With the advent of Aso-Ebi, the art of giving wedding gifts is slowly being lost. As far as many people are concerned, buying your Aso-Ebi is their wedding gift to you. And depending on how much your Aso-Ebi cost, they might be right.
Whether you bought Aso-Ebi or not, they are certain people you are obligated to give a wedding gift. Your best friend, your boss (because what better way is there to suck up), people you actually like and whose weddings you are not just attending for free food and alcohol.
In case you missed the memo, wrapping up that generic brown cooler and gifting it to newlyweds is no longer allowed. Uncle Bubu is our president and you know what the state of the economy is. Please give people things they actually need or nothing at all. Here are 7 wedding gift ideas to start you off with in Nigeria.
Money
Anything else I’m going to mention on this list could never be a better wedding gift for a new couple than cold hard cash. If you are married or you’ve been married before then you already know this. If you haven’t been married before, seeing the total cost for pulling off a wedding from the introduction to the honeymoon, might give you a mini-stroke.
Kitchen appliances
My parents have been married for thirty years and I can swear every time our blender breaks my mum goes to her store of unending wedding gifts and unwraps a new one. I’m pretty sure we have blenders by brands who have closed shop somewhere in the house. My point is kitchen stuff is always a good idea. It might seem like just one blender, or just a set of pots but if you add it all up, the financial burden of setting up a new home is staggering, and anything to alleviate that is always welcome.
Anything off their register
Don’t be that person who gets sent a link to a couple’s wedding register, completely ignores it and goes off to buy whatever they want. Granted, some couples move mad and the cheapest thing on their register could cost a hundred thousand naira. In that sort of situation, get two or three friends to split the cost with. And if you don’t even like the couple like that, just act like you never saw the register.
Aso-Ebi
If the Aso-Ebi costs anything more than thirty thousand naira, you are allowed to show up to the wedding without a gift. The average cost of lace in the market is ten thousand naira, except you are the bride or the bride’s mother. That extra twenty thousand naira profit they’ve made on the Aso-Ebi you bought, is your gift to them.
Rent
Don’t close this page yet, just hear me out. I know you have your own rent gbese to worry about, but if you and the newlyweds belong to a very large network of friends. All of you coming together to help them sort out their first year’s rent is a wedding gift the couple will still be talking about for years to come.
Home appliances
If you are that one really rich friend of the couple, unclench the tight fist around your wallet and get the couple something that would have been a pain to buy themselves. Like a washing machine or a fridge or a generator.
Self-care vouchers
Just before they leave for their wedding, get the couple a voucher for a full day of self-pampering. Massages, pedicures, facials, the works. Weddings are stressful and they are going to need it.
