If wedding guests don't have a good idea what to buy as a wedding gift, often couples are registered to bridal registries and the registry can give a clue of what gifts the couple are looking for. It is a good idea to buy a gift from a couple's bridal registry for when the registry is finally over, the couple can buy a gift they want at a significant discount.
Some well known department stores that have good bridal registries include; Bed Bath & Beyond, Bloomingdales, Crate & Barrel, Kohl's, Macy's, and Pottery Barn.
Here are 10 cost savings tips for wedding gifts and bridal registries.
Tip 1 - Understand How to Run Your Bridal Registry
If the size of the wedding is under 300 wedding guests, a couple should sign up with two bridal registries of their favorite stores, if over 300 wedding guests then they should sign up with three stores. This is done so the wedding couple can gain a significant discount of gifts they want. If the amount of stores is too spread they won't gain the significant discount.
The registry should be signed up for about two to three months before the wedding, gifts should be signed up for all different price ranges because your guests will buy gifts in all different price ranges. On each Thursday or Friday the month before your wedding, the couple should check in with their Bridal Registry to be sure the items they have chosen are still available. If the item has been registered find a replacement item at about the same value. It is much better to check out the status of your bridal registry in person to verify the items are still on display and available.
It is wise to run the bridal registry up to a week after your honeymoon, for a few of your gifts might be picked up after your wedding day and help you to get a bigger discount.
Tip 2 - Give the Wedding Couple a Gift Card
You might consider getting the couple a gift card and better yet, give them a gift card for their favorite store or a store in which they are registered to a bridal registry in order for them to get a bigger discount for a gift they want.
Tip 3 - Make a Homemade Gift
Very often a homemade gift becomes very special, it often is a unique gift that can't be found in any store. Some great homemade wedding gifts could be an oil painting, a woodwork gadget, ceramic pottery, a quilt, a unique sculpture, or a pretty glass blowing. An inscription might be included with the couple's initials or date of the wedding.
Tip 4 - Find a Unique Gift Online
If you look for gifts online or using your smart sphone you can find great gifts from EBay, Amazon, Craigslist, or from a hobbyist's website. Shop around for a good deal.
Tip 5 - Buy a Group Gift
Group gifts sometimes make great gifts. The group can be the high school gang, the sorority sisters, the people you work with. Great group gifts could be a patio set, a dining table set, or living room set. Group gifts are great because a furniture set bought by some special friends will last a long time and often you will be reminded of the old gang when you use the furniture.
Tip 6 - Find Coupons, Coupon Codes, and Store Discount Sales
The latest trend in coupons are the new scanners called QR codes short for "Quick Response" codes, you scan these codes using your smart phones which are in reality mobile coupons. These coupons in reality are little black and white squares with smaller squares within the larger ones.
A new trend is emerging, many couple will create a seperate card in their wedding invitation package and on these cards will show the store's name of their bridal registry and will show QR codes. With wedding guest's smart phones they can scan the code and get information on the couple's bridal registry including URL links, GEO coordinates, text, pictures, and promotional material.
Also, you could search for coupons using your laptop or smart phone. Today their are thousands of coupons that can be found to get discounts on gifts. Some reputable websites that offer coupons include www.findweddingcoupons.com , www.retailmenot.com , www.couponmountain.com , www.couponsherpa.com , and www.weusecoupons.com .
You also might go to your favorite store in person and ask if that store has an e-newsletter or visit their website. When they have promotions, they may send you their information or send you a coupon or coupon code.
Tip 7 - Find a High Quality Regift
Sometimes you may have received a prior gift that's really not you. A family member may also have gifts they don't won't. Be sure that any regifts are in perfect condition and that nobody at the wedding knows that the gift is a regift. Look around in your apartment, and at your parents house or close relative's house. Look in attics, storage areas, garages, and basements. Good regifts might be china sets, extra unused appliances, furniture, and beautiful artwork.
Tip 8 - Find a Unique Gift from an Estate Sale or Moving Sale
Great gifts can often be found at estate sales, moving sales, yard sales, and garage sales. Look for upcoming sales in newspapers, and on online resources. Sometimes beautiful heirlooms can be found or a beautiful living room, dining room, or bedroom set. Also you may come across beautiful jewelry. Situations arise where people need to downsize, need to find money quickly or there is a death in the family. Great deals can be found at some of these estate sales and you can pick up a great gift thats a bargain, sometimes even at a great discount such as 80% off what the item is worth, quick money may be needed.
Tip 9 - Buy Gifts Out of Their Season
Study the gift you are interested in buying using Google Trend. Certain times of the year you will see a significant drop in the search for a product. Many outdoor products show a significant drop after the summer season such as a patio set, televisions show a significant drop after the Super Bowl, many items drop in price after the Christmas Holidays. At certain times of the year when demand is less, the prices of products are lowered to stimulate demand.
Tip 10 - Offer Your Services and Time Instead
If you don't have much money to buy a wedding gift, offer your services. You could bake a cake, help wrap wedding favors, paint a room in the wedding couple's new home, be a handyman or handywoman, offer your services for a day, be available for landscaping, help the wedding couple move, do the lawn while the couple are on their honeymoon, help create a photo album, ask how you can help the couple.
The important thing about buying wedding gifts, formulate a budget and keep to your budget, you can buy a special gift another time when you have some extra money.
Also it's important for the wedding couple to buy a special meaningful gift for each other, it could be jewelry, a gadget, or a picture of you framed. Buy something that has meaning.
Other gifts that are good is a gift of special wine, liquor that you know the couple likes and for the out-of-towners buy them a local area gift basket of specialties in your area, as a token of your appreciation for coming to your wedding.
See you on the other side!
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