Top tips for compiling your wedding gift list

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• Published Thursday, 12 February 2009
• 5 Comments

Rice wedding gift list

It's time to put your wedding gift list together! Follow our top tips to get it just right - and we've also got some alternatives to traditional homeware...

• Give yourselves plenty of time. Allow at least an afternoon to choose the gifts for your list and make sure you do it together. This isn't something to be rushed!

• Put your list together at least 12 weeks before the big day so that details can go out with your wedding invitations.

• Choose items that you both like and remember that sometimes you might have to compromise! If you love something and your fiancé doesn't, you might have to agree to put something you don't like on the list.

• Include more gifts than you think you will receive to give guests plenty of choice.

• Make sure your gifts fit in to a variety of price ranges, and include some larger items in case guests decide to club together.

• Consider putting together two lists. You might like to have a department store list as well as a charity list, for example.

• Think of the future as well as gifts you would like to receive now. A special china set or beautiful wine glasses might be something you treasure in years to come.

• Be wary of choosing too many fashionable colours or patterns. You don't want everything to feel dated a few years down the line.

• Consider whether everything you choose is going to match well. China, for example, should co-ordinate with any table linen, cutlery and glassware when it comes to style.

• Be sure to keep an up to date list of every gift bought - you'll need it when you start to write thank you letters!

• Thank you letters are essential, and it's perfectly acceptable to send them as soon as you receive a gift, even if it's before the wedding date.