Cutting Boards
Is there a cutting board residing on a registry? A nice, thick, end grain one? Perhaps a bamboo More »
Going Postal
So you’re going to a destination wedding and really can’t figure out what to get as a gift? This is More »
Wedding Gift: The Perfect Pair
[Photo]
Little love poems are one of the easiest, cheapest and most touching ways to top up a plain old registry item. Sometimes it can be hard to find appropriate and uplifting ones though. (Seriously, do you know how many depressing poems there are about tea?! I found some happy ones here.) You can use a printable to spice up a registry item, like the awesome fort building kit I made for sheets, or a perhaps a free quote printable about soups being a lot like family. If you poke around, you can find even more on this site.
I must admit that I found the basics of this idea on a Weddingbee forum somewhere. It is really quite simple, but mostly fun and cute. Weddings are all about couples being a pair. With that in mind, select an item, or a few items, from their registry that come in pairs. Then, add in one of the poems below that mentions a “perfect pair.” Perhaps add an additional mention of the perfect pair, or type the poem up in fun fonts that highlight the phrase.
Thanks to the generous help of some friends on Facebook, here is a brainstorm of “perfect pair” household items:
- Slippers – a pair each
- Salt and Pepper Shakers or Mills
- Salad Tongs
- Socks – probably not on the registry, but cold winter night socks, specific sport socks, hiking socks, funny saying socks
- Chop sticks
- Scissors
- Pants – maybe PJs, or working outdoors, or hiking?
- Oven Mitts
- Candle holders
- Pillow cases
- Lamps
- Book Ends
- Champagne Flutes
- Sheridan’s liqueur
- His and Hers anything. (Hers and Hers, His and His..)
- Washer/Dryer
- Oil and Vinegar
- Bedside Tables
- Couch pillows
- Cream & Sugar
- Muffin Pan & Cupcake Liners
- Bathrobes
- Soup Pot and Ladle
- Luggage Tags
- Sunglasses
- Gloves
- Earplugs
- Headphones
- Dice
- Deck of Cards (Thanks Kathleen!)
- Pear scented stuff – just for fun
Now that you have a few of those, make one of the following poems pretty by writing it in your card, or pasting it into your favourite text manipulation program.
Love Poem #153
When it comes to lovin’ couples,
don’t we make the perfect pair-
There’s romance, love, and laughter
in the friendship that we share.
We care enough to listen,
to trust and understand.
To build a life together,
side by side and hand in hand.
We both know that we’re lucky
and we’ve got a good thing going.
Through ups and downs
and give and take,
our love just keeps on growing…
‘Cause I bring out the best in you,
and you the best in me-
I guess it takes the two of us
to make the perfect “we.”- Author Unknown
Poems from the Heart – One I Love
Loving Pair
It takes two special people,
To make a loving pair.
There’s a joy just being around you,
A feeling we love to share.
We send anniversary wishes to you,
For years of joy and pleasure.
May each year keep getting better,
With memories to treasure.
As a Gift from a Wife to a Husband:
Super cute printable from Etsy seller SweetDStationary (Please don’t steal the poem, go to the Etsy seller!)
For kitchen-themed items:
Valentine Food For Thought
Cabbage always has a heart; Green beans string along.
You’re such a cute tomato, Will you peas to me belong?
You’ve been the apple of my eye, You know how much I care;
So lettuce get together, We’d make a perfect pear.Now, something’s sure to turnip to prove you can’t be beet;
So, if you carrot all for me let’s let our tulips meet.
Don’t squash my hopes and dreams now, Bee my honey, dear;
Or tears will fill potato’s eyes, While sweet corn lends an ear.I’ll cauliflower shop and say, Your dreams are parsley mine.
I’ll work and share my celery, So be my valentine.
Wedding Gift – Fort Building Kit for Adults!
Here at Unique Gifter, we are all about taking wedding gift registry items and adding something fun to spice them up! Today’s idea is exactly that.
Have you ever had the luxury of sleeping in amazing sheets? They are delightful! Sheet sets are one of those things that end up on wedding gift lists all the time, but do not get purchased very often. If you evaluate usefulness of wedding registry gifts, like I did for televisions, then sheet sets are right up there at the top of the list for time spent using! However you may find yourself thinking “sheet sets make such a boring wedding gift.” Fear not, that problem can be considered solved!
I present to you, the free, printable “Fort Building Kit.”
Fort Building Kit Gift Instructions
1. Select a set of sheets from the wedding registry.
2. Download and print this printable in colour. Then fold it in half, like a card. [Click to open PDF in a new tab, then press Ctrl+P or click the Print button in your browser.]
