View Full Version : speaking of weddings - what gift do you still have
The other thread about wedding made me start thinking about all the gifts we rec'd. Some immediately went back to stores for cash. We had a whole second kitchen's worth of stuff we put in storage (ended up donating it to a friend who lost everything in a fire). The china I sold a couple years ago.
Really, the only things I've kept:
- stainless steel cookware with copper bottoms.
- wine goblets (even though we don't use them because we use some that DH made)
- a three step ladder/stool (the most usefull gift I've ever rec'd)
- a waterford crystal bow
Something I wish I'd kept:
- large glass compote (desserts looked so pretty in it) broke it/haven't repaced
- pressure cooker (had no clue what it was for when I was 23)
That is susposed to be bowl not bow. I can't get this laptop to let me go back and edit posts.
iris lily
9-24-12, 10:45am
...
- a three step ladder/stool (the most usefull gift I've ever rec'd)
-...)
I shocked! Same for me--someone gave us a 3 step stool when we got married (at one of the receptions that was supposed to be "no gift" but that didn't happen) and it was a revelation! I would NEVER have thought to purchase one for myself yet it is extremely handy to have. We actually wore it out and now are on stepstool #2.
And now, years later in states far away, we live in a Victorian house that has very high cupboards and I use the thing constantly.
I always think of that as being the best wedding present we ever got! Isn't that funny that we both like this?
iris lily
9-24-12, 10:46am
My inlaws gave us a Kitchen Aide mixer which we still have, of course. It is their standard gift for all of their kids and grandchildren getting married.
That is funny Iris lily. I've given several as gifts myself for housewarming or weddings. Everyo
We have a selection of crystal stemware, an electric knife (which I never use, never have), and... that's about all I can remember as of now.
Great reminder thread. Going to make a point of boxing-up the electric knife along with a variety of other incidentals (sitting around) when I start my fall-cleaning in the days/weeks to come, and drop everything off at the thrift store. I'm tired of cleaning and organizing around stuff I don't use.
That reminds me Mrs-M. I did recieve a 'rechargable electric knife' for a wedding gift but it wouldn't hold a charge long enough to slice a whole roast or loaf of french bread for that matter. I exchanged it for a simple plug in one and it's going strong.
LOL, Float On! I remember as a kid I was infatuated with electric knives. Always liked watching one in action, but could never figure out how they actually cut/sliced.
Do you use yours all the time? Would you say you like your electric knife (better), over the ordinary manual option?
I had registered a china pattern before my wedding, and I got 12 5-piece place settings from various guests. I almost NEVER use it. I think I used it for maybe 8 Thanksgivings. I wouldn't use it when the kids were small, I used it when they got older, and last year, I asked them if they minded if I just used my good old Fishs Eddy everyday plates and of course they didn't mind. So I'm seriously considering sending the china to Replacements.com. I don't even like the pattern anymore, and my MIL left behind a gorgeous set of china.
I think my favorite wedding gift "leftover" are the three wine glasses I have left from an original set of six. They're very simple, and very SMALL. They almost look like shot glasses on a stem, and, no, they're not meant for port. Live everything else, wine glasses have become super sized over the years. I just LOVE having a wee glass of wine in my wee little glasses.
I have some other odd things, like a "picquotware" (Ishbel, do you know what that is?) tea and coffee pot.
PS.. re the step stool. I didn't get one for my wedding, but I have a son who is VERY practical-minded and when he was in high school he gave his dad and I one for Christmas, and it's one of the best gifts we ever got!
I have a couple of silver things I still have (but don't use often), a picnic basket I use for storage which got me started on my picnic basket fetish/collection and a set of Lenox candleholders that are too nice to throw out, but no one in the family wants them either. They were gifted by a sister in law who always gave gifts that SHE wanted, like the Victorian-style burgundy vase she gave me one year which would have looked perfect in her sunroom, but I of course, had nothing burgundy or of a Victorian style.
I do use my electric knife - very handy for slicing french bread for french toast. I use it on roasts. I remember my mom always slicing the ham with it but we don't eat ham in this house. When I make my layered frozen dessert cakes the electric knife comes in very handy.
