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When a couple gets married, it's a great opportunity to gift them something special for their new life together. If it's a close friend or family member, you probably give the gift a lot of thought, too. Should you splurge on something substantial from their registry, like a full China set or a Kitchenaid mixer--or should you just go with cash? What about a really thoughtful gift--like monogrammed towels or some decor that suits their personal style.
Most of us gift gifting a lot of thought, but it turns out that we're doing it all wrong. According to real couples, there are many "traditional" wedding gifts that are no longer desirable. We dug deep in to Reddit and other web forums to find the gifts that couples are secretly not loving when they get them -->
Items for formal dining
Modern couples don't do much formal entertaining; if they have friends over, they usually eat casually in the living room or the kitchen not at dining room table. For this reason, it's no longer necessary to gift them things like napkin rings, runners, tableclothes, napkins, decanters and the like. Couples universally don't use this stuff when they receive them as wedding gifts--and probably don't have storage for them either.
Frilly bedding
Things like decorative pillows, bed skirts, duvet covers, etc., are not what couples need when they're just starting out. If anything, they should choose neutral bedding that they both like together--not receiving overpriced sheets from you and then have to live with it. If they've asked for bedding on their registry, make sure it's not too girly (she might have picked it out, but he might not have approved!).
Blenders
Blenders really are terrible gifts. If they're smoothie or blended drink people, chances are they already have the top of the line Vitamix. If they're not smoothie people, they never will be. There's no way that cheap Oster you buy them will get any play.
Gift cards
If you're considering gift cards, just go right to cash. You don't know what stores they shop at day to day, or what's on their shopping list, so don't guess by choosing an arbitrary dollar amount at a store you *think* is universal, but might not have a location near them (i. Bed, Bath and Beyond, Target, etc.). Commentors broadly agreed that gift cards are *way worse* than cash.
Fine China
Again, modern couples don't do much formal entertaining--so the last thing they need is a full set of China. It used to be that the wedding was the couple's only chance to get these items, and that still remains true, but the reality is that now the cost of living is higher and they really could use that money spent on other, more useful gifts.
Funny appliances
Items like kegerators sound fun and cool when you're buying them off the registry, but chances are that the couple will never actually use them. Usually, the bride will allow the groom a few "token" gifts for him on the registry, but the truth is they are at the very bottom of the list in terms of what they want or need. If you really want to get a gift with the groom in mind, think about items he'll actually use every day, like home stereo equipment.
