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wedding gifts

A black man with short hair and a black woman with hair tied up embrace and kiss, their heads turned away from the camera. The woman holds his face with her left hand and wears a pink off the shoulder chiffon dress

How to ask for cash for your wedding instead of gifts.

by Rosie Hurwitz July 4, 2022

If you’re getting married and have decided you want to ask guests for money instead of wedding gifts – great! You’re in the right place to find out how.

More and more couples are deciding to ask for cash for their wedding instead of setting up a gift list and here at Patchwork we’ve been listening carefully over the years to find out how couples and guests feel about this. With years of feedback from couples and their friends and families AND our recent wedding guest survey results, we proudly present the definitive guide on how to ask for money in a way that looks and feels good (and doesn’t upset Auntie Carol either!)

How to ask for money as a wedding gift – nicely.

It’s absolutely fine if you just want to ask for money as a wedding gift. But we’ve got some secrets to share that make it go down much better with guests. Let’s start with the two of you. You’ve probably got some idea of what the money is for. And that’s important. Maybe it’s for a once in a lifetime honeymoon, or you want to buy a campervan for years of adventures? Perhaps you need the money to help pay for the actual wedding, or you need to do some work on the house? Whatever it is, share this with guests and they’ll feel a lot happier giving you money instead of gifts.

How to explain that you’re asking for money to your wedding guests.

As explained above, once you’ve decided what the money is going to be for (and it can be for a combination of things – so don’t worry if you want a bit for the honeymoon, some new towels and crockery AND some money towards a new boiler!) it’s a lot easier to invite guests to contribute. The idea is to turn the money in to a gift. And that’s where Patchwork comes in.

Absolutely anything can be transformed from just plain money in to a meaningful and much wanted gift. When you link to a Patchwork cash wedding registry on your invites there’s no need to explain anything – it speaks for itself and guests will immediately feel engaged with, and included in your plans. And they’ll enjoy gifting you money this way.

Why you need a wedding gift list (even though you don’t want gifts).

So you’re ready to turn requests for money in to fun, personal and meaningful ‘gifts’ – here’s how it works:

£10 becomes beers on the beach on your amazing honeymoon
£20 transforms in to a tin of paint to give the kitchen a new lease of life
£50 becomes lunch for two at your favourite restaurant
£100 is a tour of the local sights on your honeymoon island
£250 pays for the plumber to help get the kitchen sorted
£500 means you can have that band play at your wedding!

When you show people what you want to do with the money they give, the experience is so much more satisfying for them (and guess what – they’ll want to give more!)

How to make it fun for your guests to give you money as a wedding gift.

When we think of giving money as a gift, we’d all agree it isn’t usually a very exciting or special experience. It’s often slipped quietly into an envelope or transferred via a banking app, and we neither get to see the excited reaction of the recipient opening the gift, nor do we get the thrill of imagining what happiness it will bring them.

When you can ‘wrap up’ money as a gift with Patchwork it is a very different experience for your guests. Suddenly they feel excited to be gifting you something they can see you’ll love. They can picture you having lunch on your honeymoon, or enjoying breakfast in your new kitchen, and they know that because they now have a connection to that experience or gift, that you’ll think of them while you’re enjoying it. Guests have told us that the sense of knowing that their gift is wanted and appreciated and specific is very important.

How to include everyone, even those on a tiny budget.

So how do you ensure that everyone feels good about giving you money for your wedding instead of gifts? Simply make sure that even small amounts are recognised as bringing you joy and happiness! Some of your guests might be feeling the pinch right now and if finances are stretched, the last thing you’ll want to do is make people feel as if their gift isn’t ‘good enough’. Well, Patchwork is here to help again, because as long as you can show people that all amounts are valued and can help you with your dream – everyone is happy. We all know that it’s the simple things in life that can bring great joy so let’s share a few ideas of what that can look like!

Honeymoon – £5 for a cold beer on the beach at sunset
New kitchen – £5 buys a beautiful tile or two to finish your new kitchen
Wedding fund – £5 means your favourite bloom in your wedding bouquet
Honeymoon – £5 for an enormous ice-cream in the sun as you stroll through a pretty village
Date nights – £5 so you can upgrade your drink to a glass of champagne
New sofa – £5 for a new book to curl up on your new sofa with!

How to get more than you would do if you just asked for cash.

Again, this comes down to being very specific and giving each of your cash gift requests plenty of personality and description! The stats back this up too – most people giving cash as a wedding gift aren’t all that motivated to be particularly generous. The average cash gift amount for a wedding in the UK is £65 whilst the average cash gift amount with Patchwork is £85.

