Does this sound like you and your fiance?
You’re happily engaged and less than a year away from your wedding. Now that it’s inching closer, it’s time to put a wedding registry together so guests have guidelines for what to give you as a wedding present. But there’s a catch: You’ve been living together for a while, and you already have a lot of those classic wedding registry staples like new sheets and kitchen appliances. You two are also tying the knot at 28 or 30 instead of 22 or 24, so you’ve already replaced a lot of those uni hand-me-downs with nicer pots and pans in the kitchen and accessories in the bathroom.
Now you know friends and family members will want to give you something as a wedding gift (they love you, after all, and they want to show their support), so what in the world can you add to your wedding registry that you don’t already have?
If you go beyond the traditional wedding registry, there are actually a ton of gifts to ask for as wedding presents. Here are 20 unique wedding gift ideas and how to make it clear to guests what you really want as a gift.
20 Unique wedding gift ideas
Your wedding registry should reflect your tastes and styles, and what better what to express your individuality than breaking away from traditional wedding registries?
In order to add these unique wedding gift ideas to your registry, you’ll need a honeymoon registry platform like Hitchd. These sites allow couples to build their dream wedding registries from the ground up. With a honeymoon registry, for example, you can add experience-based gifts related to your honeymoon to ensure you and your partner have the most fantastic experience.
But what’s really amazing about Hitchd and other online platforms is that you have the power to customize your exact registry. Some couples use Hitchd to build staycation registries while others ask for a mix of experience and physical gifts (yes, you can still ask for that fabulous coffee machine or stand mixer). With Hitchd, you can ask for anything you want in a way that’s easy for you and exciting for your guests.
Ready to start building that wedding registry? Here are 20 unique wedding gift ideas that will excite guests and give you something you don’t already have.
Class passes
Have you ever wanted to try swing dancing? Or learn to make cuisine from another culture? You can find tons of cool classes nearby or even online, and doing them together can bring you and your partner closer together.
Museum tickets
Museums are epicenters of culture, so they’re a must-see when you’re visiting a new city or country. You may not want to spend your entire honeymoon standing in lines or reading plaques quietly, so research the different museums in your destination and choose one that you both will enjoy.
Spa package
There’s nothing more relaxing than spending a day getting pampered at a spa. When you’re on your honeymoon, it’s the ultimate luxurious experience to share, and you’ll feel the stress and tension of wedding planning leave your body after a long massage.
Spa packages are favorite wedding gifts of honeymoon registries, but they’re also great for staycations and group gifts for coworkers.
Surfing instructions
Standing up on a surfboard can look pretty intimidating, but the thrill of riding that wave will make it completely worth it. If you’re visiting a beach on your honeymoon, then consider taking surf lessons from a local instructor. It’s a once-in-a-probably-lifetime opportunity that you might never do at any other time in your life, and the lessons will make for a great story when you get back home and write thank-you notes.
Day trips
Did you know that you can take a tour of the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas? Or Hoover Dam? You don’t have to stay in your host city the whole time. You can find plenty of day trips that will leave in the morning and have you back in your host city by evening so you can see what else lies just beyond the city limits.
Sporting event tickets
Will your favorite sports team be playing in your host city while you’re on your honeymoon? Are you interested in seeing a sport that’s less popular at home, like soccer or hockey? See a game and making friends with the other fanatics around you can be a lot of fun and create lasting memories. Even if you’re planning a staycation, sports tickets to see your favorite local team make for memorable wedding gifts.
Season passes
Sometimes we live so close to a popular tourist attraction, such as an amusement park, aquarium or museum, that we overlook it. But you and your partner might be missing out on all sorts of cool experiences, many offered only exclusively to season pass holders.
Season passes make for great wedding gifts because they keep giving all year long. Even if the passes are more expensive, Hitchd allows users to break down expensive wedding gifts into smaller amounts. A $300 annual pass could be broken down into three $100 gifts or six $50 gifts.
Romantic night on the town
The beautiful thing about date night is that you can have one right at home or out on your honeymoon. It’s a favorite wedding gift because it continues the romantic theme of your wedding and treats you to a dining experience that you two will cherish.
As you’re building your registry, research a restaurant or two that you’d like to try on your honeymoon and add the links to your gift description. Wedding guests can browse the menu and check out photos to start getting excited for you.
Airbnb accommodations
Hotels and resorts can be exciting, but there’s something cool and casual about staying in an Airbnb while on your honeymoon (or even in your hometown if you’re doing an ungraded staycation). For one thing, you’ll have access to added amenities such as a personal kitchen and maybe even a pool or hot tub.
When asking for accommodations as a wedding gift, break down the total amount into smaller pieces, just like you would for season passes and include a link to the Airbnb that you booked. Guests will love thumbing through the photos and living vicariously through you.
City tours
Over the years, the group tour industry has exploded in popularity, and now you can find all sorts of city tours that go beyond the general history of the area. Now you can find ones that will take you through stately mansions or through allegedly haunted locations. You can even try food and drink-based tours so you can sample the local flavor.
These tours tend to be inexpensive, making them great budget-friendly wedding gifts for all guests.
House cash fund
What if the one thing you really want as a wedding gift is just too big for any one person or even a group of people to give? Many couples yearn to leave their rented apartments behind and finally buy a house of their own, but it’s not easy to save up for that down payment.
