If you’re attending multiple weddings this year, you already know how brutal these events can be on your finances. There may be multiple dresses, tuxes, plane tickets and hotel rooms to pay for. You may have pets to kennel, children to get babysitters for, and, of course, you’re going to have to buy engagement party gifts and wedding gifts for newlyweds.
Fortunately, when it comes to the gift giving, it is possible to find affordable wedding gifts.
And if you are searching for inexpensive wedding gift ideas, no need to feel like a cad. You shouldn’t worry about how much the cost is, says Lisa Mirza Grotts, a certified etiquette professional based in San Francisco.
“The gift you choose should come from the heart, not how much you spent. When it comes from that place, it will be appreciated,” Grotts says.
With that in mind, here are more good cheap wedding gift suggestions — all priced at less than $100.
— A map.
— A scratch-off map.
— Canvas print.
— Monogrammed passport covers.
— Monogrammed bathrobes.
— A gift card.
— The Date Night Bucket List.
— The 100 Dates Scratch Off Poster.
— A picnic.
— A cookbook.
— Couples’ aprons.
— An appliance.
— Entertainment.
— The wedding invitation, framed.
— Casting kit.
— Cheese board set.
— Chess board game.
— Movie marquee print.
— Stars The Night We Met Map.
— Sterling & Noble 29.5-Inch Panoramic Decorative Fireplace.
[Read: How to Save Money on Your Wedding.]
A Map
A map doesn’t sound like much of a gift, but this is not an ordinary map. Kendall Valerio, owner of Sadie & June and based in Ottawa, Ontario, has a clever idea for a gift.
“We hand-embroider vintage map prints with hearts. For where you live, where you met your love, where you can’t wait to travel to again. Just like the red heart, your story gets stitched into your unique piece,” Valerio says.
Prices vary, but it’s easy to find maps on the website for well under $100 — and mostly under $50.
A Scratch-off Map
Yes, another map. If your newlyweds love to travel, this can make for a unique gift. Waypoint Wanders sells scratch-off maps, mostly priced in the neighborhood of $30. Among other things, you can give the couple a map of the United States, a map of the country’s national parks or a map of the world.
It’s a simple but ingenious concept. As the couple travels to the places on the map, they get to scratch the location off, eventually revealing a beautiful map.
Canvas Print
If you have a striking picture of the couple, have it enlarged and printed on canvas. CanvasPrints.com offers a lot of options for under $100. Just upload a photo to the site to have it printed on cotton blended canvas. Soon you’ll receive a personal wedding gift, without having to leave your house.
Monogrammed Passport Covers
“For the travelers,” Grotts says. In other words, if these newlyweds often go to far-flung places abroad, getting them monogrammed passport covers would be a pretty unique gift — and they’d think about you every time they traveled the globe.
For those who didn’t know monogrammed passport covers were a thing, a lot of places sell them, for a variety of prices, ranging from $12 to $70, according to online searches. The PersonalizationMall.com is currently selling monogrammed passport covers for $24.99. Just don’t get so excited about the cheap wedding gift price that you forget that you’ll be paying for two monogrammed passport covers and not just one.
Monogrammed Bathrobes
Another idea from Grotts. “For the spa set,” she says.
Of course, even if the newlyweds aren’t likely to be hanging out at a spa, you can probably imagine them hanging out in comfy robes at home. You can easily find bathrobes for under $100 — and you can easily find them for over that, too. And, of course, you will want to buy two bathrobes.
RobeMart.com has a lot of bathrobes for well under $100, such as this soft navy blue plush hooded woman’s robe — and this men’s, also blue plush hooded. They are each $36.37, and so you could get both for $72.74, before you’re hit with tax or shipping charges. (Free shipping if you buy $150 or more in robes.)
A Gift Card
This idea may not sound personal, but it depends on the gift card. A generic gift card, like a Visa or an Amazon gift card, will probably be appreciated but quickly forgotten by a newly married couple. But couples might remember some gift cards fondly, even years later, if it’s a little unique.
“Couples today are very practical,” says Denise Buzy-Pucheu, owner of The Persnickety Bride in Newtown, Connecticut.
Also, if you’ve put off buying a wedding present, you may not have the time to look for anything else.
Buzy-Pucheu suggests considering one of the following gift cards:
— Airbnb.com.
— Spafinder.com.
— Wayfair.com.
— TJ Maxx.
— Home Goods.
The Date Night Bucket List
The Date Night Bucket List, sold by Uncommon Goods for $20, is a unique little gift. Think of it like a lot of dates in a can.
Here’s how it works: The couple opens the can, and inside are little sticks made of birch wood. On the sticks are date suggestions, like pack blankets and pillows and go stargazing someplace secluded or attend a lecture at a local museum or university.
After the couple goes on the outing, they are encouraged to record the calendar date they did the activity on the back of the stick.
100 Dates Scratch Off Poster
Amazon also sells something kind of similar and whimsical. It’s a 100 Dates Scratch Off Poster. It’s $28.99, though ideally, you should buy a frame to go with it. The poster has 100 silver circles with descriptions of the date underneath, like “go to the opera” or “go bowling.” The couple is then supposed to go on the date and then come back and scratch it off, and it’ll reveal a colorful drawing of a couple doing something fun.
It encourages togetherness, and when they are done with the 100 dates the couple will have a poster of all the cool things they’ve done together.