Our other top tip is a bit of reverse psychology which has been tried and tested: Lower your gift amounts to get more! Yes, strangely, the lower you price your ‘patches’ on your gift registry, the more generous your guests will be. If you only have patches of say £50 and above, there’s a danger that someone who only wants to spend £30-£40 will feel slightly pressured and just won’t contribute anything at all. Whereas if you show guests that you’re really happy for them to contribute a small amount, they are likely to feel more generous and want to treat you.

How not to offend anyone with requests for cash.

Quite simply – don’t just ask for cash. There are so many lovely ways to make the request meaningful and personal that there’s not a lot of benefit in sticking bank details on wedding invites. It can come across as insensitive, grabby and unimaginative. At best it’s boring, and transactional and can also make people feel awkward and embarrassed. Guests who took part in our recent survey said they didn’t like it when bank details were included on wedding invitations. Their responses ranged from saying it felt ‘joyless and transactional’, and ‘awkward’ to ‘quite rude’. Asking for cash on the day wasn’t popular either, with guests worrying that they wouldn’t know how much to give, or whether it would be acknowledged, or even be received safely. With so many people not carrying cash these days, it’s also another thing for your guests to try and remember to organise before they leave the house!

And finally…

What you don’t need to do when you ask for cash for your wedding instead of gifts:

The first thing you don’t need to do when you ask for cash via Patchwork is apologise! We’ve heard of so many couples feeling like they have to first explain or apologise when asking for money on invites, yet with Patchwork couples feel excited and proud to share their wedding registries which is a whole different emotion.

Your wedding is definitely not the time for you to be feeling cringey or embarrassed about any part of your day and your gifts (money or otherwise) are no exception.

On the same note – you don’t need to write a ‘money poem’ to try to hide behind the fact that you’re asking for money. OK, if you’re straight up saying – ‘please transfer us some money’ then we get that some couples feel the need to try and make it cute by adding a poem (usually another way of apologising) but we’re all for being proud of whatever it is you’re saving up for and sharing it with your friends and family. Once they know what it is you’re looking forward to they’ll be only too happy to help you (and you’ll be making life easy for them too so it’s a win win!)

So there you have it – we hope we’ve covered everything in our all-you-need-to-know-about-asking-for-money-as-a-wedding-gift-guide and we look forward to helping you create your own very unique Patchwork registry!

Love Rosie and the Patchwork Team xx

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Laura and Chris - wedding reception at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife

Patchwork Couples

Sustainable wedding and off-grid hut group gift

by Rosie Hurwitz July 27, 2021

written by Rosie Hurwitz

Laura and Chris are both originally from Cumbria but now live in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland, with their dog, Uisge, and growing menagerie of animals. They met at a pub Chris was working in, became friends first before getting together, and got married on their 13th anniversary – on 13th June this year. With the help of their very talented family and friends Laura and Chris had a humanist ceremony and a beautiful sustainable wedding reception. Being mindful of the environmental impact of their wedding was important throughout. Their one dream wedding gift was to ask for help to fund and build an off-grid hut. Read on to find out more!

How did you get engaged?

Laura: I proposed on 29th February last year – the leap day! We had had a few conversations over the years with the broad intention of getting married once Chris had finished his degree but I was getting impatient so took matters into my own hands. I picked out a ring for Chris – it turns out that guessing ring sizes is very tricky!

First thing that morning, I made a cup of tea, and put on “You Grew On Me” by Tim Minchin, the closest thing to “our song” we had. Then I popped the question back in bed with the cuppa. Chris was truly stunned (one of the few times he’s been lost for words) and eventually said yes! We phoned our families and the excitement and love from them was really touching. After being together so long, we thought most people would see our engagement as inevitable but the excitement from other people really made us more excited too, it was lovely. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks later, the first national lockdown began so weren’t able to celebrate in person with our family and friends.

Best Dog of Laura and Chris - sustainable wedding at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife

sustainable seed bomb wedding favours - at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife

What kind of wedding did you plan?

We knew we wanted a small and relaxed day. Neither of us love being in the limelight and prefer low-key, informal events. However, we still wanted it to feel like a special day. We planned to have an outdoor ceremony, with our dog Uisge as Chris’ Best Dog, followed by afternoon tea, lawn games and a BBQ. We both have large and geographically distanced families. Therefore, we made the decision early on that we’d have a small wedding with our immediate family and closest friends near our home. A party with extended family and friends back in Cumbria was planned for the week after. This decision was also influenced by our desire to have a Humanist wedding ceremony. This is legally recognised in Scotland but not in England.

