Asking for the right gift

While gifts are an integral part of weddings, newly-weds are often saddled with many gifts from both friends and family that may be quite useless. No wonder then, that new-age couples these days like Deepika-Ranveer and the Duke and Dutchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, opted to not accept any gifts from their guests.

However, many guests still like to give the bride and groom something as a token of their love and blessing — especially on occasions like bridal showers or engagement parties. Under these circumstances, creation of a gift registry that will help guests choose an appropriate gift might be just the need of the hour.

Recently bride-to-be, Priyanka Chopra, set up a gift registry, and shared it on Amazon. Items in her list varied from kitchen items like utensils, pet accessories, travel bags, household items and fitness instruments like snowboard, skates, indoor bike, dumb bell set and table tennis set. She hasn’t forgotten her dog Diana for whom she wants a pink-coloured dog collar, GPS pet tracker, dog raincoat and pet bed. The list also includes tech products like a Canon IVY Wireless Mini Photo Printer, $2,500 LG OLED TV, Levoit air purifier and Amazon Echo Look.

While many wondered why would a super-rich couple such as PeeCee and Nick ask for a dog collar or a pet bed as their wedding gifts, the concept of a wedding or bridal registry is almost like a wedding tradition in countries like the US or UK.

Occasionally couples feel guilty or greedy for making a list of their must-have items and may choose not to create a registry. But such a registry is really more of a courtesy for wedding guests rather than a list of demands.

Wedding planner Gurleen M. Puri, who planned the wedding of Kareena kapoor and Saif Ali Khan, says, “Although widely prevalent in the west, wedding registries are a relatively new concept at Indian weddings. Despite not being a big thing so far, we are happy to see this trend finally enter the Indian market.

“In today’s world, modern brides and grooms have a vast amount of information regarding wedding planning available to them, thanks to the internet and social media. Armed with research, Indian couples are choosing innovative, environmentally friendly, and intimate ways to plan their weddings and having a registry for their wedding gifts is one way to achieve that.”

Resonating her thoughts, Puneet Gupta, a luxury wedding consultant and celebrity wedding card designer, says, “Gifts from wedding registry websites is the latest trend among celebrities and NRI clients. It is a western concept and slowly getting accepted among Indian couples too.

“Traditionally people like to gift cash and gold to the newlyweds, but if they want to gift something useful to the couple it is much better to go on the website and order it from the list of desirable gifts they would like to receive. It saves a lot of time and effort from both sides and the couple can actually use the gifts that suit their taste and style.”

While it is a fantastic idea to let your guests know what you want for your wedding, it is imperative to keep the price of the gifts also in mind while choosing items.

“There is no set rule for pricing and cost of the listed gifts but ideally when someone registers on a wedding registry website they should keep in mind the affordability for guests,” explains Ramola Bachchan, founder, RB Concepts.

“One can also break up a bigger item like a dinner set into parts and ask the guests to gift them six plates or six glasses instead of gifting the entire set. It can also be helpful for friends who want to club and gift something together to the couple,” Ramola concludes.