With Hitchd, you can create a cash fund and devote it solely to your down payment, so everyone that contributes is helping you save up for your big purchase. Cash funds operate like online money pools where anyone can contribute any amount that they’d like. When they have a specific purpose, like a down payment, they can be quite popular with coworkers and old family friends who want to wish you well.
Ziplining
There’s no more thrilling wedding gift than a ziplining tour. Imagine seeing all different types of plants, trees and animals from so high above and taking in the lush surrounding as you glide by. You won’t want to miss this experience, and it’s a fun one for guests to give.
Photography portrait session
Cameras on our smartphones have enabled us to capture everyday life, but how often do you and your partner ever stop and take nice, professional-looking photos together?
A gift certificate for a portrait session with a photographer tends to be one of the more overlooked wedding gifts, but the experience can be a lot of fun. You can pose in a studio together or have a more impromptu session at a park or other memorable space, maybe even with your pets. You can also save the session until your first child is born if you’re planning to start a family. Having professional photos that capture those early childhood moments can be especially memorable for any parent.
Mixology course
You and your partner will be pros at mixing cocktails at your next soiree. A mixology course makes a great wedding gift, and the lessons learned last long after the class is over.
Subscription boxes
Nowadays, you can find subscription boxes for just about every interest. There are mystery-solving boxes and pet subscription boxes and even ones for food and beauty.
This is a fun wedding gift that can last from six months to a year, and it’ll make getting the mail that day all the more exciting.
Charity cash fund
If you really don’t need anything as a gift, then why not use your wedding as a time to raise money for others? A charity cash fund works like a house cash fund, but after your wedding, you’ll donate the money to whatever charity you choose.
Many couples like to choose a local organization that they know or work with while others like to honor family members that have cancer or have died from it by giving to research nonprofits. State a purpose in your gift description and name the day that you will donate the money. This holds you accountable so guests know their money will be going to the charity.
Helicopter tours
Want to start date night right? Why not take a helicopter tour around your host city or even your hometown? Seeing it from a new angle will be a welcome change, and you two can enjoy the rush before settling down to a nice dinner for two. This is one of the unique wedding gifts that you’ll remember after you touch down, and you’ll have plenty of photos to share with the gift giver.
Furniture
Did you know that you can add physical items to a Hitchd wedding registry? And what better physical wedding gifts to ask for than those you probably need the most? If you’re moving into a new home, you might be lacking in furniture, and since it’s going to be your home for a long time, you want to fill it with nice, non-Ikea pieces that will last.
Some couples list one or two pieces of furniture on their wedding registry, but you can also create a furniture cash fund to help you raise money. When you finally get your new sofa, it’ll be one of the best wedding gifts you’ve ever received.
Flights and transportation
Wherever you plan to go for your honeymoon, the flight will probably be the most expensive bill you pay. But if you list it as a wedding gift, then you can ask guests to help you out with the expenses. Airfare may not be one of the most unique wedding gifts ever, but you can make it sound a little more exciting by describing the airports you’ll be flying in and out of and your go-to travel habits in the gift description.
Wine tastings
If you’re traveling somewhere known for its wines, then you can’t pass up the chance to do a few tastings at some of the local wineries. Wine tastings are great for date night, and they’re unique wedding gifts for your online registry if you don’t live near wineries. Guests will certainly ask you about what you tried so be ready to answer and maybe send home a bottle or two.
How to politely promote your wedding registry
You might be thinking: Okay, all of those gifts sound great, but how can I get my friends and family members on board? Weddings can bring out different sides of otherwise reasonable people, so if you think your family members will be pushy, here are some easy solutions to get them on board.
Make it easy to find your registry
Once you have your Hitch registry ready, link it to your wedding website. It’s still considered rude to add a registry link on wedding invitations, but guests will be going to your site anyway for addresses, times and dates anyway.
While you shouldn’t share your registry link publicly on social media (it’s tacky), you can always share the wedding website link if enough of your followers will be attending the wedding. You can also blast it out to group chats and messages so close friends and family members can get the details and start planning for your big day.
Enlist your bridal party and parents for help
Your bridal party and parents will be essential for getting the word out about your registry. When friends have gift questions, they’ll probably go to someone they know in the bridal party. Likewise, your aunts and uncles will turn to your parents with questions.
Arm your parents and bridal party with the link to your website and wedding registry. They can easily share the link with anyone who asks. Some guests like to give particularly special gifts, so if necessary, highlight two or three unique wedding gift ideas that you and your partner are excited to receive.
Share your registry with an office confidant
It’s not unusual for coworkers to go in on a wedding present for a fellow colleague who’s getting married. Share your wedding registry with a coworker you trust, and make it clear that this is not an order or request for gifts. He or she just has the information in case other office mates start talking about going in on a gift together.
No matter who you are, wedding guests will want to give you a wedding present, and that’s okay. A gift is a symbol of a person’s feelings for you, and many of your wedding guests have watched you grow. They want to show you that you matter to them. So accept their generosity and use your Hitchd online registry to ask for the best wedding gifts that will be the most meaningful to you.
Ready to get started with Hitchd? Here’s how to do it.
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