We had so many kind offers of help from our tribes. One of our friends and her 16 year old daughter made the most amazing cake. Another friend played piano throughout the ceremony and my sister did some kind of wizardry on decorating the outdoor space and tables. We were very keen to keep the environmental impact of our wedding as low as we could. Therefore, we used plants that could be gifted and replanted in our garden to decorate the tables. We also brought in my mad shell collection, my mum’s vases and other bits and bobs. We gifted seed-bomb favours and my bouquet flowers came from locally grown plants. The hessian we used on the tables has already been reused on our brother-in-law’s allotment!

tables set up for wedding reception at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife

home made wedding cake on table in sunshine

How did Covid affect your wedding day plans?

We spent a lot of time checking the rules and guidance and making various back-up plans. For our wedding in Scotland, we kept everything outdoors. We reminded our guests to maintain social distances and use face masks where required. The main change we had to make was to the seating. We had originally planned to have the BBQ as an informal seating arrangement, where everyone could mingle. However, the rule was that all food had to be served seated so we hired extra tables last minute so that everyone could be seated according to the rules at the time. We had over-sized tables with odd chair layouts to accommodate this. However, everyone was very understanding and it seemed to go fine!

Laura and Chris - wedding ceremony at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife

Because we had people travelling to join us, we knew there was a chance they wouldn’t be able to make it. There was also a risk that the rules could change at the last minute. With this in mind we made arrangements to stream our ceremony on Zoom for family and friends who couldn’t make it. My uncle and one of our friends really went above and beyond to make sure the sound and picture quality were top notch. This meant extended family were able to “join in” from a distance and was a lovely touch.

We also had video message “telegrams” arranged by my mum from people who couldn’t make it. This was a really sweet surprise. We were really lucky in that we had always planned a small wedding. Some of our friends have had plans curtailled and postponed several times over, so we feel really fortunate that we were able to, broadly speaking, have the day we planned.

Laura and Chris - first dance at their wedding reception at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife

Did you have a first dance?

We did! It was the one permitted dance of the day – we danced outside on the grass to Etta James, “At Last”. Our amazing piano-playing friend had played us up and down the aisle earlier in the day but we switched to DJ Spotify for this bit.

Laura and Chris - eating ice cream at their wedding at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife

What was your favourite part of the day?

So many moments! We both agree our favourite part of the day was seeing all our family and friends. We hadn’t been able to see Chris’ parents for 18 months by this point. And my family for several months as well, so it was quite an emotional day. At one point we took a second to stand at the edge and looked across the garden at our family and friends chatting and playing lawn games. A lot of them hadn’t met before the day so it was really special to see different parts of our lives joining up. We were also very fortunate to have generous friends who brought their gelato cart. Seeing our little nephews’ faces with huge icecreams whilst in their kilts was magic!

Laura and Chris - wedding at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife

Why did you choose Patchwork for your wedding gift list?

We had been undecided on whether to have a gift-list or not . We.ve lived together for a long while and we’re pretty well set up in terms of traditional wedding gifts. We genuinely weren’t expecting many gifts. We had told our guests that we valued their presence and involvement in our wedding most of all. Especially after such a testing year (and a half?!) Despite this, we started getting calls from extended family asking what we would like and how they could contribute. So we told them about our plan to build an off-grid cabin which went down well!

We then turned to google to see if there was a platform to help and found Patchwork! It ticked all our boxes of being easy to set up and visually pleasing. Most importantly, though, it allowed us to suggest practical and skill based contributions as well as monetary ones. We liked being able to really personalise the templates, adding in how we would use each component. So for example, we asked for a camp kettle and added that we would always have the tea ready for visitors. (Can you tell we like tea?! Haha!)

sustainable bouquet of locally grown flowers, blues and whites, laid on log

What did you invite guests to contribute towards?

We asked for help in building our off-grid hut. We are fortunate to have both generous and skilled people in our corner and Patchwork made it easy to ask “Could you help us by making curtains?” or “Can you give us a hand to put up walls” as well as “Can you fund a firepit?” We have been saving for a while for this project and it made sense that if people wanted to help us, that was where we’d like the help.

What did your friends and family think?

We were a little nervous because it’s a step away from a tradtional gift list but our friends and family wouldn’t expect anything different from us by now! We were pleased at how well received it was and everyone we spoke to was really excited for us and enjoyed looking through the Patchwork and choosing how to contribute.

Off-grid cabin Patchwork group wedding gift template in an ipad

What are the plans for the off-grid hut?

We’re leasing a small plot of land on the edge of a farm not too far from us. The plan is to build an off-grid hut to spend weekends or longer in, away from the hustle and bustle of daily life! Chris is a teacher so a bit of space to enjoy the peace will be invaluable. We love camping and spending time outdoors, especially with our dog, and having a bit of space to share with our friends will be special. We’re planning to have sleeping space for 4 people, a little stove, with some comfy seats and board games for rainy days. A deck and fire pit outside will make the brighter days last even longer.

