Gift help please!

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

OK, my little sister's wedding. I want a special present for her.

She is requesting money - I object to giving her money to drink on her honeymoon. I have given money at weddings before when the couple are using the money for a house, I will not pay for someone else's holiday/party. Not a judgement call on those who request money, just my own taste.

I am doing the reading, so was thinking about maybe doing something around that. Maybe getting some nice paper and doing it calligraphy-style and getting a nice frame so they have the reading to put up on the wall at home or something like that.

Are there any other (better!) ideas?

Cheers.

[Trillian]

What about buying a star and naming it after them? Nice way to commemorate a new marriage.

[Beach Mama]

We got a beautiful bonsai plant for ours- it was about 25 years old, so 33 now and it's a fig that can go in or outside. We love it and it's one of the few pressies that we still have around the place.

[Cranky Kitten]

I love the calligraphy idea - I want to do something similar with our wedding vows and the reading I had my brother give.

[Cherished]

The bonsai is a great idea, we often give a dwarf lime tree, they are supposed to bring luck and money I think if planted near the front door? (or is that mandarin) hmmmm either way they live well in pots so we buy a nice pot to put it in too and say something in the card about growing together and sharing the fruits of life etc

The star is a nice idea too. Something which could be pretty special is to take a photo of the sunrise that morning and if you are super quick get it printed and framed that day OR you could get it printed on a canvas. Harvey Norman do the canvas prints on the day for you, getting it framed may take longer.

[Pandora]

A friend of ours received a special fancy knife which had been engraved with their names and wedding date, to use to cut the wedding cake.

[peanutter]

I hunted down the paper a friend used for their wedding invitations, found a similar font, and typed up their wedding vows, and had it framed.

They loved it.

Is there a piece of furniture they need? We got very close friends a computer desk, 'cause we really wanted them to have something to keep from us, rather than extra cash.

Or friends who really just wanted money (because there was nothing they needed) we paid for a specific thing for the honeymoon - and experience (jet boat ride, skydiving, candlelit dinner for two, etc) which they would remember, and know was from us because we love them, rather than pooling into a general fund, or paying for x "miles" of the flight, etc.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Thanks for all the ideas! They are both black-thumbed, so plants aren't a good idea. They live together so don't "need" anything, they have a house more than full of furniture.

The star idea is really cool and something that I would love. I got really into that and started pricing it up before I remembered who the gift was actually for!

So I scoured the local shops and found some silver champagne glasses, the bases of them are designed to fit together and the stems make a heart shape when you put them together. They're both drinkers so I hope they'll like it.

Good idea with the font thing, peanutter: I may write up the reading using the font from the invites. I also like the sunrise idea, Cherished, may do that too.