Wedding Gift List

A question about : Wedding Gift List

I'm overwhelmed by the amount of wedding gift list services there are. Which one did you use and was it any good? My cousin who is getting married in 3 months time has used the John Lewis one but the gifts on there look very expensive. I don't want my guests to feel pressured into buying an expensive gift.

Having said that I already have a house with everything I need in it. So do I need a wedding gift list? Are there any companies which do gift lists based on holidays? i.e. do Thomas Cook do one?

Best answers:

• We had ours at John Lewis. We found them very reasonably priced and very efficient for both us and our guests. Another reason why we chose them was that for guests buying over the internet/phone, they were not charged extra for delivery but Debenhams do charge this extra. JL were courteous all the way through and we couldn't fault them. However, a friend who got married 2 weeks after we did had problems (but at a different store) with JL.
  Yes, there are websites that cater for holidays - inparticular honeymoons and guests can contribute towards that. I believe that Trailfinders do it and Thomas Cook/Thomson.
• Thanks, just sent for a brochure from Trailfinders.
• I can also recommend John Lewis when we used them. JL has a policy that it is never knowingly undersold (I've put some more information on this below) so I don't think you should worry about your guests paying excessive prices. We were told that the price of our products may change whilst on the gift list because of this. Also as above wouldn't recommend Debenhams as they have high delivery and gift wrap charges.
  Never knowingly undersold
  We set very competitive prices for all John Lewis department stores. Our buyers set prices so that it is unlikely you will find the same product selling for less in other UK shops. We constantly check prices in local shops and if we find the same item cheaper, we lower our price to match, even during Sales.
  Each shop checks the prices of likely competitors in the local area. (Details of the area covered are available on request from Customer Services in your local shop.) If we find a competitor within this area selling the same product that is part of our own standard offer at a lower price, our shelf price will be reduced to match. As a result all our customers benefit from the lower price, not only those who spot the difference.
  The comparison must be with exactly the same item (brand, model, colour, size etc) and both we and the competitor should have the item in stock. We match the shelf-edge price the competitor displays, but not a negotiated or special price for particular individuals (e.g. their store card holders). We expect the goods to be offered on equivalent terms, and so we take into account any ‘hidden extras' charged by the competitor, such as delivery charges for items that would normally require delivery.
• I'm not sure if the offer is still on, but when I married last year, Debenhams give you a Ј50 gift card for setting up your list with them.
  You go into store and the advisor takes your details. She gives you a bar code scanner and you select what you would like walking round and scanning the things you like. When you come back, the advisor downloads the data into your list, and gives you the Ј50 gift card.
  It takes about an hour of your time, and you don't have to actually give details of the list out, but it's worth doing for the freebie
  We did use the list but most people collected from store to save delivery charges, and we also had a list at Argos. We had things on to suit all budgets - from cheap mugs to more expensive kitchen gadgets.
• Travelmood do a Honeymoon account where guets can pay in. Details here:-
  https://www.travelmood.com/honeymoon/honeymoon_step.asp
• Beccles, i had exactly the same as you - a list a debenhams and a list at argos.
  With Debenhams you get a £50 voucher as a freebie for signing up! You can't go wrong with that.
  I found them really helpful too. They give you all the little cards to send out with the invitations. You get a scanner jobby to take round the store and your list is available online and in store. Its much cheaper than john lewis too!
• Most travel agents have the facility for your guests to make contributions towards a honeymoon - & provide cards to pop in with the invitations, the same you would if your list was at a department store. I think this is a fab idea, as a lot of couples have lived together a while before getting married, so have most of the usual household items. So BS, where do you fancy jetting off too???!!!
• Weve got three wedding lists. One with Debenhams with only a few small things on it. Found their prices to be quite expensive and I personally would never buy anything from there for that reason so we found it very difficult to pick things. Only did it for the free £50. We also have one on marriagegiftlist.com. You just put links on to things that you have found in different stores. We found pots and pans on amazon and a few things from argos etc. And then we have one on tablewhere.co.uk. The tablewhere in Debenhams was far too expensive and we found some lovely much more reasonably priced stuff on this site.
  We didnt really want to have three lists. We had originally just put the tabelwhere links onto the marriagegift list but if the items are part of a gift list on their own site the whole lot gets delivered for free in one go whereas if guests just bought separatly they get charged postage. We explained the whole lot on our confetti site so hopefully the guests dont mind too much!
  Emma
• Hi!
  I'm not getting married until next year but we are definately going with Debenhams.
  We know a few friends and family members who have used them and were extremely happy with their service.
  You also get a £50 gift card when you register with them
• We're using https://www.whattogive.com it's internet based so it's easy to fill in and it's really flexible because you put anything you like from any shop on :-)
• A freind of mine did one of these themselves
  they went on a round the world trip fpor thier honeymoon and had guests pay for items on it. SOme of the "gifts" were very small such as lunch in Pakistan ( 1.50) or a night in a jungle lodge ( £7)
  they rigged it all lup themselves with some easy website design internet software and used a paypal account they had set up specifically.
  By all accounts this was a real success, no one felt ripped off, and they got predominantly what they wanted instead of a load of tableware that they didnt need but felt obliged towards doing on a wedding list.
  thanks for the heads up on the debenhams one tho
• Debenhams works out very expensive for your guests. You may get a free £50 but with a list of any size your guests will more than cover that with the delivery fee they will be coerced into paying. John Lewis only give you a free coffee and a cake (expensive cafe so that could be worth a tenner!) but your guests don't pay anything for delivery. I actually think Debenhams is expensive; prices may be lower than John Lewis but the products are worth significantly less. I work with someone who used to be part of their buying operation and the stories she tells are real eye openers. (Goods bought in and sold at a ridiculously high price just so they can later be marked down for sale, outrageous mark-ups etc).
• Another alternative is something like oxfam unwrapped - I don't know if you have heard of it, but it is fab! Basically what you do is buy a 'gift' for someone that ends up going to someone who needs it in a developing country. You can buy things like goats, mango plantations, medicines for a village, blankets and food for street children, school desks and books etc. You get sent a card explaining whatyour gift is and how it will help. There is something for every budget.
  They do wedding lists and might be a fun alternative to the usual list, especially if you already have most things you need!
  You could always combine this idea with a holiday style one - my sister did this and she got her honeymoon paid for
• My cousin's getting married soon too and as she has been living with her fiance for a while they didn't really need the usually housey stuff so she's circumvented the whole "wedding list" issue by asking for Thomas Cook vouchers so people can choose the amount they want to give which they'll then spend on the honeymoon (and future holidays if any left over).
• We're getting married in just over 6 weeks . We've set up a gift list with JL, but most of our things are under Ј25. We're in the the same situation as you Black Saturn: a houseful of stuff as we've lived together for 3 1/2 years. Most of the things on the list are either to replace worn out things or just things we'd like.
  TBH our main 'request' is for people to contribute to our honeymoon (if they want to). We've booked with Thomas Cook. Once you've got a reference, guests can either ring up a branch, go in or (I think) contribute through the website by quoting the booking reference.