We’ll use recycled and reclaimed materials where we can, in line with our ecological values. The hutting code and ethos says that the hut must be removable at the end of its life without leaving a lasting effect on the land. So no concrete foundations and lots of graft in moving materials to the site. We’re looking forward to getting our teeth into this project – the building is part of the fun! The help we’ve had from our incredible family and friends (mostly through Patchwork) will make it happen so much quicker too.

Thank you!

Thank you so much Laura and Chris for sharing your beautiful wedding day with us and these gorgeous photos and memories. We are so happy that Patchwork could play a part in making your dreams of an off-grid hut come true!

If you’d like to set up your own Patchwork registry for an off-grid hut or anything else, check out our 100s of templates for unique wedding gift ideas or start a page from scratch! Laura & Chris would like to say a special thanks to the following suppliers and friends for making their day extra amazing:

Venue – The Ecology Centre, Kinghorn, Fife
Photographer – Emma Donaldson Photography
Caterers – Better Buffets
Flowers – Into the Woods Floristry
Cake – Super 16yr Old!
Ice-cream – Giacopazzi’s, Eyemouth

p.s listen to Laura & Chris’ first dance song on our Spotify playlist, made up of lots of our Patchwork Couples’ first dances:

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group of friends making a toast over a shared lunch

Patchwork Perspective Wedding Planning

What do couples really want as wedding gifts in 2021?

by Rosie Hurwitz June 2, 2021

written by Rosie Hurwitz

Want to take a peek at what real life couples are including on their Patchwork wedding registry in 2021? With most couples living together before marriage, pots and pans and towels are usually already sorted. In more ‘normal’ times, money towards an exotic or adventurous honeymoon is most UK couples’ no.1 choice of wedding gift, but with travel still looking uncertain for many destinations well in to next year, couples are getting creative about what to add to their wedding registries and the experience of the last year is clear in the gift choices they are making.

Wedding gifts of time together

After more than a year of not being able to see friends and family for celebrations and get togethers, couples are making sure they make up for lost time by adding ‘time with friends’ as an item on their wedding registries.

So rather than asking for crockery sets or saucepans, couples are listing “invite us for dinner” as a gift option on their wedding registries. No money is exchanged, no gifts are wrapped, but instead the couple gets invited round for a home cooked meal and time spent with friends. The same goes for coffee dates and pub lunches… couples are adding “buy us a round at the pub” to their cash gift list. It’s a nice way of catching up with friends and family post-wedding and supporting their local businesses at the same time.

It’s been tough for those with relatives spread across the country or even the globe.. we’ve seen couples asking for money towards train fares or flights instead of traditional wedding gifts so that they can visit family and friends not seen for a year or more.

Pay for the plumber

With engaged couples spending so much time at home together over the last year, they – like most of us – have had more than enough time to pay close attention to their walls, floors, and dodgy pipes. We’ve seen a huge increase in couples asking for cash towards home improvements – money to pay a plumber and an electrician featuring heavily. Whilst most couples can easily afford the smaller things like buying their own pots and pans and cutlery, it’s the bigger things like new kitchen units, or even a new boiler that they really want help with.

Other lockdown inspired items we’re seeing on Patchwork gift registries include contributions towards a puppy (are Jack Russells about to replace the Cockapoo?) We’ve also seen a rise in couples asking for cash contributions so they can expand their board game collection – (for pandemic-proofing date nights at home obviously.)

Green fingered wedding gifts

An appreciation for outdoor space has also meant a rise in couples asking for money towards garden furniture, plants and bulbs, and even contributions towards a hedgehog house. For those with a larger than average garden there’s always the option to add a tractor to your wedding gift registry. Or a flock of sheep. Yes this really happened.

Non-monetary wedding gifts include asking green-fingered friends to spend an afternoon gardening as their gift. Then couples get the added bonus of spending time with their nearest and dearest as well as receiving a present.

Date nights and local minimoons

Whilst travel is uncertain, couples still want adventure, even if that’s a bit closer to home for now.

Our “Year of Date Nights” wedding registry has been really popular, with couples adding experiences in their local area to be funded by friends and enjoyed over the first year of marriage. That might be trying out the posh new restaurant on the high street, visiting a local theatre or gallery, a hot-stone massage, a cookery course, or micro brewery tour. Couples get to treat themselves to new experiences and a bit of luxury in their first year as a couple; and also feel good about supporting local and independent businesses, who have struggled so much in the last 15 months.

We’ve seen a surge in couples inviting guests to chip in towards their minimoons to UK destinations, especially the Lake District, Scotland and Cornwall. Asking for money towards getting a campervan on the road (no airports or Covid tests to worry about) has also been popular with couples tying the knot this year. Expect a huge sales boom in walking boots and Kendal mint cake this summer.

