Other than the normal gift of money (big in my culture), gift cards to favorite stores are useful. Since we were a young couple starting out, that would've helped us furnish our home a lot quicker. Another cool idea would be a dream honeymoon (all expenses paid) with spending cash to boot. Since my husband and I come from good-sized families, it would've been possible if the costs were spread out over everyone.

On the more practical side, personalized wedding frames are simple but sweet and definitely useful since there are so many pictures taken on that day. A nice set of dishes for entertaning or a set of really good cookware would've been helpful as well.

Personally, I think we had a really blessed wedding! Although both of my grandmothers passed away three weeks prior to the date we set, many family members rose to the occassion. An aunt who was a caterer, catered the wedding reception free of charge and made a simple but beautiful cake as her gift to us. Another aunt created a slideshow with music as part of her gift. An uncle took pictures during the event and then put them in an album and presented it to us. Another uncle officiated the ceremony; my brother-in-law cleaned up his huge yard (with help of course) so we could have a beautiful outdoor ceremony. My best friend flew in from Atlanta to take care of all the details I wouldve normally been responsible for. Although our wedding might've seemed simple to others, it was exactly what we wanted and we didn't stress financially or in any other way for that matter. I think it's safe to say that we got everything we could've wanted for our wedding!