Gifts for Wedding Party

[ExGratia]

I’m getting married in 2 weeks and would like to get gifts for those involved in the wedding. We have 2 witnesses, readers, musicians, and acolytes who are our friends. There are also 3 religious involved (2 priests and a sister) and I am least sure of what to give them. I am comfortable with ordering online at stores that will deliver on time.

Any ideas? And when do I give them the gifts? Thank you!

 

[shainski]

I’m getting married in 2 weeks and would like to get gifts for those involved in the wedding. We have 2 witnesses, readers, musicians, and acolytes who are our friends. There are also 3 religious involved (2 priests and a sister) and I am least sure of what to give them. I am comfortable with ordering online at stores that will deliver on time.

Any ideas? And when do I give them the gifts? Thank you!

Let’s see. I’ve stood up in a half dozen weddings.

I’ve gotten a pen/pencil set, a couple of swiss army knives, a pocket watch, and a brief case. My wife wanted to do something a little different, so she gave each of her attendants vases - but picked out all different ones to suit the tastes of her attendants.

The gifts, to me, were a nice gesture of appreciation - and a rememberance of the weddings. It’s really hard to be too creative when you are doing something that has been done thousands of times before - and you are choosing the same gift for multiple people. On the other hand, these people who are close to you and will appreciate the gesture no matter what you decide.

Oh - and congratulations!

 

[jazzy0710]

When I got married this is what we gave everyone:

Maid of honor and 2 bridesmaids: Earrings and necklaces to wear for the ceremony that they could also wear anytime.

Best man and 2 groomsmen- Beer steins with their intials engraved on them

3 ushers- shot glasses with their initials etched into the glass

Ring bearer and flower girl- gave each of them a gift card for toys r us

The sister was not in attendance at the wedding. The Priest, I just gave him the $110.00 fee for the service, and then when his birthday rolled around I gave him a card and a nice bottle of red wine.

 

[thewanderer]

I think that gifts to those involved in a wedding can either be aimed simply at something the recipients would really like, or they can also be personalized so that they are a reminder of your wedding. Either way, you will be best able to decide what gifts these particular people would appreciate. Special picture frames, wine/ champagne glasses, keyhains, flasks, clothing, bags, you name it you can find a site that will personalize it so that it can become a reminder of your wedding, bear in mind though, as I’m sure you are aware, anything labelled as ‘for a wedding’ is bound to be more expensive. If you are interested you could give presents that are more linked with a recognition of the catholic understanding of the sacrament if matrimony, maybe engraved crucifixes, a little plaque with a prayer to the holy family with your names and the date, a passage from scripture about two becoming one, you could probably get personalized rosaries, maybe a prayer card for a saint you and your fiancé both have a special devotion to? I’ll try to keep thinking of ideas, both religious and not, if you want. Also, I’m not sure about what material gifts you can give to a religious, but you could always do a spiritual bouquet for them. Say a set number of prayers for them and draw up a nice card with a representation of what prayers you said. It can simply be written out that you prayed these certain prayers for them, or if you’re artistic you could try drawing a bouquet of flowers, with a little key on the side showing which prayer each flower represents. You could also print off pictures of flowers from online or cut them out of a magazine if your drawing skills are not quite up to par. You could also order some blank cards with a picture of a bouquet on them and then determine what prayers you will say, and how many of each, based on the particular picture on the card. You could probably even buy them a real bouquet of flowers wih a card attached to let them know the spiritual significance of each one. Even if the flowers have to go to a communal setting, it can still be a sweet way of letting them know of the spiritual gift you have given them. I hope this helps!

Congratulations, by the way!!

