I have done is something I saw on Martha Stewart an few years ago. Its a sewing kit. You take a ball jar and place in it sewing notions (white thread, black thread, buttons, straight pins, thimble, and needles). Then you put a circle of fabric between the lid and rim. You can tie with ribbon. I suppose you could even get a permanant marker and put the person’s name on it. You can buy most of these things at the $1 store. And once I found various flower bulbs and a stepping stone on clearance at Walmart. I snatched them up and headed to big lots where I found a couple gardening tools (cheap) and gave them as a garden them gift. It was in Sept. when things like that go on sale. The couple could have planted them then or waited until spring.
I think some of the “best gifts” Aaron and I got were the ones from the heart – it didn’t matter how much was spent, just that people celebrated with us on the day that we became a family!
But that being said, you have to get a gift. Here are a few of my favorites (please keep in mind, I had established a home already when I went to college, so I “traded up”, so to speak, on a number of items):
- a Waterford crystal vase, straight from Ireland. Okay, not the most inexpensive, but my late Grandmother LOVED Ireland, and my Great Aunt Betty (her sister in law) got this for me because she knew how much I missed my grandma on my wedding day. It was the vase that held my bouquet at the dinner and dance.
- a quilt, in colors both Aaron and I like, that was embroidered with our wedding date on the back. It doesn’t match anything in our house, but it comes out for romantic picnics in the evening on our living room floor, anniversaries, etc.
- a basket of household supplies. Even WITH an established household, I was just too darned busy to remember that I ran out of Windex weeks before the wedding.
- a collection of family recipes: both from the family that the giver and I had in common, as well as her other side’s recipes. How fun!
- a few thrifted vintage cookbooks. My weakness!
- Table linens and napkins. I never registered for these, and boy, was I glad someone thought to get a relatively neutral set for me. Whoops!
I’ve also given gifts that the newlyweds might not have actually thought to get – fun stuff that isn’t “household” related. Gift certificates to a bookstore if they like to read, a restaurant gift certificate for the 1st month anniversary, “pretties” for the bride, tools for the groom…
Really, anything goes as long as it is from the heart, in my opinion!
My sister just got married (like this past Sunday) and their Guest Book was a photo album of their engagement pics done through Shutterfly. It turned out really nice and could be a great gift if you’re able to use the frequent specials that Shutterfly or others offer!
A very cut and inexpensive idea is to put together a wish book, that was something we got and I still use it 13 years later. A wish book can be a simple journal decorated for the occassion with a fancy pen attached. Both items can be found at the dollar store or on clearance alot of times. The book came with a special note inside the front cover letting us know that the only way to fulfill our wishes was to remember them and the book was for all the wishes we would have for our future. I put little things in there like: “I wish for a day of landscaping work from my husband without asking.” This may sound simple but it helps us to communicate things we want without the nagging and as newlyweds you generally find you don’t know each other as well as you think.
One of the best gifts I got were lawn chairs and a cooler….something you don’t think about until you need them!
Another book suggestion: A Do-It-Yourself book for around the house would be a great gift (we gave one to my brother-in-law-to-be this Christmas and he loved it!). Also, a road atlas is something many people might not have.
And just a comment on all of the recipe/homemade-cookbook ideas: let’s not leave the guys out! My husband cooks more than I do and most newly married women I know don’t do the majority of the cooking. Ask men in the family to contribute recipes and include basic info (how to hard boil eggs, make corn on the cob, what it means to “scald” milk, etc.) for the less experienced cooks
I love seeing all these great ideas!! I’m going to use a few for my sister’s upcoming wedding. Thanks!
(1) Christmas decorations / Seasonal items
(2) Beach Towels & Sunscreen
(3) SHOP ON EBAY!!! As a rule you can almost ALWAYS get anywhere from 30-90% off on Ebay. Also if you plan to get a gift card or shop at a certain store, type in the name of that store with “gift card” or “coupon” and you will more than likely find someone trying to get rid of a gift card they received from there.
