Some recent…weather… and associated power outages not only delayed my weekly post, but also gave me the opportunity to reflect on some of the best wedding gifts Mr. PiN and I received many moons ago.
I think peak wedding season is coming to an end, but if you aren’t sure what to give as a present–or what to ask for–here are my favorites, seen through a retrospective lens. I have linked to my favorite items, or similar options, but these are not affiliate links. I get no monetary benefit if you decide you want to buy any of these.
The inspiration for this topic were our hurricane candle holders, with candles, that recently kept our house illuminated while electricity was not an option. Mr. PiN did not grow up with power outages, and he has always been leery of letting candles burn overnight; but he didn’t mind at all leaving these guys lit in the bathtub, so his wife didn’t knock herself out at 2 AM. I am so thrilled to have these, I can’t tell you; though I would be happy if we only used them once every few years.
Thank goodness, we don’t have regular power outages, so we don’t use candles to light our way all the time. We do, however, regularly use our serving trays, to bring food and utensils out of the kitchen. These aren’t the ones we have, but close. Our trays are in regular rotation, but each gets used several times a month.
I wrote last month about our quest for the comfiest bed. One of our best wedding gifts was a set of sheets and comforter (found at Bed Bath and Beyond), so that we could dress our brand new mattress. Those sheets and comforter met an untimely end (difficulties with the washer/dryer), but they got used every day for several years.
My mom, an excellent shopper if you are looking for house things, gave us a pair of thick Turkish towels, kind of like these, but with a different design. She eventually gave us another pair–her hand-me-downs once she decided she wanted a different color for her bathroom. They are expensive, but they have held up well. I still love using them every day.
Many people register for, or give, beautiful tchotckes. I use some of ours, but my favorite and most-used is this flower vase. I would never have spent my money on this, but I love looking at it every time we bring flowers into the house (fancy ones Mr. PiN buys, or the freebies I cut from the garden).
Gifts number 6 and 7 are much less personal, but were no less appreciated.
Gift cards to home stores helped us set up house together. Even though we were both adults with our own households before marriage, we still needed various things: pillows, table cloths, etc. Since we pretty much blew all our money buying the new house and paying for our wedding contributions (plus kid expenses), this helped us out when we were tightest on cash.
Lastly, cold hard cash was much appreciated when given. We decided to put it all towards our honeymoon. That money helped us go somewhere neither of us had been, and skip the youth hostel/cheap B&B scene for this particular trip, which we still look back on with great affection.
Do you have a favorite wedding gift? Is it one that you gave or one that you received?