Wedding Gifts

It's been more than six months....and I believe anything that is not used in the past six months is usually never gonna be used...and so I guess this is a good time to compile a list of do's and don'ts about choosing a wedding gift...especially in India where the more practical idea of a wishlist is still frowned upon and gift giving is more an emotional process....and by emotional I don't necessarily mean love, it can also be the emotion of "My gift should look bigger than the rest..." So here goes the list....From my own personal experience of having to wade through mountains of gifts and more tediously finding a place to store the useless ones...

Best Gifts

1. Money - This is the best gift you could possibly give on any occasion. The denomination doesn't matter....even if it is a very small amount, in fact especially in these cases when you can't really buy anything useful with your budget, refrain from the urge to get a bigger gift...give it in cash...lot of people do and together the sizeable amount will help the couple buy something useful....

If you are the kind who thinks that money doesn't really reflect the 'effort' of choosing a gift, then here are the other options...

2. Bed and bathroom linen - Even if we get one too many, we can still use it...I have used every single bedsheet, I have been gifted...

3. Show me the time - Yea, but try and stick to clocks that are in muted colours like steel, or white and plain designs such as circular or square. Others may look good in the showroom, but an italian violinist who also shows time may not actually fit with my other paraphernalia....

Also, please refrain from gifting watches...a watch is a personal style statement and your idea of what I like may not be actually what I like...and though I have four or five rooms in the house where I can hang the clocks...I still have just one wrist....

4. Kitchen Utensils - Especially if the couple are going to settle down in a different city, these are definitely welcome....Most bachelor existence make do with the most minimal of utensils....These may not be quite up there in terms of "style quotient"...but definitely way high on the gratitude list....I use a set of three cook and serve utensils gifted by someone, and everytime I use it, I silently say "Thank You" to whoever gifted it...and that is three times a day.

Gifts I'd rather not have

1. Clothes - Unless, you are a very close relative of mine and traditional customs demand that you gift me clothes, please don't choose this option. Most couples already would have shopped for an entire new wardrobe before the wedding...and again you won't know what I like/dislike...My hubby now has a huge collection of full sleeve shirts, all of which are expensive branded ones, but he prefers to wear slacks to work :( If you are insistent on clothes, give gift vouchers....and please get them with a validity of atleast a year....we won't have the time (or the need) to shop for atleast the next two months...

2. Curios - These are definitely "no no" , unless you gift me an entire house with matching curios .... I end up with bulky and not-so- bulky artifacts which finally just get stacked up in the attic or end up as a gift for my worst enemy...

3. Wall hangings - These are acceptable provided they are not framed....I like the kind which blend with the frame, so that they go well with most walls....the framed ones don't and unless I get four - five similarly framed pictures, I can't use them, no matter how much they stimulate my artistic mind....

4. Ice-cream cups - These seem to be the favourite of most people, but I'd rather shop for them myself....and although I have clumsy fingers I don't need an entire life time worth of tea sets and coffee mugs....

Well, this is the first chapter of "Tinkerbells' Guide to Gift Giving".....more valuable lessons to follow :P