3. Pick up some or all of the following:
- Roll of Duct Tape
- Clothes Pegs
- Safety Pins
- Elastics
- Snack Food
- Beverages
- DVD
- Books
- Popcorn
4. Tape the printable to the package of sheets and wrap your gift.
5. Write an awesome wedding card.
6. Insist that your friends actually do build the fort. Ask for photographic evidence.
7. Sit back and smile. You are awesome.
When was the last time you built a fort?
Into Wine – A Gift of Knowledge and Laughs
It should come as no surprise to those who read this frequently that I consider myself “Into Wine.” I have written about wine as a gift a lot. Examples can be found here, here and here. Those are just three, I’ve probably mentioned wine in 25 or more posts! So, when Olivier Magny sent me an email about a book called “Into Wine: An Invitation to Pleasure
Olivier graciously sent me a copy of this book, I’m sure just so he could imagine me laughing enough that my sides hurt and I risked spilling my wine. I am not kidding. Read the text in that picture and you’ll get a taste of what I mean! Here are a few more reasons you should run out (click out?) and get your very own copy:
Be a terroirist! – this is a chapter title
China is the fifth largest wine producer in the world.
“To the general French public, working in marketing will place you right out there, between politicians, drug dealers and child molesters.”
“What matters really is how they work, not how big they are. [204] 204 – That was not intentional – the second sex joke is definitely on you.”
“Indeed, this book is going downhill: starts with quotes of Albert Einstein and now we’re at Rush Hour 2…”
There is probably a line every two pages that will have you strongly considering laughing, out loud. Inspired by his clear sense of humour, I set out to ask Olivier a few questions….
Q&A
Well, I love wine; and I hate the wine jargon. So to navigate through all the BS in wine, my mission was to gain a better understanding of how wine is made. And that starts with how you grow these grapes. What I explain in the book is that the way you farm your vineyard is absolutely essential – it is the key to both the quality and the uniqueness of the wines we drink.
What was the last glass of wine you had?
Hmm… last night it was a Chinon by Philippe Alliet. One of these really awesome value wines – 100% Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley. Less than 20$ and a total killer! In the book, I recommend many great value wineries throughout the world. It’s a book that pays for itself many times over!!
Which wines would you match up with the following descriptions or names?
I look forward to meeting your readers when they come to Paris at my lovely wine bar called O Chateau, and if not, online on my blog MisterWineTasting.com
And now for a few more words from me (Anne)! My spouse also read it and we both found that it could be a bit choppy due to the substantial use of footnotes, however that does contribute to a very fun writing style. That would be my only detracting comment. While I have highlighted the delightful sense of humour in the book, it is actually very informative and explains all sorts of things like farming methods, deciphering the various labels like VQA in Canada and AOC in France, how natural yeasts work, the effects of oak and how to control fermentation, the cultures of wine drinking around the world and more. The book is a quick, fun read that will teach you things but not overwhelm you like a textbook.
In short, pick up a copy for yourself
If you follow me on twitter, you probably read a play by play of how much I enjoyed reading it!
The book even has its own trailer, that’s how awesome it is!
It’s available on Amazon, by clicking here.
Television Wedding Gifts & A Giveaway
I received a very timely email the other day, about participating in an amazing giveaway of a fancy television! Why was it so timely? I had just read a forum post on weddingbee, where someone was worried that adding a $1600 television set to a wedding registry wouldn’t be appropriate. You can read the original thread here.
You see, people always have this worry that their wedding registries will come off as gift grabby. That really ought to not be the case, unless your goal with gift giving is to ensure some fine couple will be lucky enough to have a whole family of toasters. I know that kosher kitchens have doubles of many things, but toasters aren’t usually on the list. Most people especially don’t have three toasters. Or four. Ahem, let’s get back on track. Most stores give discounts to couples for registering with them, so do not be alarmed if you see an entire living room furniture set, a new mattress, a dyson vacuum and a garage door opener on the list. Yes, these are things that they want, but they are very likely not expecting their guests to buy them all!
Still, you would be pretty rad if you sprung for one of the big ticket items, or went in with a group to make it possible. When assessing usefulness of items, the television is actually quite high on the list. If we look at hours used per week, I would venture that it would be darn close to the top of the list for registry items! Perhaps a mattress or a couch would win out, but the average American watches a shocking 34 hours of TV a week. [1] So unless your friends will be leaving their plates to mold for several days, the TV is going to get the most use.
If you do give a television as a wedding gift, you can always have some fun with it. Consider making a DVD to go with it, full of memories or cheesy photographs stolen from the couple’s Facebook profiles. Alternatively, make a giant poster of a cartoon version of their wedding and (very carefully) tape it over the screen. That ought to surprise them when they open it!
Now, if you would like your very own fancy new television, you can thank the fine folks at Quote Me a Price, who are in the business of selling structured settlements, for providing you with just such an opportunity!
PS – This TV giveaway is open internationally, but shipping is covered to a maximum of $50.