Table set for breakfast on beach, overlooking turquoise ocean, The Maldives — Image courtesy of Turquoise Holidays

Honeymoon dreaming

For some couples though, the white sand and turquoise sea combination are still the ultimate honeymoon dream. A cash fund for a “beautiful island of somewhere” honeymoon is still one of our most popular options, with guests treating couples to cocktails by the pool, lunch on the beach, or a hotel upgrade for that “one day” dream honeymoon to no-one quite knows where yet…

However uncertain times are still, couples using Patchwork can feel secure that whatever happens and however plans have to change, their wedding gift money is safe and secure as it’s all sent direct to them to spend as and when they like. And with such organised and resourceful couples, we’re sure they’ll be ready to go as soon as restrictions allow… especially those super-organised couples who have thought of everything and even added quick covid tests to their registries.

Toilet rolls were so last year.

What would you add to your dream wedding gift list? With the Patchwork ‘dream machine’ you really can add anything and everything. Click here to get yours started.

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woman painting a piece of art on canvas up against the wall

Gift Ideas

Top 10 wedding gift list ideas 2021

by Rosie Hurwitz March 31, 2021

written by Rosie Hurwitz

Want to set up a wedding gift registry but don’t want traditional gifts? Also not sure about post-Covid travel restrictions? Like most couples you’d probably rather ask for cash as a wedding gift and put it towards something you’d really love. Here’s the top ten wedding gift list ideas Patchwork couples are asking guests to chip in to via their cash gift lists this year. We promise you won’t find these on an Amazon wedding registry!

1. A campervan

The great thing about being gifted a campervan on your wedding gift registry is it puts you in control of the when and where of your honeymoon travel! It is the ultimate wedding gift for flexible, spontaneous getaways. And is just what we all need right now. Just think, throwing your stuff in the van at a moment’s notice and heading off for a weekend of adventure – it is the dream.

A whole year of mini-moons perhaps? Whether you decide to staycation in your local area or head across Europe. The options to explore new places together are endless. And there’s nothing more exciting than heading off on the open road. Firstly, just pack some good music, then plenty of snacks and a of course a sense of adventure! And of course, your four legged friend can join you too.

First, you set up a campervan Patchwork gift registry. Next, show your friends and family the campervan of dreams that they can help fund piece by piece. Whether it’s a glow up of the interior, putting some petrol in the tank or chipping in towards some cosy bedding, everyone can choose how to help.

You can even add non-financial gifts. For example, invite people to give you tips on great places to visit or add some road trip songs to your playlist!

Best of all, Patchwork doesn’t hold your funds. This means you can put down a deposit on your dream campervan as you receive the cash gifts. Soon your guests will be waving you off on the road trip of your dreams. And you can send pics via your Patchwork account to say thanks for helping you on your way!

2. A piece of art

If this year has taught us anything it’s the importance of making our homes beautiful spaces to relax and unwind in. You possibly have all the toasters, towels and mugs you’ll ever need. However, a unique piece of art isn’t something you can treat yourselves to every day. Inviting guests to contribute towards an artwork that will take pride of place in your home is a special wedding gift that will remind you of your loved ones every time you look at it.

Whether it’s oil, acrylic or pastels, a timeless classic, or something contemporary – a piece of art is a very personal gift that will bring happy memories and give joy for many years to come. We usually think of art as something to hang on a wall inside but another option is to look at adding a garden sculpture to your wedding gift list. In addition, we’ve also seen a lot of couples commission work from local artists. This a lovely way to support creative businesses especially after the tough year so many people have had. So this really is a unique wedding gift that gives back in many ways.

3. A home makeover project

Staying on the home theme, we’re seeing loads of Patchwork couples thinking about giving a room in their house a refresh and setting up a home project gift list. If travel isn’t an option for you and you already have all the household items you need, what about setting up a wedding gift registry to invite guests to chip in towards a mini makeover project instead?

A bathroom or kitchen makeover is always popular. There’s no limit to the things you can ask friends and family to fund. An hour of a plumber’s time? A contribution towards that fridge you’ve had your eye on? Or perhaps a tile or 10?

If you want to add some gifts that are non-financial – you can! Once restrictions allow, you can invite mates to come and help you. They can get a few coats of ‘Brave Ground’ on the walls (that’s the aptly named Dulux colour of the year 2021). The best bit about a kitchen or bathroom Patchwork gift registry is that you can invite your guests to come and enjoy it too (when we can finally do that exciting thing called “having friends round”!)

Patchwork wedding registry "A Year of Dates" in iPad

4. A year of dates

This is a brilliant idea and will ensure you’ll have a year of exciting adventures closer to home if a honeymoon isn’t possible just yet. One of our most popular Patchwork gift registry templates is our Year of Dates Gift List.

