All this list history goes back to time immemorial (or almost) when the marriages were considered, negotiated and debated between parents only, since it is well known, a marriage is never only an alliance between two families … A prejudice that directs the question of the hymen into a real commercial transaction. At ease in its contractual nature, the dowry is the ancestor of the wedding list. Finally, it comes especially when the family of the bride was running out of clothes, cows, dishes, furniture or god knows what they exchanged … Close family and friends then made a list of gifts, taking the place of dowry. But hey, the real question about the future of this list in our era, it would be good to bring your aluminum helmets and jump into your machine to go back in time!
Phew! Civilization!
The (very subtle) difference from the old days is that today most couples (a small 80%) already live together before getting married. Well yes, because before spending the rest of your life with the same person, it is better to ensure that the small manias of one and the other won’t become the causes of a future separation … And then with this epidemic of divorces that has been raging for some time, we are never too cautious!
So, all the long-winded speech on the wedding list that can offer the bride and groom all that will be lacking in their home, all the practical side to provide a beautiful and totally unnecessary soda machine falls through … So, what to offer to the couple, how to guide its purchases?
- Towards well-being, pleasure! People making the decision to get married later, they already have apartment, job, car … But time for ourselves, we never have enough and at whatever age. This is why we have the Smart box, Wonder box, thalassotherapy … Join the useful to the pleasure and ensure a gift that will not spend his life in the bottom of a closet, between dusty charcoal and the sewing kit offered by granny…
- Towards the honeymoon! Very trendy, participation can be in the form of options, bonuses that will delight the bride and groom upon their arrival in Zanzibar: diving lessons, horse riding, water sports of all kinds, dinner in a very good restaurant on site … Or much more simply by putting money in the « honeymoon » urn on D-day. I take this opportunity to go off topic on a very mysterious point that prides itself on propriety: the code name for the word « money ». Because at a wedding (and all the time in fact, since it seems that the question of money is, in France, an absolute taboo), it is perfectly forbidden to speak money, we prefer to evoke « the small Envelope « … That’s it, so you’ll know what to do when you want to ask where to put your little envelope!
- In a more traditional way, by depositing in one or more shops the list of all that you would be pleased: clothing, cosmetic, high tech … If you have passions, it is also the moment to take advantage of it and to make you offer this superb kit of fishing of your dream! The small bonus is that these brands often offer discounts or benefits when they are presented with a list (same for travel agencies).
- If the lucky ones already have everything they need and more, some turn to the charity by providing a communal fund whose money is then donated to associations. A way to base the relationship on favorable omens, great reinforcements of good karma!
- In the same kindly spirit, a new trend is to help the married in their good resolutions: quit smoking, lose weight … And give them the means to succeed! A reason to hate them even more because they will not only be happy and together but also beautiful and in perfect health!
- The big family of « I do not know, I have no ideas » will also be delighted to treat this issue by making an online communal fund, simple and convenient!
A last tip for the lovers: plan all kinds of budgets for gifts, with some foolishness of course so that your friends who stick together since high school can make a common gift, also think to propose some CHOICES (as it’s the latecomers who, like me, take it at the last minute can also offer you a nice gift, and in their prices). And finally write personalized thanks for each gift, which also allows you to remember who offered each gift!
