Wedding gifts used to be a great way of helping the bride and groom set up home. They’d set up a list with a department store identifying all the things they hadn’t got like the cutlery set or pots and pans or that famous toaster…
But now it’s pretty rare to find a couple that haven’t lived together before their wedding day. In fact I think it’d be risky to get married to someone you hadn’t lived with! Not really knowing their living habits and how messy they are!
So nowadays there are a lot of couples who don’t need the traditional housewares usually found on the gift list. You could instead ask for money, perhaps to offset some of the wedding cost or to enjoy a lavish honeymoon. But what if you really don’t want anything at all?
Give a goat
This, I assure you, would not stop most people wanting to buy you a gift regardless! And so if you honestly don’t want for anything and also don’t want to end up with a lot of random stuff due to people’s need to treat you then why not get them to buy you the gift of goat!
Of course, the goat isn’t for you but if a guest bought a goat for only £25 with an Oxfam Unwrapped wedding list they could help a family far less privileged than you. £25 is a very reasonable amount to spend on a wedding gift and for that money a family could get goats’ milk to drink or sell, fertiliser for crops or for two goats priced at £50 they will produce kids to help other families. I think this is such a great idea. How amazing that because of your wedding struggling families will benefit long after your happy day is over?
There are more than just goats too. There are options for enhancing all aspects of others’ lives. There are too many to list but some examples are reading classes, training teachers, school books, buckets for water, building toilets and grain stores, training farmers, buying seeds, safe water and medicine…
Getting a gift list
It’s super simple to set up your gift list. You just register on the site and add what gifts you’d like to ‘receive’ to your list. You can even personalise this page to include a photo and a message if you wish. Once your list is set up you will be sent a pack of cards to include with your invites or you can instead opt to send out emails.
When someone buys a gift a card is sent to you letting you know what they’ve bought so you’ll really be able to see how your wedding is changing lives!
Fantastic favours
If you are planning on having a more traditional wedding list but still would like to help others in your wedding then how about giving your guests the knowledge that simply by them being at your nuptials they’ve given a family a greater quality of life.
Not only are Oxfam favours more original than sugared almonds but they’re more meaningful too. I’m certain that your guests would be happy to forgo the chocolate to learn they’ve bought safe water or bags of seeds that will help people live.
A pack of 50 favours costs £106 which is just over £2 so it’s around the cost of an average favour.
These are certainly not average favours though. Those 50 favours consist of:
- 5 x Teach a child = £3.50
- 5 x Bars of soap = £0.45
- 5 x Animal vaccinations = £0.30
- 5 x Safe water for 1 person = £3.75
- 5 x Chicks = £5.00
- 5 x Bags of seeds = £10.00
- 10 x Buckets = £23.00
- 10 x Health check-ups = £60.00
And your guests won’t leave empty-handed. As Oxfam provide some super-cute cards in 8 different designs, one for each gift, that will certainly make your guests smile and give them something to kick off conversation at the dinner table.
Awesome images courtesy of Oxfam
I think both these ideas are inspiring choices for your wedding. If you’d like to read more about couples that have given away their gifts then you can read about them here.
Donate a dress
Oxfam even sell wedding dresses donated by brides after their big day. Buying your wedding dress from Oxfam or even donating your wedding dress after your big day are also amazing ways to help people less fortunate than you.
Incorporating Oxfam in any way will mean your wedding day not only changes your life but the lives of others too.
Debs
Vendor Details:
Oxfam Unwrapped website
Email Oxfam Unwrapped
Phone: 0300 200 1252
[...] great idea and one I wrote about in this post on Oxfam Unwrapped. If you really don’t want for anything but want your guests to feel [...]