Friends and family can treat you to date nights and other fun experiences as a couple in and around your local area. Want to try out that new restaurant or bar? Visit new galleries and exhibitions? Or enjoy a bit of live music, a massage, or just shop for a picnic at your local deli? With a little help from your family and friends you can enjoy a year of fun experiences.

It will create brilliant memories of your first year of marriage and of course help out local shops and services too. Some of our favourite ideas to include are a wine tasting date, a comedy club night, a night away by the sea and of course lots and lots of cocktails and coffee dates!

5. National Trust lifetime membership

If you love nothing more than spending your weekends pottering about country houses and gardens, a National Trust Lifetime Membership is the perfect wedding gift.

Set up a Patchwork gift registry and invite friends and family to treat you to a lifetime of historic houses, beautiful gardens and woodland walks. And don’t forget the cream teas! It give you a lifetime of countryside adventures, castle visits and happy memories. And the money contributed via your Patchwork wedding gift list will also go towards helping the National Trust keep these places special forever, for everyone.

6. A garden project

Right now seems like the perfect time to set up a Patchwork wedding registry for a garden project. There’s been a huge increase in couples wanting to spend time and money on their gardens. Largely thanks to lockdown and the comfort of watching Monty and the gang!

It’s the perfect gift for family and friends to chip in to especially as soon they’ll be able to enjoy it with you! So all that’s left to decide is what type of wedding garden project you’ll go for. If you’re passionate about sustainability you could get a vegetable patch going so you can eat home grown produce.

If entertaining is your thing, what about an outdoor seating area complete with fire pit, bespoke bar and solar lighting? Even if you don’t have a garden you could have a revamp of your terrace or balcony area. Invite friends to chip in to an allotment rental. You can ask for help to kit you out with all the tools that you’ll need to grow your own for years to come. Whatever outdoor space you have, make the most of it. A Patchwork wedding registry gift helps you collect money towards your dream retreat at home.

7. A rescue dog

Has it always been a lifelong dream to give a dog a loving home? With Patchwork you can set up an online wedding list and invite your guests to help you fund a rescue pup. Even if you’re not buying a dog, there are a lot of expenses that come with owning a four legged friend. Your family and friends can help by visiting your Patchwork wedding registry and choosing whether they’d like to contribute towards a year’s worth of food or those inevitable vet’s bills. Or maybe they’d prefer to fund the ‘fun’ stuff? A new cosy bed, some squeaky toys, or a personalised collar perhaps.

You can even add a charitable donation to your Patchwork wedding gift list and continue to support the rescue centre your four legged friend came from. Whatever they choose to help you with, they’ll be super happy to know that in contributing to your wedding gift list they are helping a dog find a loving forever home. And they’d probably love to join you both and your pup on adventures in the years to come!

8. A dining table made for friends

What better way to celebrate finally being able to have friends round than to host them around a beautiful handcrafted dining table? Set up a Patchwork wedding registry for a new dining table. Then share with your friends and family and look forward to having a dining table that you’ll cherish forever. There’s no greater joy than a beautiful and sustainably made piece of furniture. It will be at the heart of your home for a lifetime. And be the centre of shared memories, good food and joy-filled celebrations.

Not sure where you’ll buy your table? The best wedding registry is one that allows you to spend your gift money where and when you like. The Patchwork wedding registry has no ties to retailers and you can access to your funds straight away.

9. Post wedding staycation treats

Treat yourselves to the ultimate staycation by setting up a Patchwork staycation wedding gift list. Fill your page with those treats that will turn time at home in to a completely luxurious experience. We’ve seen many couples rethink all their honeymoon plans and instead focus on the one certainty – time at home! With a little imagination and the generosity of family and friends you’ll wonder why you ever wanted to leave.

Some of the best suggestions we’ve seen this year for an online wedding gift list include: A yearly Netflix subscription for cosy nights in; take aways from your favourite restaurants; luxury bedlinen for that 5 star feeling; home spa treatments; magazine subscriptions; cocktail nights at home; a monthly flower delivery; a cheese subscription box.

What would you add to your Staycation wedding wish list?

10. A flock of sheep

Well, we’ve not seen these on a John Lewis wedding gift list. Yes we really did have a couple who asked their family and friends to fund a flock of sheep on their Patchwork wedding gift registry! They had their eye on a very specific breed of pedigree sheep called Valais blacknose to join them on their smallholding in Scotland. They even had names picked out: Edith, Agnes and Frances. If sheep aren’t your thing you could ask for chickens, bees or a pony on your wedding list website instead.

Don’t forget, you can also combine your wedding gifts and experiences with a charity gift list. You can invite wedding guests to support your favourite causes. Which just goes to show that with a Patchwork wedding registry you really can fund absolutely anything you’re dreaming of.

