Wedding Gifts Couples Actually Want
Updated: Oct 23, 2019
Looking for ideas on wedding gifts that are useful and appreciated?
Why Wedding Gifts are Going Down
Traditional wedding gifts are declining, but not in the way that you think.
Couples still appreciate the gesture, the thought, the time and money you will spend to gift them something...it's just that as a society, we're all pretty much provided everything we need thanks to Amazon Prime and technology.
I know, it sounds so snooty and weird to say that people don't want gifts, I get it.
It's not that nobody wants another toaster or microwave, it's just that even if a couple needs it for their new house in a new city, they'd rather buy it and get free shipping than try to figure out a way to carry it from California to Texas or whatever their situation is.
Or yes actually, they just don't need it.
After my own wedding, since we already had toasters and pots and pants, we kept a lot of our gifts in the garage for almost a year until we moved to a larger house and decided to toss the old stuff out or donate it.
But of course, couples are way too polite to say "No thanks."
Also thanks to folks like Marie Kondo and the minimalist lifestyle being good for your health, folks are generally trying to declutter their life and not have too many gadgets and products sitting around the house collecting dust.
Destination Wedding Gifts are Trickier
Destination weddings are even more difficult to handle, because you carried something in your suitcase for them, and now they'll have to pay $40 in extra luggage to accommodate taking it back.
You might feel you went out of your way to gift the bride and groom some custom shot glasses, or an iPad case, or a really cool espresso machine...but now it's a temporary inconvenience for them logistically.
That being said, since MATERIAL gifts are declining as in our Indian wedding trends in 2019 (blog) that doesn't mean other gifts aren't valued and often part of the wedding gesture process.
They're still a bunch of things you can spend your time and/or money on to gift your close friends/family on their wedding day, and my goal with this post is to explain each item and also why it would be a good idea.
A Nice Way to Ask Guests for Cash Gifts
One of our most viewed answers on Quora was about just this. Often times couples don't want to tell guests "Hey just give us cash" because that's tacky and tasteless. A nice hack that I often see is to write:
"No Gifts, Only Blessings Please."
The risk here is people might actually take it literally and say "congrats" and carry on, but many will attend your wedding, see a box for "Cards" and quickly get it.
And like most people..yes, we're not expecting gifts at all. But if you're going to anyways, well, we may as well guide our guests on how to make their efforts.
On that note, y'all ready?
Let's go!
What are the Best Wedding Gift Ideas in 2019 for couples who have everything?
1. Amazon Gift Card
Everybody uses Amazon, whether for physical material goods or online digital goods. As one of the top websites in the world you can be sure your friend or family member will find something useful as he/she moves into the next phase of their life.
Pros: It's not as obvious as cash, it's digital so it won't get lost, and it lets them pick and choose what they want.
Cons: It's got a monetary amount attached to it so people know how much you spent.
2. Cold Hard Cash
If only we could write that on the invite.
Pros: It's super versatile and let's be honest, it's the best thing you can do. Under certain amounts and you don't even have to worry about taxes although you should report larger amounts based on your laws.
Cons: It can be lost, and it has an amount attached to it. It's also awkward to give in person and worrisome during the wedding wondering about when you should give it. Will it be safe in the box? Will it be safe in the hotel room?
3. Check
Simple and professional and doesn't need to be used right away.
Pros: Pretty much removes the losing aspect of cash.
Cons: Awkward for the couple to cash later, and awkward for you in case it bounces or gets rejected for some other reason. My brother got a $200 check in India from a relative and it got declined due to an error in the way it was written...and we didn't have the nerve to tell the Auntie who sent it to send another one. So yeah.
4. Stocks
I personally love this one, because it could potentially be the gift that keeps on giving! Imagine you buy your buddy $500 in Google or Amazon stock a month before the wedding, and during the wedding you tell him/her that you just transferred the stock using your online account. (Doable, I checked here.) If all goes well, that gift could double in value in a few years ! Heck yeah!
Pros: Little work to setup online and you need your friends stock accounts to transfer the stocks, so there goes any surprise. Can double or even triple in value. Or better yet, if your buddy is a finance or corporate type of person, they he/she is always talking about investing in this company or that why not do it for them in some small token amount? (E.g. less than $1,00).
Cons: You could also lose everything, but I mean most big companies like Apple/Google/Facebook won't devalue too much. Also in case you strike it big don't be a jerk and not give them the stock and try to keep the gains for yourself!
5. Gold
The value of Gold has gone up, and even though you and I roll our eyes every-time our aunt and uncles talk about it...it still has value and you can still make a lot of money on it . Yes, during the final apocalypse a glass of water will be worth more than gold, but you can say the same thing about cash or your bank defaulting.
Regardless, if you have spare Gold lying around from old bracelets or necklaces...
take them to your local jeweler,
have them melt it into a gold brick
gift it to the wedding couple or their parents.
Pros: Gold is appreciated by old people, it's still a widely used currency, it's very tangible like cash so it has some appeal, and it's already quite a big part of Indian weddings!
Cons: You can lose it, and if you're flying into a wedding in India they 100% will catch it in your suitcase or notice excessive amounts on your arms/neck. Don't travel with excessive amounts.
7. BitCoin or Cryptocurrency
No I'm not joking. I wish I knew more about it, but if the folks getting married are techies or up to date on the trends, maybe buy them a few hundred dollars of Crypto as a gag gift, and watch it become a very cool gift? Maybe your friends will then even start looking at crypto, start investing themselves since you already got their foot in the door and really appreciate you five years down the line?
Pros: It could have an insane upside.
Cons: You could lose your initial $200 gift investment, but I mean, you could also buy them a toaster or vacuum they'll never open that will sit in the garage.
8. Custom Artwork
Pros: You could use it right away. At my cousins wedding we gifted them this and then kept it by the cake for people to pose with. And they did!
Cons: A print will be something to carry and worry about during wedding commotion, and you'll need to find front facing photos of the couple to send to the artists to use as a reference (so the surprise will be tricky to plan). You'll likely lose the printout but always have the soft copy for social media so that's a good thing!