The tradition of giving a gift to the bride and groom has its roots in the dowry. The dowry consisted of gifts or money given by the father of the bride to his future son-in-law to found his daughter’s new family. These days we’ve evolved a less practical but more pleasurable practice of regaling the new couple with gifts from all quarters. This presents certain challenges as well as delights. For example, while many couples create a gift registry wherein they specify exactly what they want, and your giving is so simple as choosing what to give, other couples are shy or embarrassed about asking for any gift at all. And what exactly should a new couple be asking for?

The first and most common tack newlyweds to be take when considering wedding gifts is to specify practical gifts. It isn’t glamorous or romantic but when it comes to starting the newlyweds on their new life, it gets the job done. One advantage of this approach is that it prevents the happy couple from receiving six toaster ovens and no wine glasses. When the couple go so far as to have an itemized list, and you sign in for which gift to buy them, then that’s life made easy. If they provide specific guidelines, then the wedding guest is well advised not to stray too far from those guidelines.

What to do when the couple don’t specify at all? If you know the couple well, then choosing a gift for them should be easy. The trick is getting them something no one else is likely to. One approach is to conspire with other guests in choosing wedding gifts. Another approach is to get them something thoughtful enough to reflect how well you know them, and that will remind the happy couple of you.

There are two possible approaches, a practical approach and a more whimsical, personalized indulgent approach. The whimsical approach is best left up to your own creativity. The practical approach, on the other hand, is always easy, but will still benefit from your having some knowledge of their habits and lifestyle. If they’re not avid wine drinkers, wine-oriented gifts will be useless.  If they prefer drip coffee to espresso, avoid the espresso machine.

In other words, think about their preferences and needs, and avoid getting the newlyweds-to-be something you would rather have for yourself. Also try to at least anticipate what other guests are likely to give them. If you know they are wine buffs, for example, and everyone else does too, you might choose to get them either a more obscure wine gadget, such as a special opener, or a bottle stopper.

Then there’s the matter of the happy couple giving back little presents to all their guests. Little baubles called wedding favours. These tend to serve two purposes. They offer a little thank you trinket to guests while at the same time beautifying table settings. Additionally, wedding favours can be tailored toward arranging guests at the table by choosing favours that offer the convenience of a place and method of attaching a guest’s nametag.