Gift to give good friend who's engaged

canadamom

Wed, Dec 17 2008, 1:40 pm

depends on how much money you want to spend
silver is always nice like s/th for the shabbos table I.e. a challah board, a napkin holder
monagrammed finger towels
napkin rings
food processor
pretty vanity set
dried flower arrangement

these are the nicer gifts that I got and enjoy!

yo'ma

Wed, Dec 17 2008, 1:48 pm

lingerie

, personal and useful
the monogrammed idea is nice. Personally, I wouldn't care for something like that. When I bought my kitchen aid, they were having a special. If you purchase another bowl, they'll monogram it for free. You had to show some sort of proof that there was a "simcha". I sent my invitation with a check. I love using that bowl Tongue Out

mummiedearest ↓

Wed, Dec 17 2008, 2:08 pm

I give my friends a huge mixing bowl/wastepaper basket filled with all the little kitchen essentials. you can include spices. I arrange it all nicely and wrap in cellophane with ribbon. my mom got me all this stuff when I was engaged, and I realized that if not for her, I would have been missing a potato peeler the first time I made cholent after marriage. I find that I often spend more money on this gift than I would on a crock pot or something, and if she gets doubles she has milchig, fleishig, and possibly pesach covered.

last time I did this I think I got her a large mixing bowl, apron, slotted spoons, spatulas, peelers, some fun ridiculous kitchen stuff (everyone needs something useless in their kitchens) wooden spoons, chopping boards, kitchen towels, oven mitts, corkscrew, stuff like that. no one will ever say they didn't use this gift, and it won't sit in storage forever.

Fabulous

Wed, Dec 17 2008, 2:12 pm

Again depending on how much you want to spend. You can get her a Braun food processor for kugels at about $100. You can get her fancy glasses for shabbos or serving dishes for dips for shabbos (those I really appreciate).

↑ mummiedearest

Wed, Dec 17 2008, 2:28 pm

btw, I know people like to give those wood/silver challah boards...

we got two, hated them both, passed one to sil who passed it to ils who don't use it. the other awaits passage to another household. meanwhile it's in our basement. don't buy this kind of thing unless she wants it. it's too expensive to sit in someone's basement.

sympa

Thu, Dec 25 2008, 2:47 am

make something personal. Go to a paint-your-own-pottery store (like kad vachomer in Yerushalayim), and paint a really nice dish. Keep it simply-decorated, add a name. It can be elegant, personal, and inexpensive.

I know someone who crochets blankets for all her closest friends when they get married. Similarly personal and inexpensive (yet can be time-consuming, unless you're a pro).

Last edited by sympa on Mon, Feb 25 2019, 1:44 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Thu, Dec 25 2008, 2:52 am

mummiedearest wrote:

Oh, only 2? We got 6.
We chose the nicest one, and use it every week. The others were give-aways, and some are still collecting dust.

Same goes for challah covers. I think we topped out at 9 or 10. One woman actually called my mother, and said, "I just got your daughter the nicest challah cover, tell everyone else not to get her one." I begged my mother to tell her we already had 5 (it was early still), and to tell HER that we didn't need any more, but she refused to be ungracious. In the end, we graciously accepted the "CD-player cover" (which is what it's used for now). That's why this post is anon.

Dalia Nechama

Sun, Jan 04 2009, 1:56 pm

My two all favorite gifts:

1) a tool box with some basic tools and materials for hanging pictures.

2) a recipe box with hand written recipes, weekday menus, and shabbos menus. My sister gave this to me when I got married. She was really broke at the time. I love them, still. When I look at them I think of my sister. Over the years shes given me more recipes. You could get some of your mutual friends to contribute as well.

GetReal

Sun, Jan 04 2009, 2:06 pm

amother wrote:

mummiedearest wrote:

btw, I know people like to give those wood/silver challah boards...
... the other awaits passage to another household.

Oh, only 2? We got 6.

Want to pass one this way?

The gifts I appreciated the most were things that I use constantly. A pretty serving dish is appreciated, but it's away most of the time. Our electric kettle isn't so expensive, but we use it every morning, and we are always thinking of the person who got it for us. Things like that.

doodlesmom

Sun, Jan 04 2009, 3:32 pm

Try feeling her out, there are usually a few things that any kallah would specifically like to get but for some reason is not getting it, either because she can't afford it, etc.
maybe a nice set for her dresser or lamp for night chest.

avigailmiriam

Sun, Jan 04 2009, 3:48 pm

Is she living on her own yet?

One of the best gifts I got was from one of my sisters who took me shopping after I moved to our apartment not long after we married. It costs quite a bit to stock a pantry initially, so we went grocery shopping for staples and she paid for it. It was a really great, useful gift.

AlwaysGrateful

Sun, Jan 04 2009, 6:01 pm

Dalia Nechama wrote:

2) a recipe box with hand written recipes, weekday menus, and shabbos menus. My sister gave this to me when I got married. She was really broke at the time. I love them, still. When I look at them I think of my sister. Over the years shes given me more recipes. You could get some of your mutual friends to contribute as well.

This is the best, most personal gift. A recipe box, recipe book, or even just one of your favorite recipe books with all of your own comments in it (I.e., "good recipe for company, but a pain to make!" or "We don't use the hot sauce in this recipe, and it tastes great anyway" or "Can be made ahead of time and frozen raw.").

manhattanmom

Tue, Jan 13 2009, 1:10 pm

amother wrote:

mummiedearest wrote:

Wow. For some weird reason I didn't get any challah boards when I got married and I only got ONE challah cover. But we did get FIVE silver salt and pepper shakers!!

bandcm

Tue, Jan 13 2009, 1:30 pm

mummiedearest wrote:

I would have loved something like this.