This summer it seems like we are planning most of our vacations around weddings. It's the season for the roses to bloom and love to be declared among the birds and the bees. So as we are planning out our travel I am also planning out my shopping list of some wonderful gifts I could get these lucky couples. My husband and I were married pretty young so our wedding registry was somewhat standard, we went to Crate and Barrel and Macys and registered for way too many kitchen implements. I mean when was the last time I actually used my mini cupcake pans and domed cake server. Umm, never!
The gifts that I ended up loving the most from our wedding were the handmade items that people selected for us from artists they knew of. We have a handmade cutting board that I use almost every day with delight, a set of thrown ceramic nesting bowls that I use for serving up some beautiful meals, and a hand bound leather album that I have our wedding photographs in. These are the things that years later I truly treasure. So now whenever I get invited to a wedding I take a look at the registry to get an idea of the couples taste and color sense and then I go and get them a wonderful handmade gift instead. I've never had any complaints and many folks tell me years after their wedding that our gift was one of their faves. So here are a few ideas that I have for my friends getting married this summer...
Two of my friends are getting married in Vermont this summer so I thought this would be a perfect gift to celebrate their union there. A Heirloom also makes boards for all 50 states so they have you covered for a celebration anywhere.
And this dishtowel could even make doing your dirty work an act of love - or at least remind you that you LOVE is always there to help you out!
Another couple is a fan of modern design and reads far too many magazines so I think a perfect gift for them might be this playfully elegant magazine rack by Steel Ribbon.
And last but not least one of my friends is getting a pair of kissing lovebirds from me to hang in their home. They were actually the couple who were partly responsible for inspiring this design after a visit with them when they just couldn't stop cuddling and I jokingly called them smitten lovebirds. So they are getting a little sculpture to hang in their home to celebrate their love.
There are lots more fabulous handmade gift ideas out there to discover at places like
Etsy and
20best20 or your local crafty gallery. So don't just buy some bowls from a big box store for your friends, buy them handmade one of a kind bowls made by an independent artisan that they will treasure for years to come.
