10 Last Minute Wedding Gifts (That Don’t Feel Last Minute)
It’s wedding season people! And you know what that means…a wedding a weekend from here to eternity.
You’ve managed to hammer out a strict dry cleaning schedule so that your favorite suits are always in rotation. You’ve bought a few new shirts and ties so it doesn’t look like you’re wearing the same outfit to every event. And you’ve booked the flights and hotel reservations for those destination weddings out of town. But OH CRAP. You have a wedding this weekend and there’s one thing you totally forgot… the gift!
You’re screwed. Well, not really… We’ve all been there before, and we’re here to help you nail wedding season this year.
Check out these 10 last minute wedding gifts that won’t make it look like you waited until the last minute:
First Things First: Don’t Guilt Yourself into Buying a Better Gift
We’ve seen our friends do this over and over again and hey, if we’re being honest, we’ve done it ourselves…
Don’t fall into the trap of giving a more expensive gift just because you feel guilty that you almost forgot one. The trick to a last minute gift is to make it look like it was planned all along! You’re the only one who will know that you waited until the morning of the wedding to get it together.
1) Get Them Tipsy With a Wine Club Membership
If the bride and groom love them some wine, a wine club membership is the gift that keeps on giving. There are a lot of wine clubs out there that ship different wines from around the country and around the world, but we’re partial to the California Wine Club.
The California Wine Club offers different membership levels, different prices, and the option to choose from different regions and types of wine. For as little as $40 per month, they’ll ship your bride and groom two bottles each month. Or every other month. Or four times per year.
Even if you pick the least expensive package, your couple will get four different gifts spread out throughout the year. And that’s way better than the fancy serving set or soup tureens that they registered for but will probably never use.
Plus, wine is the perfect way to set the mood for lots of quiet, romantic nights at home – the best gift of all for a newlywed couple.
2) BroBaskets make the perfect Wedding Gifts
So it’s the last minute, nothing is left on the registry except some stupid expensive Dyson vacuum, and you don’t even have time to pick up their wedding gift anyway. We get it, you are a busy guy/gal and ain't nobody got time for gift buying when you work all day and are busy all night. Well do not worry my friend, because we would be remiss if we did not mention our own awesome gift baskets as a great last minute wedding gift. Since you don’t have much time, we can ship a BroBasket to your/their hotel so the party is already there when they arrive. Also, our baskets are customizable, so they are perfect to fit the bride and grooms tastes.
3) Hook Them Up With a Hotel Room for Their One Year Wedding Anniversary
Most wedding guests will buy a gift from the registry or give something that the happy couple can use right away. And that’s totally fine, but we love the idea of getting them a gift that they can’t enjoy until their one year anniversary.
This one can get a bit pricey, but think about hooking the couple up with a night at a great hotel on their one year anniversary. We’re not talking some average hotel here people – we’re talking the best hotel in town. Somewhere that has fluffy robes and super luxe sheets – a place where they’ll actually want to spend the entire night IN.
But we’re not suggesting that you send them away – instead, book them a hotel in the city they live in. That way, if their plan for their anniversary was to spend a quiet night at home they can pretty much do – just in a different bed with room service right at their fingertips.
The best part about this gift? You can book it on your phone when you’re on the way to the wedding!
4) Buy Frames for Their Wedding Photos
If you know exactly the type of décor the happy couple likes, run to a frame store and grab a few frames in different sizes that they can use to display their wedding photos. (You know, the professional photos that are going to take six months to get back from the photog).
But if you aren’t sure what type of décor they’re into, give them a gift card for frames instead. Framebridge is a great place to find frames of all types – they have lots of cool, modern styles that can be fully customized to fit any photo of any size. You can also buy Framebridge gift cards, which is a great way to make sure they don’t spend your money on something else.
If you’re going to get a gift card, we suggest ordering a physical one – one that you can slip into a card. Framebridge can also email your gift card, but that’s the equivalent of saying Hey! I ordered your gift on the way to your reception! Unless you’re really cutting it close, order a physical gift card and have it shipped through the mail.