 

[ExGratia]

I think that gifts to those involved in a wedding can either be aimed simply at something the recipients would really like, or they can also be personalized so that they are a reminder of your wedding. Either way, you will be best able to decide what gifts these particular people would appreciate. Special picture frames, wine/ champagne glasses, keyhains, flasks, clothing, bags, you name it you can find a site that will personalize it so that it can become a reminder of your wedding, bear in mind though, as I’m sure you are aware, anything labelled as ‘for a wedding’ is bound to be more expensive. If you are interested you could give presents that are more linked with a recognition of the catholic understanding of the sacrament if matrimony, maybe engraved crucifixes, a little plaque with a prayer to the holy family with your names and the date, a passage from scripture about two becoming one, you could probably get personalized rosaries, maybe a prayer card for a saint you and your fiancé both have a special devotion to? I’ll try to keep thinking of ideas, both religious and not, if you want. Also, I’m not sure about what material gifts you can give to a religious, but you could always do a spiritual bouquet for them. Say a set number of prayers for them and draw up a nice card with a representation of what prayers you said. It can simply be written out that you prayed these certain prayers for them, or if you’re artistic you could try drawing a bouquet of flowers, with a little key on the side showing which prayer each flower represents. You could also print off pictures of flowers from online or cut them out of a magazine if your drawing skills are not quite up to par. You could also order some blank cards with a picture of a bouquet on them and then determine what prayers you will say, and how many of each, based on the particular picture on the card. You could probably even buy them a real bouquet of flowers wih a card attached to let them know the spiritual significance of each one. Even if the flowers have to go to a communal setting, it can still be a sweet way of letting them know of the spiritual gift you have given them. I hope this helps!

Congratulations, by the way!!

Thanks to all so far for the ideas. The spiritual bouquet idea is brilliant…I forgot to mention that another person involved is a Secular Franciscan and committed to poverty. Most of those involved are down to earth people with a Franciscan type charism (except the Jesuit-esque priest!). I am still not sure what to get for everyone but I have some beautiful icon holy cards that would look nice framed. People have been so generous in helping make our wedding special and I really want to show appreciation.

Anyone else have ideas, please let me know.

Thank you!

 

[PatriceA]

I’m getting married in 2 weeks and would like to get gifts for those involved in the wedding. We have 2 witnesses, readers, musicians, and acolytes who are our friends. There are also 3 religious involved (2 priests and a sister) and I am least sure of what to give them. I am comfortable with ordering online at stores that will deliver on time.

Any ideas? And when do I give them the gifts? Thank you!

I would check with the musicians about their expectations, even if they are your friends. They may be expecting to be paid in cash or check for their services.

 

[ExGratia]

I would check with the musicians about their expectations, even if they are your friends. They may be expecting to be paid in cash or check for their services.

No. They made it clear that they are wedding presents. That is part of the challenge with getting gifts for them since they are being so generous.

 

[Nanny_PK]

Thanks to all so far for the ideas. The spiritual bouquet idea is brilliant…I forgot to mention that another person involved is a Secular Franciscan and committed to poverty. Most of those involved are down to earth people with a Franciscan type charism (except the Jesuit-esque priest!). I am still not sure what to get for everyone but I have some beautiful icon holy cards that would look nice framed. People have been so generous in helping make our wedding special and I really want to show appreciation.

Anyone else have ideas, please let me know.

Thank you!

For those who have taken a vow of poverty maybe you could make a donation to a Catholic charity in their honor/name and present them a card telling them what you did. Or maybe you could make them their favorite home-cooked meal – something that they wouldn’t often get to eat?

 

[Nanny_PK]

No. They made it clear that they are wedding presents. That is part of the challenge with getting gifts for them since they are being so generous.

Check with the music director at their church. Maybe buy a piece of music for their choir in honor of the musician(s)? Though I’m Catholic, I sing in a Methodist church choir; and there’s a program available like that that allows for the music ministry to build up their music collection by having people buy a certain piece of music in their honor. Every time that piece of music is sung, in the bulletin it says something to the effect of “Song Name” was purchased by ___ in honor of ____.

Might be worth looking into.

 

[Sarabande]

No. They made it clear that they are wedding presents. That is part of the challenge with getting gifts for them since they are being so generous.

Perhaps a gift card to a local or on-line sheet music store? Sheet music can become pricey and I know it’s always nice to be able to afford a really good edition of a specific score. If you know them well enough in regards to their likes and dislikes, maybe even something personal that they would really enjoy or you think they may enjoy even if they never tried it before… a gift card to a spa, restaurant, book shop, etc.