I still have the set of pots and pans we got at our wedding - 30 years old, and still look great. I have gotten very lazy and just throw them into the dishwasher, so the handles are getting dull. I think I can refurbish them easily, though.
Can't really remember anything else received at our wedding. Hmmm...
Gardenarian
9-24-12, 3:27pm
A set of plastic tumblers - we use them everyday. Probably full of BPA and what not, but quite amazing that they've lsted this long being thrown in the dishwasher every day.
My wonderful husband, of course! He's mellow and sweet like aged port!
You have inspired me to look at my wedding book, which lists my gifts.
What I still have from 31 years ago:
3-4 pieces of tupperware
My wedding memory book
A guest book for our home
One pyrex bowl
Measuring cups
And that's it. We got lots of gifts ... Enough to outfit our home a few times over. Lots of things I regifted the first few years of our marriage. Some things break. Some things I gave away when I realized what I liked and used. And finally some things I gave to each of our 3 kids when they moved out.
I never would have guessed that we only had those few things left.
I don't think that I have the actual thing any more, but I've got a replacement for it-- a "half spatula" that is 1/2 the width of regular ones.
One of my aunts who was a good cook said that she used them a lot and gave me one. She's right, it is useful.
Oh I broke my half spatula last year and have been meaning to replace it.
I didn't want china but my Eastern Shore transplanted to the South MIL insisted. I think I ended up with only 8 settings in all which she talked for years about how I couldn't throw a proper dinner because I didn't have enough china.
My SIL's MIL and good friend to my MIL was agast that I only had one size wine goblet on the list - "what about when you need to serve sherry or champaign or dessert wine.....etc".
Blackdog Lin
9-25-12, 5:45am
A set of Oneida stainless silverware. We've used it daily and exclusively since the day we received it in 1976.
Our everyday stoneware - I still love the pattern (http://www.replacements.com/webquote/PFASYC.htm)
A floor lamp and a table lamp
A few linens - blanket, tablecloth/napkin set
We didn't register for many things, and only things that we would use regularly. I do have some china, which I use - it was my great-grandmother's. I finally decided that it was better to use it & put it in the dishwasher than to never use it.
Mrs. Hermit
9-25-12, 9:17am
We still have wine glasses (2), bride & groom champagne flutes from the reception, blankets, crystal and silver serving bowls that I use at holidays, lamps, pots and pans, stainless steel mixing bowls, a tea set (or two-I collect them), a wrench set and each other. I think that's about all.
I finally regifted a 30 year old set of steak knives that had never been used. They were a wonderful present but we stopped eating meat and never in fact had a use for them. Also for a cross country move, we finally gave away the china that we got as a wedding present from the inlaws. It was a lovely present but not a rarity or having any value. I am not sure we ever used it more than a couple of times in over 20 years.
I guess the only thing I have is my wedding ring which I do not wear.
I don't wear my wedding ring either (metals and I don't get along!) and after 36 years, I'm fairly sure I don't have anything left from my wedding. We were kids when we married, against our parents wishes, so had a fairly small, inexpensive wedding. Nothing fancy, no fancy gifts, and a camping honeymoon. The night before we married the preacher who was to preform the ceremony sat us down and said, 'I'll bet you are divorced within a year" Lovely, huh?
The Mr. Coffeemaker. Since we do not drink coffee it only comes out for guests. It's 23 years old this next month.
we had a no gifts policy, but my favourite thing was a video my friend made of the small wedding. She worked very hard on it and had never done anything like that before. I commit here and now to finding it and having it made into a dvd.
treehugger
9-25-12, 9:53pm
We got so many great presents, and still use a lot of them regularly. Pots and pans, knives, a colander, bowls, utensils. Certainly the kitchen stuff is used the most often, but some of the more decorative items are enjoyed, too (e.g., my cousin tatted us some lace and used it to frame a photo of us). That said, I have gotten rid of things that we didn't use or enjoy, because I don't like clutter.
I'm such a practical person, that I greatly prefer practical gifts. These days, if we are giving a wedding gift, I lean towards a Penzey's spice gift pack. Useful, consumable.
Kara
My parents gave us a chest freezer. Is that a great gift, or what?
A big, plain wooden salad bowl, which we've always used on the floor to keep dog toys in. We didn't get a lot of presents-it wasn't that kind of marriage.
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