Wedding Day Gifts for Your Significant Other: 7 Ideas to Inspire
October 17, 2023
Wedding day gifts exchanged between the bride and groom is one of my favorite traditions as a photographer. The morning of a wedding is already full of so much emotion, and gift exchanges during those hours create some of the best and most meaningful memories from the day.
But many couples feel the pressure to make their wedding day gift exchange perfect. They worry about what to get and whether their partner will love it.
If you’re feeling this stress, we’re here to help. This article will help you navigate the process of deciding what kind of gift to get, then give you some ideas to inspire the perfect gift on your wedding day that you and your love will remember forever.
Quick Takeaways
- Get on the same page with your partner about the type of gift you want to exchange (ex: homemade vs. purchased).
- Love letters are one of the most popular, classic, and meaningful wedding day gifts.
- Other great homemade wedding day gift ideas include memory books, video messages, and personalized playlists.
- Personalized jewelry is a timeless gift that can turn into a family heirloom.
- Experience gifts are a fun gift that you can look forward to enjoying together post-wedding.
Why Get Your Significant Other a Gift On Your Wedding Day?
There’s nothing quite like a couple’s excitement on the morning of their wedding day. Most of the time, they spend the morning apart, adding to the anticipation in the early hours of the day, as they enjoy time with their bridesmaids and groomsmen, but look forward to seeing each other at their ceremony.
Exchanging gifts on your wedding day is a fun and meaningful way to feel connected during this time apart before the actual wedding activities begin. Wedding day gifts can add something special to your big day in a few ways:
- Tangible Expression of Your Love — Your wedding day will be one so full of love. Giving your significant other a gift is a way to express that love leading up to the time you exchange vows.
- Connection — Even though you’re spending time apart, the gift you give can make you feel totally connected and ready to say your I-Do’s.
- Unforgettable Memory — Wedding days are undeniably fleeting. Exchanging gifts when you’re apart gives you a chance to pause, be present, and create a memory you won’t forget.
- Tradition — Brides and grooms exchanging wedding day gifts is a timeless tradition. Participating in it adds to the specialness of your day.
In most cases, couples love the idea of getting their significant other a gift on their wedding day. The question isn’t if they should get a gift, but what they should get to make the experience special.
7 Wedding Day Gift Ideas for Your Significant Other
Choosing your wedding day gift for your significant other should be fun—it shouldn’t feel like a high-pressure chore. In many cases, couples will talk about the type of gift they want to get so they feel like they’re on the same page, but still leave room for a surprise factor.
For example: Do you want to exchange a personal, homemade gift (like a letter or a scrapbook) or go the more traditional route, and purchase a gift (like jewelry or experience gifts)? It’s totally up to you. We see couples go with these ideas and more, and they’re all meaningful and lovely.
Let’s look at some of the best gifts we’ve seen exchanged to inspire ideas for your own day.
Love Letters
Perhaps the most classic wedding day gift for significant others, love letters are an amazing way to tell each other how you’re feeling before you see each other at your ceremony. It’s probably the best way to feel connected to your partner when you’re apart on your wedding day morning, since you’ll be reading their words and feeling the love behind them.
At Perennial, brides and grooms reading love letters are some of the most special moments we capture on camera.
Personalized Jewelry
Personalized jewelry is a top choice for couples on their wedding day because it’s timeless. It’s hard to go wrong with an engraved watch, earrings, bracelet, or something else special that your significant other can wear on your wedding day and/or cherish as a keepsake. The cool thing about personalized jewelry is that it often becomes a family heirloom decades later—something you can eventually pass on to your children and their children.
Memory Book
If you want to do something homemade and personal, but love letters aren’t your thing, memory books are a great alternative. They’re just as meaningful but can be a little more fun. They’re also something you can look at and laugh over with your bridal party—less private than a love letter, but still an amazing way to reflect on your love story and feel the emotion of remembering it.
Memory books can be straightforward photo albums or scrapbooks that include other mementos and reminders of special memories.
Curated Care Package
Who knows about your favorite things more than your significant other? A curated care package is one of the most thoughtful gifts you can give your partner on their wedding day.
With care packages, you can be sure your partner has all their favorite things and include other surprise additions to make the gift more fun. Care packages are also a great way to include some of the gifts we already mentioned.
Some ideas for care package wedding day gifts: cards or notes, photos, perfume or cologne, wearables (like jewelry, handkerchiefs, or cufflinks), and favorite snacks, cigars, or drinks.
Video Message
We live in a digital world, and video messages are like a modern version of a love letter. And while some might consider letters more “meaningful,” we’d argue that videos can be just as special, and even more so in certain ways. When you see your significant other’s face and hear their voice during those morning hours when you’re just dying to see them, it brings on such amazing emotion and anticipation.
Plus, in our tech-advanced world, it’s just as easy to hang onto a video forever and look back on it later. Imagine how fun it will be to see your partner’s expressions and hear their voice as it was on the morning of your wedding day years and decades later.
Morning-Of Treats
A simple but meaningful wedding day gift that wins every time is something for your partner to enjoy on the morning of the wedding with their bridal party members. Popular choices for this kind of gift include favorite champagnes or liquors, snacks, cigars, or personalized playlists.
Experiences
Last but not least, experience gifts to look forward to after the wedding can be an awesome wedding day gift that tells your partner how much you’re looking forward to making special memories in the future. It can be something to do on your honeymoon (like a special dinner or an excursion), a date night to look forward to when you get home, or a trip you’ve always wanted to plan for the future.
Over to You
Alright—now you’re armed with ideas, and you know your partner better than anyone else in the world. You’re ready to choose a wedding day gift they’ll love, and look forward to receiving one from your love that you’ll cherish forever.
Remember: Get on the same page with your partner about what kind of gift you want to exchange, and then trust your gut.
And if you need someone to capture the moment so you can relive it together, Perennial’s got your back. Get in touch with us today so we can talk about your wedding vision and how we can capture it!
