In today’s blog I am writing on a very general topic not all connected with politics/sports/Bollywood etc. It is about a situation which is faced by all of us during our life time at some time or other.
This situation arises when one receives a Wedding Invitation card for attending some marriage function. Now this creates a common dilemma in most of the households, what to gift couples at their wedding. In Indian families, when the wedding is happening in close family circles, it is usual practice to gift then gold or silver, either as jewellery or other items. In reality the bitter truth is that most of these may not be used as most modern age couples may not like these stuff.
In general, slowly the Indian couples are moving away from the traditional wedding gifts like jewellery, cash, apparel and similar stuff. So whenever someone receive a wedding invitation, the easiest option of course would be to put cash in a envelope and gift the same to them. But nowadays there are many innovative gifting ideas that can go long way and help the couple to remember you for along time as well. In other words rather than giving cash, one must look for other option.
Gift Coupons/Vouchers- One may give the couple Gift Voucher for the desired amount. Depending upon whether they are setting up a house or not, one can choose to buy gift vouchers from many leading store chains across India. Other option available are Gift vouchers from online stores like Amazon, Flipkart etc for online purchases. One can purchase gift cards from them, Amazon has gift cards starting from Rs 500. Generally these cards have validity of 12 to 15 months, making it possible for the couple to buy what they want in their own time. Amazon also allows you to buy experiences for the couple via gift cards in the form of PVR movie shows, Taj hotel experience or Make My Trip travel experiences. Even big retailers like Big Bazaar, Shopper’s Stop, Westside also sell their gift cards or vouchers. Flipkart too offers you similar gifting options with multiple brand cards or their own vouchers. The possibilities range from eating, entertainment, travel, household purchases, apparel , groceries and many more items.
Another great idea is to gift the couple Spa sessions from some Luxury spas. Gift coupons can be purchased for Spa session in The Taj, Leela Palace and other such properties. It would be great idea for the couple to enjoy and de-stress after the hectic wedding schedule, considering Indian weddings are spread over few days, with so many rituals, people having to get up early or stay late, too much of food, music, dance etc. it is a great idea to gift a spa session. Post wedding spa sessions can help the couple to rejuvenate themselves, before proceeding for honeymoon or getting back to their normal schedule.
Many vendors can provide you with customised/personal gift items which can be given as wedding gifts. The choices may range from cushions, mugs, clocks, watches, bar accessories, other home accessories for kitchen or the living room etc. Some other unique options are name plates, plants and planters, coasters and separate dinning table accessories.
So friends, next time you get a Wedding Invitation, instead of giving cash as gift, think over about the options which are suggested above. One more suggestion would be instead of giving some gift item, unless you know the couple needs it, try to gift them the gift vouchers so that couple can buy the thing which they will need in their married life.
So friends, how do you find this blog of mine.
Waiting for your feed backs/comments/ views.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
24th Feb 2020
R. N. Mungale.
It is a good idea to give gift coupon as a wedding gift.