Long tradition of bridal gift lists

[caption id="attachment_38985" align="alignright" width="250"] ONLINE OPPORTUNITY: Wedding gift registries are increasingly available online in South Africa[/caption]

GIFT-GIVING has over the years become an almost essential gesture for wedding guests – to help the bridal couple start up their own homes, particularly when many unmarried young people lived with their parents until the day they married.

Newlyweds relied on gifts to supplement the bride's "bottom drawer" – a stash of household items such as sheets, blankets, crockery, bath towels – and "trousseau" – a collection of clothing, bridal accessories, jewellery, lingerie, toiletries and make-up put away by or for a young woman in preparation for marriage – to take to her new home.

Although these gifts were specially picked out, they were often inexpensive. But for convenience sake and to avoid a duplication of gifts, department stores started to offer gift lists.

Nowadays known as wedding or bridal registries, this list is trending among retail stores which trade in wedding gifts.

By selecting items from a store's stock, couples compile a gift list comprising a mixture of their preferences in order of priority for their guests to purchase all their gifts at one store. This is not only limited to cutlery and towels, but goes as far as home furniture, linen and decor.

Most wedding guests find it much easier to purchase items from a list than trying to guess what a couple wants.

Newton Park-based Seasons owner Zaheer Munshi said: "Once an item has been purchased it is usually ticked off the list".

"With an assortment of cookware, kitchenware, rugs, glassware, decor and linen we take bridal couples through our store, so they can chose what they would like for their entire home. We give them personalised service, they get to not only see but touch what they want."

Since they opened the registry, three months ago, Munshi said they had assisted six soon-to-be weds.

"A lot of the couples who have come in have often looked at the guests' budget. Price has been a huge consideration," he said. - Balisa Ntloko

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