I often give Christmas ornaments as wedding gifts either one larger one or several smaller ones. These can be personalized for the wedding couple based on their interests and can quite often be bought on sale either after Christmas or using Hobby Lobby and Michael’s coupons. If the couple is older they make a nice addition. If they are younger I might get a basic set of lights, glass balls and spray paint pinecones gold with wire hangers for their first tree. It is also nice to give a sturdy plastic container to store them in.
One of my most meaningful wedding gifts came from the pastor (mostly from his wife) who married us. She found a beautiful wooden box that was big enough to hold recipe cards. She carefully copied out a really nice collection of a about 30-40 of her favorite recipes and wrote little notes on them about what she serves them with, how she adapts them, etc.
Although I’ve now moved the cards to an album that holds many new recipes, I’ve kept the box and think of her everytime I see one of the cards in her writing.
One of my most favorite wedding gifts was from a family in our church. They made up 3 dinners for us and tucked them away in our freezer for us to have during the time after our wedding. It was such a blessing while we were in the process of unpacking our belongings, setting up the kitchen, still trying to locate specific items, getting adjusted to life together, and resting and recovering from all the craziness leading up to the wedding, to be able to just pull out a home-made dinner from our freezer. We just needed to heat it up in the oven and we were ready to eat. Wow, was that nice. I’m sure that it was pretty easy for them to do. They probably just made a little extra when they were making their own meals and set it aside for us. Chicken Pot Pie, noodle casseroles, and Chile all work well for this. It’s been nearly 6 years and I still remember how much I appreciated this wedding gift.
I know this goes without saying, but I think the best way to be both frugal and thoughtful is to really think about what best suits the situation of the couple, and also what they have or haven’t registered for. I often look at the couple’s registry, and then try and find a great deal on something I know they want/need (or something similar — perhaps a different brand, or the same item at a different store where I can get a better price).
People get married in all sorts of situations these days, and while a lot of these gifts are great ideas, the same gift that would be great for one person would be a waste for another. A couple moving into a new home together may love a basket of cleaning supplies or pantry items or basic kitchen supplies, but if the couple is moving in to a home that one or the other has already lived in for months or years, these items may just be one more thing to try and find space for!
We had a some “helpful” people buy us things that weren’t on our registry that they thought we had missed (things like a crock pot and a clothes iron). We didn’t register for them on purpose, because my husband or I already owned them (in fact, we each owned a crock pot before we were married!) and we thought it would be a waste to replace them with new ones just because we were getting married.
We were of course happy for all the gifts we received, even the ones we had to return (or re-gift if we couldn’t return them if they had no receipt!) because we already had the item in question…but I’m sure most gift givers would rather have their item used instead of returned!
For almost every wedding gift, we buy a couple of card games and board games at Target.So far all the recipients have thoroughly enjoyed, it’s fun and no one else will do it.
Sorry I wasnt able to read all 200+ comments to se eif this was posted, but here’s one thing i do…
If I know around holiday time that there will be a wedding the next year, i like to get them their first Christmas ornaments at the after christmas sales. Esp ones that say “our first Christmas” just have to make sure it does NOT have the year.
We got a bunch of stuff like that when we got married and i just LOVE it! A pretty heart ornament, one with a couple ice skating that says “Our Christmas together” a cool cord that connects all the cords, a storage box for ornaments and some angels, etc.
But shopping at the after Christmas sales is a good way to get it at a gREAT deal!
I think an easy and cheap gift is giving holiday gifts. For example, up until this last week or two, you could still find wrapping paper and gift bags in stores from Christmas. Ornaments and other home decor were marked way down too. I just bought 3 rolls of Christmas paper and 2 pacakges of tissue paper for under a $1.50. Bundle them together with ribbon. It would look super cute to have an ornament attached to the ribbon. It’s a gift everyone will use and super cheap.
I also think using your freebies or super cheap things you have bought are a great idea. Buy a reusable bag from one of your favorite stores and fill it with the neccessities you have to go buy when you get married. Kleenex, shampoo, lotion, toliet paper, paper towel, etc. I remember spending so much money the first time my husband and I went ot the store because we had so much of that little stuff we needed to get.
