S/O What memorable, non-$ wedding gift(s) did you receive?

CarolAnn856

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 11, 2016
The "how much $$ would you give thread" got me thinking. What was a non-monetary wedding gift you received that was memorable or unexpected? Or maybe something you are surprised that you still use everyday?

One of my closest college friends (sorority little sis, roommate, and bridesmaid) went off-registry and gave us a set of four beautiful 3-piece placesettings, which I use for breakfast or luncheon get-togethers. I adore that set and think of her every time I use it.

Some other surprises that are still in heavy use even after more than 20 years...Christmas china, a pasta serving bowl and dish set, a crockpot (I'd never even used one before but use it frequently, pink ceramic bowl and all, lol!), and a Good Housekeeping cookbook.
 
A friend of DH went off the registry and bought us a floor lamp. He was at our house, and noticed the darkness. Used that lamp every single day for over 20 years. (It practically fell apart otherwise we’d still have it!)
 


Someone gifted me (I assume not us) a subscription to Playboy magazine. DW wasn't especially impressed with that, it's funny we never could figure out who did it. We also received an item that we never did figure out what it was. It had lots of feathers and some little ceramic birds and it was very yellow. Thinking back it might have been something to put a hanging plant in, they were popular we when got married in the 70s.
 
Our most memorable gift was an oil lamp that didn't have the globe in the box. A single friend had his new girlfriend pick up a gift for him. She obviously didn't check inside the box, when she bought it. He was really embarrassed, but he shouldn't have been. We appreciated the thought. Every time we see an oil lamp, it brings up wonderful memories of that day. :lovestrucI really couldn't tell you how much money we received, but that lamp has provided us many good memories.
 


Someone gifted me (I assume not us) a subscription to Playboy magazine. DW wasn't especially impressed with that, it's funny we never could figure out who did it. We also received an item that we never did figure out what it was. It had lots of feathers and some little ceramic birds and it was very yellow. Thinking back it might have been something to put a hanging plant in, they were popular we when got married in the 70s.

Fess up. It was you using an alias. :rotfl2:
 
Someone had our wedding invitation mounted on wood & sealed. It was very pretty & I loved it.

I had my sisters’ and sister-in-law’s wedding invitations matted and professionally framed as part of their wedding gift. I know both of my sisters still have theirs hanging in their homes. Not sure about my sister in law, but has been married almost 30 years so who knows what may have happened to it.
 
My sister paid for a beautiful and elaborate wedding cake. I'd seen it the night before and was thrilled!! The next day at the reception I could have sworn I remembered it being much, well, nicer, but I was occupied with other things and didn't dwell on it. Quite a bit later one of the friends who had been charged with transporting it to the venue 'fessed up to having taken a corner too fast on the drive and having the cake tiers all slide apart. They put it back together as best they could and hoped no one would notice. :rotfl2:
 
While I can remember some of the physical items we received, I wouldn’t consider any of them to be particularly memorable, and none were the type of thing that got continued daily or frequent use. Truthfully, I remember the monetary gifts with more clarity, probably because it’s just easier for my brain to remember the association of a single number to a person than to remember several random items. The sad thing is, I think we only got non-monetary gifts from three people.... and we only got married three years ago... and I’m still struggling to remember what they were! :laughing:
 
My wife and I had a very simple church wedding with our family and friends. Once of our favorite small gifts was a hand made cutting board in the shape of a pig and wooden tongs to pull toast out safely, and a wooden oven rack puller. Amazingly after 27 years of marriage we still have all three of them. We use that cutting board almost daily.
 
At the time we got married, in our "circle," cash gifts were not common at all, & the only thing for which we registered was our china. So, we received a lot of actual gifts - from lacy toilet paper covers (???) to laundry baskets to pieces of crystal & silver to bath towels to casserole dishes.

Over 20 years later, 2 gifts, though, really still stand out in my mind -

1. There was an elderly lady at the church where I had grown up. She was a widow, & she & her husband never had any of their own children. She didn't have a lot of money, &, as the girls in the church grew up & began to get married, she would give pieces of her silver as wedding gifts. My friend got a butter knife. I got a pickle fork. I still have it, &, every time I prepare a relish tray & put that little silver pickle fork w/ it, I think of her & smile

2. The former pastor of the same church had retired but still attended the church. He was an older man, & his wife had died a few years before we were married. For our wedding, he gave us a beautiful wooden fruit bowl from Haiti. (He loved the country of Haiti & the people there & visited the country often.) We still have the fruit bowl, & it sits in a place of honor on our kitchen counter.

Oh, I also remember - as one of our wedding gifts, we received a gift card to Sears from a couple that had been married for about 3 years. We got married in April, & I held on to the card until the following December. That Christmas, I used the gift card & bought a nativity set from our local Sears' Christmas department. And we still set out the same nativity set each Christmas.
 
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24 years ago DH and I got married and honeymooned at WDW.
I have two memories of non-monetary (well, kind of) gifts, sorry for the long post:

When we checked in the Cast Member came back over to us, saying something like,
"I'm so sorry Mr. & Mrs., we need to UPGRADE you to a suite, are you ok with that?"
LOL! Of course we were and she knew we would be - no extra charge, it was their Pixie Dust for us!
We got to our new room and it was fantastic! We stayed at the Contemporary, BTW, with a deal from AAA.
We really were on a budget, but the resort was still affordable.
So, the next day we come back to our room after our first day in the parks,
to find a signed picture of M & M with a small bottle of champagne (2 glasses worth).

Then, a few nights later we were eating dinner (I can't remember where, I think it was the restaurant in the Contemporary).
A couple walks by our table, and DH recognizes the husband and catches his eye and says hello.
He was actually a friend of DH's brother, but they remembered each other and there were introductions and congratulations all around.
When we asked the waitress later for the check, she smiled and said it was all taken care of, including the tip, WOW!
 
A small tabletop gas grill. Probably about 1.5 feel long and 1 foot wide. Also the barbecue tools to go with it.

Not something you use every day, but it’s nice to have when you need it.
 
We got a hand blown glass vase made by an artist in Vermont. It's very simple, which I love, and I use it a lot. We just celebrated 24 years.
 
We were married 9 years ago and got many gifts of $. We did a few gifts that were not $ or on the registry. One was a beautiful hand painted plate that my moms cousin brought us from Italy. I love it but I have never used it once, although I do display it. We also got a bread maker. I remember thinking we should return it because I'm sure it was expensive and it takes up a lot of room. However, my husband (who does 95% of the cooking) suggested that we keep it. He uses it fairly often, including to make calzones last night!
 
I only received one non $ gift for the wedding - everything was cash/checks. It was a silver tea set from someone I worked with that was at my wedding. I honestly don’t know whatever happened to it. I know I never used it.
 

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