We asked married couples what they really want as wedding gifts
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Sometimes we wish we could throw a fake wedding, just for the gifts. Like Monica Geller, we’d be itching to open each and every one of them — with or without our spouse. After the long haul of politely smiling at strangers, mehendi mishaps and high-pitched shehnaais that terrorise the dogs, we deserve it, right?
Now after all the chaos, imagine landing up with 20 pairs of bedsheets, identical photo-frames and a badly wrapped Prestige pressure cooker. Bummer.
Wedding gifts can be traumatic for all parties involved. As the shaadi invites start flowing in, attendees have all started making lists of all the gifts we need to purchase and for whom. Each having to be thoughtful, customised, fanciful and Insta-worthy. If you’re a smart serial wedding attendee, then your money-saving hacks will get you through it without burning a hole in your bank statement larger than the one in the ozone.
Instead of breaking our heads, wondering what couples really want as wedding gifts, we turned to the experienced themselves and posed the question. Instead of shelling out for candle sets and crockery from Corelle, let their retrospective realisations be your guide to gift-giving this wedding season. Here’s what they had to say.
The best wedding gifts, according to married couples
Nothing says “we love you” like cold, hard cash
Newly married couples need big bucks more than badhais and blessings. Gifts in the form of ashirwaad can’t be transferred to the landlord or as a downpayment for a car loan. Most of our online Tweak family, like Ruchi Shah, Rohini Biswas and Shubhra Trivedi agreed. Paytm and Google Pay accepted.
A vacation before you get into the tumultuous first year of marriage
Honeymoons are expensive. Accommodation, travel tickets, F&B and commuting all adds up to a lot. While the cash gifts can go towards the travel fund (or a FD as Summy Didwania Agrawal suggested) travel vouchers with hotel bookings and tickets make splendid wedding gifts. Purvi G Lodaya, Smruti H Vyas and Deepa Duraisamy agree that they would have loved a honeymoon package (or a part of it) to travel around the world with their spouse. Krupa S was among the lucky few who was gifted a holiday package and she loved every minute of it.
When in doubt, gift card it
After the glitz and glamour of the ceremonies are over, reality sets in. Now husband and wife need to get on with their lives. Gift cards come in especially handy when they’re building a home together (literally and figuratively). Who wouldn’t love a helping hand with a handy gift card for Ikea, Amazon and Urban Ladder? Leena Nagesh, Surbhi Mathur and Sneha Bachani all tout the many uses that gift cards and vouchers would have had post-marriage.
A relaxing spa day
The countless wedding ceremonies means spending hours on your feet wearing clothes that weigh as much as you do. Any married couple can attest that weddings are not a relaxing experience for the people involved. If you’re really in the giving mood (and want some good karma) then Raman Raina, Shruti Deora and Divya Mehta say make it a spa day so the couple can get some R&R.
Go crazy with the unexpected
If you have the time and want to make an effort for your favourite human on the planet, then customising a gift tugs at the heartstrings. Like a scrapbook of memories (and gossip!) says Sneha Mandar Paradkar, good wine according to Reema Juneja, and loads and loads of books if you’re like Harshita Arvind and Kubra – if they’re like Shahenaz then a “handbook or manual on handling married life, your spouse, in-laws and the other drama along with it.” Our favourite, however, has to be Preeti Priyadarshnee who just wants to meet Shah Rukh Khan. We feel you Preeti.
