Best Unique Wedding Gifts

A friend spent time with the families of the groom and bride and
prepared me an address book of all important names,addresses
and telephone numbers from both sides. The fact that she took
the time for this project was very special to me. This is not
expensive--but very time consuming........

S. S.

My stepmother made me a cookbook filled with family recipes. Everytime I use it I think of the time she put it in making personalized to my husband and I.

LOVE this question!

Here is what friends did for me, and it meant SOOOOOO much! While my husband and I were on our honeymoon, they came to our apartment and did several super helpful things. They washed our sheets and put them on our bed, they purchased and hung up our shower curtain and towels. They stocked our refrigerator with a couple of meals and some basic food. We either hadn't gotten some of those essentials at our showers or we hadn't had time to set them up. I was prepared to come home from our honeymoon and have to hit Target and get to work, and instead I came home to the basics in place so we could have a more restful transition into our new home. That was THE BEST gift ever!!! Hope this sparks some good ideas for you!

God's Grace to you,

Lisa :)

I got married 24 years ago, but one of my favorite and most memorable gifts came from my maid of honor. I'm now sure if she did it herself or had it done, but she had our wedding invitation creatively placed in a frame. It is in our wedding colors and is so pretty that it still hangs on our wall. The glass is frosted around the invitation and it's really pretty even after all these years.

I LOVED that I got three sets of my sheets from one person. I know, silly, but they were really luxurious;)
Because I loved this gift so much, I did the same thing for my siblings when they each got married, but I had their monograms put on the pillow cases and the top sheet.
I also really like that my sister got me (for a shower give) an engraved jewelery box from PB with my new monogram on it. So pretty *sigh*
On the flip side, I never want to receive another crystal picture frame, vase or bowl as long as I live - LOL!

i always look for really nice wind chimes, you can have them engraved even. I give windchimes for wedding gifts and housewarming gifts and everyone always loves and uses them.

I don't know where they found it but an older aquaintance of my husbands gave us artwork, it was a really pretty drawing type thing of a bride and groom in a carriage. It just happened that it looked lovely with our decor. That is one of my fav and most unique.

I like the personalized cake pans for unique shower gifts.

funny i would vote no on the jewlery, seems like the hubby should buy that for the wife, and also wedding gifts should be for both of them not just the wife.

ice cream maker, rock salt, recipe book, 4 sundae dishes. Pretty cool.

Depending on how well you know the groom... I was thinking of something they can do together. Maybe a gift certificate for a couples massage (thats if he's into such things) or gift certificate for a fancy dinner. Something they would both enjoy together. I have seen some people get a nice engraved door knocker with their new last name on it.

Here are some great ideas. 1. handkerchiefs for the parents of the bride and groom. You can have handkerchiefs monogrammed with the Bride & Groom's name and the wedding date. Then attach a poem that states how she would not be the woman she is if it were not for the way the mom raised her - there are all sorts of great poems out there that can be customized from the bride to her mom, bride to her MIL, etc. 2. Stationary with the bride and groom's new initials. 3. Sheets monogrammed with their new initials. 4. towels monnogrammed with their new initials. Can you tell I do embroidery and monogramming? Those are always the first things that come to my mind! One present I received that I really liked was a throw with our initials on it. No wedding date, just the initials. I love it and still have it 15 years later! You can also stack these gifts meaning if you get a set of towels, you could add body wash, candles, bath salts, etc. for a "special" time for them. If you want to go a bit more fun, you can do a beer tote/wine tote with monogrammed koozies for him and her, and if you wanted to add to it, you can include a bottle of wine and maybe 2 of their wine glasses they've registered for.
Let me know if I can help you out with anything. www.institches.biz or ____@____.com

Depending on her style/what she likes she might like what I did :) One of our guests took our wedding invitation and had it engraved on this glass/crystal - I can't remember where I ran across it but I have seen it somewhere and it was like $80 or so. But it's about the size of the invitation and is self-standing. I have it in our china hutch and LOVE it. It was the most personal/sentimental gift I received for sure. For my best friend I had a frame with their name on it from personalcreations.com - I have ordered 2 or 3 things from them so far and the quality seems really good to me, the items look better in person even! Those are my top picks for sure. Good luck!!

I second the monogrammed sheets (Overstock.com has great prices).

Another suggestion I have is functional art pieces. My BIL once gave me a set of wooden hand painted salt and pepper shakers I love them. You can check etsy.com for hand made ones. I'm sure they have salt boxes too. Another functional art piece is a clock. We have a local artist here in MI named David Sherer. Here is a gallery of his work http://www.firenet.tv/gallery/Table-Clocks and Here is a site that retails his clocks http://www.colmanstreetclocks.com/sculpture-clocks-functi....