5) Make Their Honeymoon Even Better With an Experience
We love the idea of giving a gift that the couple can use on their honeymoon. If you know what hotel they’re staying at, call the concierge and give your credit card information to pay for a special experience – like dinner at the best restaurant at the resort or a couples’ massage at the spa.
But if the couple is staying at an all-inclusive resort, make sure these services or experiences aren’t already included in the price they’re paying. There’s no need to pay for something that they’re already getting as part of some package deal.
6) They Have to Eat, Right? Deliver Food Straight to Their Door.
Meal delivery services like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh are perfect for any new couple – especially if neither of them knows how to cook. Send them two or three meals a week for a month or for an entire year – it all depends on how much you want to spend.
The best part about this gift isn’t necessarily the food – it’s the experience they’ll have cooking it together or, at the very least, eating it together. And unless they already subscribe to a similar plan, it’s probably something that they’ve been wanting to try.
7) Super Cool Barware – Can You Tell We Like to Drink?
A stainless ice bucket. The perfect whiskey glasses. A fancy crystal decanter. Flight glasses for an array of beer. Whatever your couple loves to drink, there is surely some piece of super cool barware out there that they don’t already own.
You won’t be able to grab this gift at the absolute last minute (unless you plan to pass a Georg Jensen or Jonathan Adler store on your way to the wedding). But as long as you’ve got a few days to spare, you can always order a unique piece online and pay a little extra for overnight shipping.
We like the barware over at Homewetbar.com, they have some great stuff for wedding gifts.
8) Vintage-Inspired Appliances From Smeg (Even if They Don’t Cook, Their Kitchen Will Look Amazing)
We just can’t get enough of Smeg appliances. They’re so retro (yet somehow so modern) and they come in so many cool colors that they literally make us want to spend every moment in the kitchen.
In colors like pastel blue, pink, bright yellow, and what we like to call 1950’s green, these kitchen appliances will NOT go unnoticed. You can find them online, at chain stores like Williams Sonoma, and at lots of small specialty retailers.
The idea of giving a bride and groom a toaster may seem like a gift idea from another era…but when it’s a Smeg, it’s a whole new ball game.
9) Have Them Toast to Their First Day of Marriage with a Bottle of Champagne
While you might be stumbling home drunk at the end of the wedding reception, the celebration certainly doesn’t end there for the bride and groom. They’re going to head back to their hotel room when the night is over. And they’re going to wake up the next morning as a newly married couple. Both are causes for celebration.
And that’s why we love the idea of giving the happy couple a bottle of champagne (and champagne glasses, of course). That way they can get a bit even tipsier on the wedding night or toast to each other in the morning. Just make sure you don’t forget the glasses! There’s nothing fancy or memorable about drinking champagne from paper hotel cups. If you cant give them one on person, our Champagne Campaign gift basket makes an awesome choice.
10) Everyone Loves Cash
Is there any better gift than cold hard cash? We think not. No bride or groom in their right mind will complain about some crisp new bills tucked into a wedding card. But that’s the trick: make sure they’re clean, crisp, brand new bills from the bank.
DO NOT stuff a handful of crinkled up twenties into an envelope and think you’re going to impress anyone. You will not.
Whatever You Do, Get a Card
While lots of us couldn’t give a crap about a greeting card with some pre-printed sentiment inside, some people actually care about them. So to not give one is a major no-no. And no matter how late you waited to get a gift together, you can get a card at the absolute last minute possible. Just make a pit stop at a drugstore or grocery store on your way to the wedding and grab one.
And, depending on the gift, the card may be necessary to explain the gift. If you’re getting them a hotel night for their anniversary or paying for a couples massage on their honeymoon, write that in your card. If you’re giving them a gift card, let them know that you intend it to be spent on a certain item – though the truth is, they’re going to spend it on whatever they want.
The point is this: the way to make a last minute gift not feel last minute is to make it look like you put lots of thought into it. And with the ideas we’ve given you here, you have NO EXCUSE not to pull this off.
We hope you enjoyed our awesome post on last minute wedding gifts, let us know your thoughts and any awesome ideas you have for wedding gifts in the comments below.
Cheers!