So there they are – 2021 most wanted wedding gifts from Patchwork couples in the know. Feeling inspired to create your own non-travel, toaster and towel free Patchwork wedding registry? Join the thousands of couples that have. Even ex Prezola employees use Patchwork wedding registry!

It couldn’t be easier to start creating your marriage gift list, filled with all the things that make you happy. Browse our readymade templates for more ideas or let your imagination run wild and start your own wedding gift list from scratch.

Need help? Give us a ring on +44 7547 439 805 or drop us a line at [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you and share our top tips for how to create the best wedding gift list!

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Bride and Groom standing outside and looking in to each other's eyes on wedding day

Patchwork Couples Wedding Planning

A beautiful re-imagined small wedding during Covid-19

by Rosie Hurwitz September 22, 2020

written by Rosie Hurwitz

2020 will undoubtedly go down as one of the most difficult years in recent history. Those couples who had chosen this year for their wedding have certainly been hit hard. Many faced disappointments, frustrations and in many cases, financial difficulties. The Covid restrictions impacted many couples wedding plans. But it hasn’t stopped many amazingly resilient and determined couples from showing that, despite all the obstacles, love will find a way. We spoke to Zoe, an endocrinologist and general medical physician, and Tom, a trauma and orthopaedic surgeon, who live in London. So this is a couple who have not only had to reimagine their entire wedding during a global pandemic but did it all whilst looking after us and protecting us all in their roles as doctors in the NHS. I don’t think we could be more in awe of this gorgeous pair and their beautiful, love-filled small wedding.

Bride and family celebrating with a small wedding in Yorkshire during Covid-19 pandemic

How did you make the day special despite the ongoing restrictions?

Tom and I finally got married on Saturday August 8th 2020 and it was a very small ceremony in the village I grew up in. We were able to get a common licence from the Bishop. It was just Tom, me, our parents and siblings and my 4 year old niece as flower girl.

Our re-imagined small wedding reminded us that our marriage was really about the joining of our families. Everyone played a part (or three!). My mum and my sister and I spent the morning of our wedding day making flower crowns and bouquets. My husband’s brother organised all the music including playing and singing a song he wrote himself during the ceremony. He was also Tom’s best man and a witness!

Group wedding shot, bride and groom with families socially distancing on either side

It sounds like everyone played an extra special and important part in your day?

They did. The village had pulled together and organised beautiful flowers for the church and petals for the flower girl. They organised photographs and many of our neighbours came to watch from a safe distance!

We weren’t able to have a big wedding reception because of the government rules not relaxing. But my mum made our wedding cake and hosted champagne and cake in my parents’ garden. We also had a small family dinner outside afterwards.

Bride, mother, bridesmaid and flower girl at their small wedding ceremony during Covid-19 pandemic

How did it feel to have a smaller wedding than you’d originally planned?

We missed our friends, of course. But we’re hoping to be able to have a marriage blessing and a big celebration in our original location with all our friends and family, once the pandemic has passed. We decided to wear our “proper” wedding outfits for our smaller ceremony. These were black tie, so we did look rather fancy for a tiny village church in North Yorkshire!

Bride and her mother, standing with backs to camera at entrance to village church

Was your wedding day very different to your original plans?

It was quite far from our original wedding plans, which were in a chapel in my old university and a grand medieval hall with around 100 guests, but in the end it was really just as special.

What’s your advice for couples wondering whether to postpone their wedding?

My advice is to go ahead with getting married even if it can’t be the perfect day you had planned. In the end, the material things did not matter so much to us.

A garden renovation patchwork wedding registry in an iPad

You went ahead with your Patchwork. What made Patchwork the right wedding gift list for you?

We chose Patchwork because it was very easy to use. We wanted to personalise our wish list so that it was meaningful to us and our friends and family. We’d seen honeymoon wish lists before, but we were looking for something a little different. Tom and I wanted our wedding guests to feel they were getting us a gift rather than giving money. But we preferred to pick how we spent the money ourselves – Patchwork was the perfect solution.

I found it easy to make an attractive Patchwork. I did it in one evening, and easy to transfer the money subsequently. We are planning on a garden makeover with the money. We are both doctors and have been very busy since March (when I set up the Patchwork) so we have not had time to use the money yet!

Thank you so, so much Zoe and Tom, for sharing these words and photos from your beautiful day with us. We think a small wedding where everyone can play a part in your celebrations really captures the spirit of what Patchwork is all about! And we really do hope you get some time soon to spend your gift money on your garden in the way that you want – and hopefully create a beautiful space for you to relax and think of all the friends and family who helped make it happen!

If Zoe and Tom have inspired you to organise a small wedding or set up an alternative wedding gift list, check out our gorgeous readymade templates. With Patchwork, it’s easy and fun to ask friends and family to get together virtually to make your dreams come true, whatever they are!