When my best friend got married I was only about 20. We had been best friends for years and she was like a second daughter to my mother. They didn’t have a registry for their wedding, so it was slightly difficult to figure out what to get them. In the end, my mom ended up making them homemade Christmas stockings. Over the years she had made homemade Christmas stockings for everyone in our family (ex. my brother and I both had green stockings with little Santas all over them, but mine had lace around the top b/c I am a girl). They are so simple to make and you can customize them to the person’s tastes/interests. Hope this helps~
One of the best gifts that I recieved was from my cousin who was my bridesmaid. She made CD’s that had about
10 of my and my future husbands favorite songs, including our “first song” dance. She bought the cases and CD’s on sale for cheap.She burnt about 100 of these and then printed our names and our wedding date
on the sticker that went on the CD itself. It was also in our wedding color. She then bought clear CD covers. We
put stickers on the cover of the CD with the guests name and table #. This was a great gift to us!! And a great momento for everyone.Everyone still talks about them!!!
Our standard wedding gift is sign that bears the “new family’s” name. My husband takes a weathered board and using a router writes the family name (i.e. “The Robinsons”) neatly (this could also be done with a wood burner)and then stains the wood. Add two eye screws to the top so that it can be hung.
most of us have bought up holiday clearance items: christmas, valentines day, easter, 4th of july, halloween, thanksgiving. you compile a giant box of these items for the new couple to have on hand for the various holidays !! you can also make holiday wreaths to go along with this as well as tucking in some reciepes & your own holiday tradition ideas !! most new couples are very grateful for this type of help. ( its very reasonable right now , because all the x-mas items that are left on the shelves are dirt cheap now) good luck !!
How about address and stamp envelopes for thank-you cards? If money is really tight, no need to put a stamp on them. Just a cute return address label with their new name and address the envelope to their guest list. Put a cute ribbon around all the thank-you cards.
I know I’d be appreciative.
A plain white cake wrapped with ribbons or candy dots placed on the cake I have found these in white looks extremely elegant is very easy. I also have a glass blown heart for a topper I have used on lots of cakes. If you can not do a tall cake well (which I can not) use several cakes layed out on pretty cake plates three or four and the center cake can be two or three layers this gives plenty of cake even for a large wedding. I did one where the brides cakes were white and the grooms cakes were choc. Everyone loved these. The bride cakes had pink ribbons the choc groom cakes had black it looked like a tux and a dress. (IT was so simple it was extremely elegant!)
i did the cvs basket (his and hers) for a friend
and i think the recipe idea is a great one.
i got married in november and BEG you not to give a picture frame. i committed the same offense when i was in college – i got my sister a gorgeous silver picture frame with the date engraved on it.
she loves me, and would never hurt my feelings, so the silver frame now decorates her country style home. and is very out of place.
she – on the other hand – is giving the hubs and i some trees and helping us plant them. and the assistance planting them is the best part of the gift!
I went to my sister’s wedding last month and they had these really neat guest books for Polaroid pictures from Adesso Albums. They are very reasonable and a gift that the couple will have forever. I know what it’s like to have no time, I have four of my own kids, but the website is really easy to navigate through. I just got two albums for my friend’s wedding next year. They also have digital print albums too and sell everything you need right on their site.
http://www.adessoalbums.com
The last two wedding gifts I gave were purchased from http://www.fruitfulvinecreations.com. I bought wall lettering with the last name of the couple and the year they were married. Ex: Smith Family
Est. 2008
I got them in black lettering. It cost about $20.
I got a framed invitation and loved it – I wished I had also framed the vows we wrote. If it is family or a close friend you could get a copy before and frame it with the invitation or leave a spot for a wedding photo.
I am trying to think of something myself for a wedding and shower for my cousin this summer, I have several tried and true but was trying to think up a new one. Here is what I have done before.