[READ: How Companies Trick You Into Spending More.]
Send the Newlyweds on a Picnic
It’s another experience type of gift. Grotts suggests that you purchase a picnic basket for the couple and pack it “with lunch and libations.”
Granted, if you get the bride and groom really expensive foods and drinks to go along with the picnic basket, it could be the most pricey picnic lunch ever, so be careful to not go overboard if you’re on a budget and truly looking for affordable wedding gifts. But Wayfair has a natural slatted woodchip picnic basket with cotton liner, on sale for $42.99.
A Cookbook
Who doesn’t love the gift of food? That said, a restaurant gift card or a meal plan subscription service can be expensive. As an alternative, consider giving newlyweds a book about food, like “Date Night In: More than 120 Recipes to Nourish Your Relationship” by Ashley Rodriguez. The book is $15.49 on Amazon and full of recipes that should spice up any couple’s evening.
Couples’ Aprons
If a cookbook doesn’t quite sound like the right gift, but you know or believe the newlyweds enjoy cooking, you could buy the couple a pair of matching aprons.
Walmart has a set of matching black and white aprons (that say Mr. and Mrs. on them) for $20 — and a lot of other couples aprons. Zazzle.com and Etsy.com are also websites where you may want to search for customized and unique couples’ aprons.
An Appliance
Buzy-Pucheu suggests giving a newlywed couple “any small, sturdy appliance” from Cuisinart. “They are rugged, they last and they are built for families,” she says. “Any Cuisinart blender, juicer or chopper under $100 would be awesome.”
Entertainment
Give the newlyweds the gift of streaming and an affordable date night option.
“The first year after marriage should be all about the newlyweds settling into their new life together, and a subscription service will do just that,” says Martin Thornburg, a bridal designer who designs dresses for Mon Cheri Bridals, based in Ewing, New Jersey. A one-year subscription to a streaming service like Netflix, Hulu or Disney+ will give the couple “unlimited date night movie options,” he says.
Depending on the service and if you get an annual subscription versus paying it month to month, this gift should come to around $100. But the price will also depend on factors such as the service you choose, and whether it’ll come with ads or no ads.
The Wedding Invitation, Framed
Help the couple commemorate their big day.
“A sentimental and inexpensive gift is taking the wedding invitation you were sent in the mail and framing it. Framing the invitation is a meaningful gift. The couple can hang it on the wall and have a way to look back on their big day all the time,” Thornburg says.
Casting Kit
Give the couple a hand — or two hands. Consider gifting a hand hold casting kit.
Available on Amazon for $37.97, this kit allows a couple to create a mold and a statue of their hands clasping. It’s a gift that symbolizes their love and togetherness. A little sappy, maybe, but very memorable.
Cheese Board Set
This is the sort of gift couples often ask for on a registry, so it’s a pretty safe gift. But sometimes safe works really well. This cheese board and knife set is listed on Amazon for $35.99. And maybe the next time the couple has company, you’ll be among the guests.
Chess Board Set
From cheese to chess. A chess set is classy, and when set up on table, it can serve as a design element. It’s also an activity that the couple can enjoy together. Wayfair offers some upscale chess sets for way over $100 — and some for under, like this one currently on sale for $87.72 (usually $93.93).
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Movie Marquee Photo Print
Another Uncommon Goods item that would work well as a wedding gift: a personalized movie marquee photo print. It’s a photo of a cinema marquee, and it looks as if it’s playing a movie called “When (Name of Person) Met (Name of Person).” (A riff off of the classic 1989 movie, “When Harry Met Sally.”)
Or you can go with a different movie title like “A Love Story.”
You can also add bits of information about the “movie,” such as “starring (the names of your couple)” and “playing since (the date they met or married).”
Unframed, the photo print is $85, and in a black frame it’s $125, so you’ll have to think a little about this one if you were hoping to keep it under $100.
‘Stars the Night We Met’ Map
If you’re really looking for something clever, find out the date your couple met, or maybe the day they designate as the one when they fell in love, and what city they were in, and then go to PrintedMemories.com, which specializes in creating personalized gifts.
You give the website the date and location where the newlyweds met, and it’ll produce an actual, accurate drawing of the constellation, of how the stars looked that night.
Prices vary, from well under $100 to well over $100, depending on whether you go for a big print (24″ x 32″) or small (12″ x 16″) or somewhere in between (12″ x 24″). You can pick a natural wood or black wood or just give the poster without a frame.
You can definitely get the couple a nice, framed map of the stars for under $100. You can also go really cheap and send the newlyweds a digital file for $19.99, so they can print it out and frame it themselves, but a few more bucks would make the gift a bit more thoughtful and presentable.
Sterling & Noble 29.5-Inch Panoramic Decorative Fireplace
The newlyweds hopefully have fire in their romance, but this is a gift that might allow them to keep it.
You could get them a decorative fireplace. If they’re living somewhere without a fireplace, they may enjoy it. Bed Bath & Beyond sells a Sterling & Noble 29.5-Inch Panoramic Decorative Fireplace. It runs on batteries, and you can put it on a shelf. The red LED lights make it look like it’s a fireplace, though there is no actual fire or warmth emitting from the gadget. The couple will have to do that themselves.
It’s $49.99, but join Bed Bath & Beyond’s welcome rewards program, and you’ll get it for $39.99.
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Affordable Wedding Gift Ideas originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 03/15/23: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