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Wedding Planning

Alternative Gifts For The Wedding Party

by Ismay Ozga January 8, 2020

written by Ismay Ozga

Whether it’s to say congratulations, thank you or just because, we’re in the business of giving gifts. Patchwork was founded on the whole premise of giving gifts that matter, and gifts for your wedding party is no exception! We’ve rounded up some of our favourite token gifts for the key players in your wedding party, be it your mothers, fathers, bridesman, best woman and anyone else who deserves a special thank you on the day.

Gifts for bridesmaids and men of honour

Evermore London candles tick every box. Firstly, their wild, inspired by-the-seasons scents are an absolute delight; secondly, they look super sleek and chic in recycled black glass jars and wildflower-toned boxes; and thirdly, they’re all super sustainable and vegan. As smell is a really evocative sense, why not burn one on the morning of your wedding day when you’re getting ready, then gift the same scent to your bridal party so they’re get instant happy memories when they burn theirs? Just remember to blow it out before you leave for the ceremony, hey…

Gifts for the father of the bride or groom

Why not help your dad mop up those down-the-aisle tears with a personalised handkerchief? We especially love Ink & Thimble‘s creative embroidered take on them, where she immortalises a message of your choice in your handwriting in a beautifully tactile, tangible format. Her stuff evokes the kind of emotional moment that you think money can’t buy but, with Julia’s creative genius, it turns out you can buy it. These do come with a caveat, though: her wedding gifits are so incredibly moving that you may actually cause more happy tears than you mop up…

Wedding gifts for the mother of the bride or the groom

The Safekeeping Society is the wonderful result of a calligrapher and a bookbinder coming together to create gifts that can be loved for many years to come. Their incredible heirloom boxes are made from scratch, meaning you can customise every single element of them – the dimensions, the fabric colour, the foil colour, the writing, the vintage map location on top; whatever you want, they can make to your specification. You could make your parents a box for them to keep their memories of the day in, and start them off with a handwritten letter?

Gifts for your Best Man and Woman

There’s a joke to be had somewhere in this section about making sure your best man/woman turns up to the wedding on time, but what isn’t a joke is Marloe Watch Company‘s gorgeous timepieces. As watches get smarter and lives get more complex, Marloe are going back to the simple things and celebrating tradition, resulting in traditional, handwound watches designed in Britain. Winding your watch in the morning gives you a quiet moment of reflection about the day you’re about to have, and the unique serial number on each watch allows you to customise it forever with the special date, making it a perfect thank you gift for your best man or woman.

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Patchwork Perspective Wedding Planning

Crowdfunded weddings and why we love them

by Ismay Ozga November 29, 2019

written by Ismay Ozga

You’ve heard of crowdfunding, and you’ve heard of weddings, but have you thought about crowdfunding your wedding? Our users have been creating patchworks to help crowdfund their weddings for a while now – an idea we love, incidentally, because why wouldn’t we? It’s about sharing and creating and being together, and that’s what we’re all about. Recently some of the big guys have picked up on it too – people like The Telegraph and Grazia, who we’re so glad are raising awareness for these super important issues. Want to know more? Read on…

What is a crowdfunded wedding?

A crowdfunded wedding is where you ask your guests to contribute things to the day, in lieu of a present in the traditional sense. This can be money, which is what most people would think of when they were told the wedding was being crowdfunded. However, it can also be asking people to ‘make’ and ‘do’ things too. This means people can make their contribution by putting some money behind the bar, making a cake for the dessert table or offering a slot on the night to do a DJ set.

Why would you have a crowdfunded wedding?

Our users have crowdfunded weddings for a multitude of reasons:

They’re getting married later on, so the traditional china set isn’t necessary.
Weddings are hugely expensive and the cost can be prohibitive to getting married.
They’re trying to do better for the environment, and minimising the waste from gifts that aren’t needed.
… And because it’s just really, really lovely to include your nearest and dearest in your day.

How can you have a crowdfunded wedding?

Unlike straight up crowdfunding platforms where you’re asking strangers to give you money for something, the Patchwork platform is private, and much more personal. It’s designed to help coordinate the friends and family who love and support you. Patchwork takes away the awkwardness of asking for money straight up. We think that putting your bank details on your invite can feel a little awkward. Instead, it’s a much more personal, meaningful and fun experience for everyone involved. And you can invite guests to help you in a number of ways. You can explain the difference each thing would make to your life, they can choose whether they want their gift to be money, time or their skills. The outcome’s still the same, but there’s less awkwardness and more intentional, resourceful, creative gift giving. Everyone’s a winner!

To start your own on Patchwork, you can either customise one of our wedding templates, or start one from scratch. We can’t wait to see what you put on yours!

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