-picnic basket (bought on clearance of course!) and filled with some dishes, spatula, candle, matches, salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, table cloth, cloth napkins (that match) aluminum foil, charcol, a bottle of sparkling cider. I figure all they need to do is add the “food” and they are set for a fun date together.
-large strainer, box of pasta, jar of sauce, cheese, bread
-scrapbook/cookbook. Gather recipies, photos, and notes from family and friends, put them together into a cookbook where you can think about your family as you do your daily things.
-dvd OR gift card to video store, popcorn, movie theater candy, bowl, bottles of coke
-laundry basket with household goods
Obviously some take more $, others more time, but you get the idea.
Several Suggestions:
A together bowl. I buy a nice mixing bowl (can be purchased on sale at TJ Maxx, Homegoods, etc.) that matches their color scheme (check their registry). I then fill it with things to cook together… any combination of the following – pancakes, popcorn, spaghetti and sauce, chips and dip mix, Brownie or cookie mix, pizza crust mix, be creative! I include a spatula, and/or a whisk!
Attach a note that says – This is your “together bowl” filled with things you can do just the two of you. Enjoy the time together!
Luggage Tags: These are easy to make with your computer and self laminating tags from an office supply store. Put their new name and address on them!
Make them a couple of casseroles and freeze them. If possible, put them in the freezer at their new home and attach cooking instructions. If Neccessary deliver them a day or two after they arrive home from the honeymoon. Leave some candles and a cd (homemade is fine) and a note saying, “Dinner is ready for the next couple of nights, find something creative to do with the time you might spend cooking dinner!
For my cousins wedding I gave her a copy of all my favorite recipes and the non-perishable ingredients to go with them. I tried to pick from my favorite recipes ones that were unique and she probably hadn’t had. I was able to buy the ingredients a little here and there to stretch out the cost and she loved it.
I always watch clearance racks for universal gifts. I once scored a Shark dustbuster-like thing for $7 at Kohl’s.
A gift I would have appreciated would be a few freezer meals for when the couple gets home from the honeymoon. Not having to go to the store that first day back, jet-lagged, would have been a god-send!
My favorite gift was from my cousin who offered to come help set up the reception hall with me and my parents the day before our wedding. It was great to not have all that stress on us!
I’m doing a series of gifts for the honeymoon when my brother gets married in a month. Because they are missionaries, they can’t take a lot of things with them so the gifts have to be small, or flat or perishable. They are honeymooning for a couple of weeks in the states, using a car, so I plan to give them a box of wrapped gifts when they leave the reception. Here are some ideas for what will be in each gift, with instructions to open one gift per day on the honeymoon:
*A package of snacks for the honeymoon (we were starving when we reached our hotel room)
*Coins for hotel vending machines
*CD made with our favorite love songs and their favorite love songs to listen to while driving
*Fireproof DVD
*a Dave Ramsey book
*Some advice cards
*Special letter to the bride and groom
*Popcorn and cocoa mix for a “night-in” in a hotel
*Love quotes/verses from the Bible
*Breakfast basket
*A packet of special family recipes that my brother loves
*Paper plates and napkins
*Wet wipes and hand sanitizer
*Favorite marriage book (Like Love and Respect)
*T-shirts that say “My Husbands Rocks” and “My Wife Rocks” (www.christianbook.com)
*Restaurant gift cards
I hope this little gift-a-day thing will be very memorable and fun for them and most of the gifts will be used up so they won’t have to pack much
I have given a tub full of Christmas decorations a few times. I stock up on things when they 90% off after Christmas and fill a whole tub for a few dollars. Things like ornaments, stockings, tree skirt, placemats, hotpads, twinkle lights, ornament hangers, etc are much appreciated when the couples first Christmas comes around!
I purchase a baking dish set at IKEA for around $6. I place in it one of my favorite recipes and then wrap it in gold tulle with a beautiful big ribbon. Altogether, it costs around $7-8 and looks BEAUTIFUL!
Spices! I remember when we were first married. I didn’t even have salt and pepper! Even though I bought frugally, I still spent more than $20 on spices! (This was 27 years ago.)
