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What Is A Good Gift For A 15-Year-Old?

What should I give - if anything - to my good friend as a wedding gift?

  • One of my best friends from college is getting married this week . The ceremony is small (just family) so I was not invited. I'd like to give her a gift but I'm not sure what. I was thinking I'd make them a set of personalized placemats (they like to cook at home a lot), with their names and the date of the wedding. Does this seem like enough without going overboard? Was thinking of giving money along with that, as I typically would, but I don't want to go overboard and/or make her to feel bad about not inviting me or anything like that. For what its worth, another friend from the same circle got married last summer and I gave her a handmade lingerie bag + money. If I was indeed invited to this upcoming wedding, I would probably give her something similar, a handmade gift + money. (Both are NYC/NJ area weddings where money isn't generally considered tacky like it might be in some places). I don't feel like the gift should be dependant on the nature of the wedding... Also - they are expecting a baby this summer (hence the low key wedding). My boyfriend suggested just getting a combo present since we weren't actually invited to the wedding, but it didn't seem like enough to me. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated (even to the tune of "You're way overthinking this")! Thanks!

  • Answer:

    I think that's a fine gift. (Frankly, I'd never use those placemats, but if that's your gig, good on ya!) It's fine to send a gift, even if you weren't invited to the actual ceremony. In fact, to me, it's prefeable!

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I do think its a sweet idea, but some pretty handmade hot pads would probably be far more useful than placemats.

florencetnoa

A personalized gift would be great, but since they're having such a low-key wedding, I wouldn't put the date of the ceremony. In this situation, the date seems not as important of a detail as it could be. They might be planning on having a reception at some future time, they might not want that written date for little baby to see later on... There's a lot of different factors that could make the important date not this one. Personalized placemats on their own could work.

RainyJay

I probably wouldn't give money as a gift for a wedding I wasn't invited to. Not that anyone resents money, but it feels like an obligatory present to me, not one that says "I love you so much I wanted to celebrate your wedding even if I couldn't be at the actual thing."

jacquilynne

Someone gifted us a dinner out at a nice local foodie restaurant. That was really nice. People also gifted us money with the "instructions" for us to use it on a nice dinner out, which also was very nice.

PuppetMcSockerson

I think the placemats is a fine gift. I personally wouldn't send money unless I had been invited or received a wedding announcement after the fact, but I can't imagine anyone would turn it down.

ThePinkSuperhero

I would advise against a combo gift (wedding and baby). As a current preggo, I would really prefer a reminder that I am still a unique person and not just valuable to the world as someone attached to a small child. On the other hand, something consumable like a gift certificate to a local restaurant would not only be good for them to use as a couple but really useful in a time when their lives are full of upheaval. It gives them a chance to take a breather AND celebrate -- without adding a Thing to their home while they're probably trying frantically to deacquisition. (Again... not that I know anything about that...)

Madamina

Thanks so much everyone! Might have to do some recon work to see if they'd actually use the placemats (which I will be leaving the date off if I do them. I don't think its going to be a secret that she was pregnant when they got married, but doesn't need to be embroidered on a placemat either). The restaurant gift certificate is also a great idea!

Shadow Boxer

I think placemats would be a good idea if you used some stunningly beautiful fabric and kept the monogram pretty low key. Like small embroidered font on the upper right or left. Placemats are such a creative idea!

gt2

Oh yeah, the placemats would be reversible with a fun pattern on one side, and a little design in the corner on solid fabric on the other side with their names/date.

Shadow Boxer

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