I also like pottery that you can use, like this http://www.etsy.com/listing/66114723/made-to-ordernesting...

We got a small gold coin from a dear friend - his message was, "May you never be poor." We got a mantel clock from my husband's (now deceased) best friend. It sits on our mantel and we use it and see it every single day. We love it.
I gave a wire fruit basket to a relative. She loves it. It's just different. She can use it for fruit or put a napkin in it and serve bread or muffins.
YMMV
LBC

I was married 22 years and my treasured wedding gift that I still use to this day was a Better Homes and Garden cookbook. It is dogeared and help me through so many dinners for our friends and office workers. You can add a gift certificate cooking related.

Two of our best friends gave us 5 bottles of nice wine, especially chosen to age well, with directions to drink one on each of our first 5 anniversaries. It was a great gift--above all, organized us to sit down and spend time with each other, enjoying the wine, and reflecting on our marriage at each anniversary, even once kids and craziness came!

The best gift we got was this wish bowl...I have also given it and if you turn in order in advance you can customize the words on the wish bowl to whatever you want...and then there is the inscription on the back that really makes it personal. check it out and see if you like it.

http://www.wishbowl.com/

The most unique wedding gift I have seen was a Christmas tree and the trimmings. It was complete with boxes for the decorations. This will only work if you know the person well (cause you have to have an idea of their taste) and also only if they have never had their own place (otherwise they will probably already have their decorations.)

I didn't read the other responses, but there are 2 things I would LOVE above all else for wedding gifts... one, you can get a sterling silver necklace with a small silver charm with his and her fingerprints on either side. You can also get a second silver charm to add to it with names and wedding date. VERY cool. The other thing, (and I saw these in magazines so I'm sorry I don't have links), there's a place that does vintage looking posters that almost look like old school advertisments, things like champagne glasses clinking or a vintage-dressed couple kissing under the Eiffel Tower, and personalize it with the couples names and wedding date. Again, VERY cool, and both unde $200 :)

My sister in law made us ceramic plate with our names and the wedding date on it. We still have it hanging in our front room 23+ years later. Our nephew who was 5 at the time also made us a ceramic "wedding egg" that is just priceless. An unusual gift that I really like and still use is a step stool. I use it often since I'm short and even my husband uses it. It's probably the most functional gift we got and a special reminder of the friend who gave it to us.

I concur with Lisa S just because I have something similar just like hers. A family member had our invitation engraved on a glass/crystal frame so we could put a 5X7 wedding photo in there. I still love it to this day and remember exactly who gave it to us.. The photo looks great and the engraving was beautifully done. Check out the site below. It is just an example for you to get a visual. My frame is a little more curved and modern with the entire wedding invitation engraved.
http://www.personalizationmall.com/Engraved-Glass-Wedding...

My aunt painted a picture for us so if you have a unique talent - use it!! Otherwise, we also received a "special plate" - just one - with instructions to use the plate for special occasions (a birthday, new job, etc or when kids come along they can use it when they get a good report card, etc). It is to make the person feel special on their special occasion . . . its fun, inventive and not expensive at all so maybe you could add a glass or silverwear, etc to go along with it. It did not match our table setting, which is what made it unique, but it was still "our taste."

cash, maybe in a pretty little jewelry box.

Two things I got that I loved and since then I've given as gifts to close friends or family that everyone loves are:

1. A Marriage Blessing Book
I got mine at the rehearsal dinner. Beforehand you send out a note to friends and family, usually close relatives and close friends, to send you a blessing for the couple. It can be something they wrote personally, or a poem, or scripture or anything special a/b the couple or individual (since not everyone will know both the groom and bride). Then you make each blessing on a page and then into a book. It was something so special and I still look at it and cherish after ten years of marriage.

2. A personalized photo album filled w/ pictures
I took pictures at the reception, beforehand too if I was in the wedding party, of everything. I took pictures of the food, the cakes, the decorations, the people, and I mean everyone. I took pics of people I didn't even know, just told them I was making something for the bride and groom. I walked around and took pics of people dancing, visiting, eating, drinking. Sometimes the pics were candid and then other times I would tell people to smile and pose. Then afterwards I put it in an album that I had monogrammed w/ the couples names and wedding date. It was awesome and again very special and cherished! I now make it for all close friends or family.