Give a gift basket with spices and other little kitchen tools you know the couple would use if they cook, i.e., various types of knives-paring, boning, chopping, etc., zester, potato peeler, measuring spoons and cups, pan scrapers, etc. One kitchen item we received and still use–a set of steak knives!
I took a lot of stuff for granted as far as kitchen tools, I mean everyone has knives?!, right? Except for me when I first got married. It takes a lot to equip a kitchen with the basics.
Elaine in OK
HS Mom of six, four graduated, two to go, one 2nd grader and one preschooler (This is what happens when you have two more children after you turn 40.)
One of my favorite gifts that I’ve ended up giving myself was an “emergency wedding kit”. It was in a beautiful box with a ribbon and “Heather’s Wedding Kit” typed out and nicely applied to the top. Inside was everything you possibly need at the last minute right before your wedding that you could possibly forget. For instance, a nail file, a comb, lotion, clear nail polish (in case a nylon snags), a small mirror, tooth brush and small tooth paste, small mouthwash, small sewing kit,granola mix, etc. I can usually get a box and most things at the dollar store. I usually include a small thing of pain reliever too (I had the worst headache ever before mine, but didn’t have any in my kit). Most of these things are things I now get with coupons. The great thing is it’s an unusual memorable gift, it’s inexpensive, easy to do and so practical! I used almost everything in mine.
I was looking for cheap gifts for Christmas and decided to give my parents an HERB GARDEN. The seeds are cheap and all you have to do is get it started, buy a nice container on sale, and put them together in a beautiful way. If you don’t want to do it from seeds you could probably buy the herbs already started at a home and garden store soon.
I use my herbs when I cook and it always adds a little bit more to the recipe
What I have seen done I think is really cool and I wish someone would have done it for my wedding…..I have seen people get a shadow box from say michaels and they have coupons every week for 40% a regular priced item. Then when you go to the wedding you take little keepsakes (invites, napkins, favors, pictures, etc.) and put the different things in the shadow box and then they have a keepsake of everything to hang on the wall to remember their special day! It would be given after the fact but with the shadow box and hot glue or craft glue it would be pretty inexpensive. Good Luck
Put together a kit. (i.e. movie kit, date night kit, spaghetti night kit, game night kit, etc)
For spaghetti night you could find a cool, inexpensive serving bowl filled w/ a box of noodles, jar of sauce, martinelli’s cider, etc. Depending on your budget you could just keep going with the theme.
For a movie night kit, buy a popcorn bowl, microwave popcorn, movie treats, and a cheap dvd.
I think you get the idea. Good luck!
i love all the comments above and the Family Recipe book idea is great! An additional book idea is to collect some really great house hold hints from family and friends and divide into catagories – laundry, cleaning, how to be a housewife and retain your sanity ( I need to read this chapter), etc.
Give an address book with the names and numbers of repairmen, emergancy numbers, etc.
Give a date book with the birthdays of both sides of the family marked. You could add some homemade cards.
I love the idea of giving a prepared coupon organization system – you could get a few copies of coupons in the newspaper that week and arrange them in the organizer for her.
I developed a basic filing system for my niece when she married. It was something she could add to and change but gave her a place to start. ( you get a ton of appliance books that need ‘a place’ as well as gift receits and this gives her a place for them.I have the labels saved to the computer and when each of my children moved out I started them one as well.
I think a thoughtful gift for a wedding to give the couple their wedding invitation framed. You can have it professionally done (Michael’s, AC Moore, etc often had coupons for framing discounts) or just buy a nice frame and do it yourself. This is what I almost always do for my friends and they always end up on the wall!
I just posted pictures of two gifts that I put together for my sis. http://lindasporchswing.blogspot.com/2009/02/bridal-shower-gift.html – here I posted about samples as a gift.
My mouth starts to water when I saw that deliciously designed cake. But anyways, you can create your home-made wedding gifts. Just a little creativity and your done. Wedding gifts need not to be expensive. What’s great about home-made wedding gifts is you can have your own design the only limit is your mind.
Good luck!
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