Yes, you read that right…a wedding gift that MUST go untouched for ONE whole year! Why? Because it DOUBLES as a first anniversary gift! Looking for a unique and thoughtful wedding present for that couple that has everything? Stick with 3P and keep on reading!
So, long story short: my parents received a gift like this from their friend Toni when they got married TWENTY YEARS AGO….can you believe it? That awesome gift really added a special touch to their first anniversary.
The way this rolls out…is this gift is given to the bride and groom on their wedding, with strict instructions (via cute printable) to NOT OPEN until the date of exactly one year after their wedding! It gives the couple something to look forward to, and eventually savor on their next big special day: that first anniversary!
Now to get this top-secret hands-off time-capsule going: the first anniversary gift is meant to be paper. A fun play on this can be to give the lovebirds a little “paper” say, about $50-100 toward a couples massage or dinner to make this gift even more special. You tie in the tradition, and provide them with a lovely night out!
You may want to check out your couple’s registry for items they’ve requested for your touching time-capsule, or you can wing it and get creative like we did! We purchased almost everything we needed from Michael’s for this sparkling silver gift, and even on-sale…each item was 15% off. All together with a silver colored tray, vase, champagne bubble bath, votive holders, tea lights, a photo frame for their favorite wedding photo, romantic stone decor, and some silvery napkins…the “base” of this gift was about $35. You can order beautiful and practically priced champagne glasses from Mikasa, or even better: from Macy’s HERE for about $23 a piece, add a bottle of Veuve for around $35…which you can order from BevMo HERE…or even Total Wine HERE…and you’re right at your $200-ish mark if you include the “paper” for massages…which gives you options, depending on what you want to spend…we’ll have more on that later in our quick reference guide. 😉
Be sure to include both a wedding card, AND a first anniversary card! Attach or bring your wedding card with you, and tuck the anniversary card carefully in with your gift.
Make sure you find a box that can carefully fit each item safely and securely. We tried this box out before we cautiously wrapped each item in packing paper (Thanks Pier 1!) and ensured nothing would break in transit to this special day.
Wrap up your gift box with coordinating paper, Chris actually had to help us BIG TIME with this part, as I’m not the best gift wrapper in the world…LOL. If I can’t wrap it up with tissue and gift bag, or Glue Dot it…I’m not much help. But once we got everything wrapped up, we created a printable to let the couple know: Hands Off for ONE YEAR! 🙂 You can download it HERE!
This wonderful wedding and anniversary gift will be something to look forward to for months to come, and on that incredible anniversary eve, your beloved couple will be able to “hark back” to one of the biggest and most important nights of their lives with love and appreciation.
Quick 3P Guide to Wedding Gift Spending: after doing research on sites like www.cbsnews.com, www.about.com, and www.theknot.com…as well as our professional 3P opinion…we confirmed the average “proper” amount to spend, and it breaks down like so:
For Your Co-Worker or Boss
$75-$150
For a Neighbor or Other Acquaintance:
$50-$75
For a Friend or Relative
$100-$200
For a Close Relative or Close Friend
$100-$250
Now you may have heard about the old school rule, to follow the “price per plate” guidelines, but modern gift-giving has changed. It’s less about how much money is being spent on the wedding, and more about how much thought is put into the gift itself. As about.com said, “you wouldn’t want to give your best friend a $10 knick knack just because she’s getting married at city hall”…you want to give her something heartfelt and thoughtful, no matter the price tag. FYI: the reference guide above can be your starting point to get shopping, using budget savvy common sense. Thank you Lana for giving us this topic of discussion, and we hope this gives all of our readers a little romantic inspiration this wedding season! Stay tuned this week as we feature more on gift giving…but this time: for the bridesmaids! 😉
Such a great idea! I will definitely be using this in the future.
Thank you, Kendra. It really is a fun gift for newlyweds. Let us know how yours turns out! 🙂