Advice and ideas to help you with your wedding gift list

A plucky bride in Blenheim, New Zealand, decided to surprise her boyfriend with an impromptu wedding ceremony this October. After said boyfriend had been asking her to wed him every day for an entire year, Cherie Butler decided to take matters into her own hands.

Unsuspecting groom, David Shoemark, was packed off on a fishing trip whilst Cherie made ready and on his return, she arranged to meet him in a local park wearing full wedding gown and surrounded by a wedding party of 40 close family and friends – the ultimate romantic surprise!

For less brave folks (and control freaks like myself), mutual planning and organisation are the order of the day when it comes to weddings and civil services, particularly your wedding gift lists, and I for one would welcome no surprises here!

The wedding list is a vital opportunity to get kitted out for your future life together or replace worn out home ware, so it needs careful planning from you and your partner. www.e-weddinglist.co.uk provides a simple online wedding list service, where you can list literally anything; your guests then ‘promise’ to buy or make contributions and can either follow links to purchase directly, or buy in their own time and present their offerings to you on the big day. It offers great flexibility and a simple way to organise your list – it may remove the element of surprise – but hey, who wants to risk receiving 30 toasters?

So if you want to take the stress, hassle and surprise out of your wedding gifts, use an online service like www.e-weddinglist.co.uk

Happy listing!

Caroline

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Whoop! We have been shortlisted in The Bridal Magazine supplier awards wedding gift list category. We one of just five gift list suppliers shortlisted for the award and are up against the big boys in the industry such as John Lewis & Debenhams.

If you would like to vote for us, you can find out more at http://www.thebridalmag.co.uk/awardsshortlist.aspx

If you are planning a wedding or civil partnership gift list and are looking for good quality, useful items that will see you through the years together, why not think of items that you will use time and time again in your daily lives or give you a much needed lift, beyond the typical realms of kitchen and home ware?

With e-weddinglist.co.uk, you can list literally anything from anywhere, and create a wedding gift list full of essential kit that indulges the passions you share in your daily lives. Here a few ideas away from the norm.

All hail the Wine Club! Staying in is the new going out, and if you and your partner like cosy nights by the fire with a bottle of plonk, wine clubs can give really good value. www.nakedwines.com invests in small, independent wine makers in exchange for preferential prices, which means you get fantastic wines for ridiculously good prices. They even give you cash back to get money off your next order, a great reason to keep that wine rack fully stocked!

The classic Hunter Welly. For outdoorsy types that enjoy country walks, doing the gardening together or wading through mud at music festivals, a couple of pairs of Hunter Wellies are a godsend. These iconic British Classics will see you through years, and remind you of your big day every time you pull them on!
www.hunter-boot.com

Spa Break for two. We all get a little fed-up with the daily grind, so why not add a spa break to your e-weddinglist? Guests can choose to contribute as much or as little as they can afford, so that you and your beloved can get some much needed rest and relaxation when the daily grind becomes too much! The beautiful Malvern Spa has excellent deals and the treatments are divine.
http://themalvernspa.com/hotel/spa-breaks.html

Home fitness equipment. They say that exercise is the key to health and happiness and if you like keeping fit, using a rowing machine is the ideal way to exercise at home. It helps to melt fat, improve cardiovascular fitness, relive stress and is low impact on your joints. Perfect for keeping both of you trim and happy! Simply add to your e-weddinglist, allowing guests to contribute to this super healthy gift. http://www.gymworld.co.uk/york-fitness-nexus-rowing-machine.html

Choose wisely…

Caroline

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I am constantly tempted by bargain prices on the things that I use every day; be it washing powder or that cheap brand of cereal, in these tricky financial times, going for the cheapest option seems like a wise move. Sometimes this pays off, but as my mum has always chimed-in: ‘if you buy cheap, you buy twice’.

When it comes to choosing items for a gift list for your wedding or civil partnership, you don’t want to take any risks!

Carefully researching the items you want to add through cross referencing brands and product reviews is the best way to ensure you don’t end up with gifts that doesn’t match up to your needs and expectations – after all, you’d want to be this diligent when spending you own cash!

The point of a wedding list is to acquire good quality kit that will see you through your life together, and the last thing you want is a crappy toaster that incinerates everything, never works properly and serves as a regular bad reminder of an otherwise perfect day.

So put some time into your wedding gift list and research thoroughly to ensure that your guests’ money is truly well spent – and you get great pressies that will last for years to come!

Caroline

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Conventionally, wedding lists are all about amassing the things that you haven’t yet been able to afford  yourselves, like that fancy espresso machine or a set of crystal champage flutes, but why not think outside of the box and ask for gifts that can really enrich your lives long after the big day is over?

Through e-weddinglist you can request a range of gifts from any retailer, and allow your guests to contribute to your lives in a way that is really useful – as opposed to stuff which ends up gathering dust!

Language Courses:
If you share a passion for travel or have fallen for a particular country, then consider asking for contributions towards the cost of a short night course. And don’t forget, learning a new language together gives you the great excuse to pack a suitcase and head away for your first anniversary. Ideal!

Fruits of love:
There is nothing more delightful- or nutritious- than harvesting your own fruit for the table. Guests can afford you this privilege by ‘promising’ to buy fruit trees for your very own orchard-garden. This site has lots of fruity gifts that they can buy online, beautifully gift wrapped and have delivered to your door:
http://www.glut.co.uk/wedding-gifts

Gym membership:
If you want to keep the trim, gorgeous figures that you honed for your big day, then get guests to pledge toward a gym  membership, two mountain bikes or a even pair of tennis rackets. Mot gym chains offer dual memberships, so add one to your e-weddinglist to stay fit and fabulous for the coming year.

Book vouchers:
Was it a shared passion for literature that brought you together? Or maybe your fiest date was at a gig or watching a classic film?….Whatever kind of library you want to build, add amazon ‘gift certificates’ to your wedding list as a fun way to  keep the love alive!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/gc/ref=sv__1

So think beyond the usual wedding gifts by creating a flexible e-wedding list with items that will make a lasting contribution to yiur new life together.

Caroline
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