The gift list for your big day

Getting married is great! When else do you get the chance to compile the wish-list of your dreams? It's got to be up there with finding the perfect wedding dress as one of the highlights of planning your wedding!

Specialist gift lists

Using the gift services of single product companies such as Wedgwood, Royal Doulton and Edinburgh Glass is becoming increasingly popular, especially with couples who have been living together for some time and already have most items needed for their home.

What to ask for?

The gifts you choose will depend on what stage you are at in your life. A young couple setting up home together for the first time will want all the basics: china, pots and pans, bed linen and glassware. ‘We moved in together for the first time after our wedding, so our list meant we could kit out our new home with everything we needed, from lemon squeezers to bath mats.’ says Hayley, who married at 24.

Couples getting married in their thirties may already own a property or have lived together, so probably already own most staple household items. In this situation, couples often ask for more luxurious items they couldn’t afford themselves, like garden furniture, leather photo albums and state-of-the-art kitchen equipment. Of course, it’s unlikely that you’ve got have hundreds of wealthy friends and relations, but you could suggest they club together to buy gifts between them.

Sophie, 33, says: 'After living in separate flats, Ben and I had pots, pans and bedlinen galore. Instead, we plumped for gorgeous china and handmade Venetian glass that we’d never been able to afford before.'

If you are getting married for the second or third time, you are even more likely to have amassed all the necessary household possessions, but Karen, 43, says: ‘It was a second marriage for both of us, so we already had everything we needed. But as we are both passionate about cooking, we decided to give our gift list a theme and limited it to specialist kitchen implements, unusual cooking ingredients and some of those store-cupboard staples that are always incredibly useful. It worked out brilliantly!

‘Some close friends in a similar situation did the same thing and asked for wine, which provided them with the foundations of a really good wine cellar.’

Delivery of gifts

If you have your wedding list with a shop or store, you should establish exactly what happens when someone buys you a gift. If the store allows online or telephone orders, they will usually have a delivery service. But check to see if your gifts are held and delivered to you after your wedding, or as they are ordered. If the latter applies, you need to have them delivered to an address where someone is in during the day.

If the store does not provide a delivery service, your guests will have to take the gift away with them after making a purchase. Gifts will therefore either be delivered to you before your wedding day or brought to your wedding. It’s a good idea to arrange a suitable and secure storage area at your reception venue. Traditionally, the chief bridesmaid should ensure that cards are not separated from gifts, so make sure she’s equipped with a roll of sticky tape on the day.

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