Weddings, they truly take a village to plan, prepare, design, and sometimes pay for! Many of the Kate Holt Photography Couples I work with as a wedding photographer choose to give gifts to those who have supported them and helped them throughout their wedding experience, creating beautiful and emotional moments that I love documenting!

The gifts I’m mentioning in this blog are not your typical wedding favors- the type of gift that is set at every place setting and which every guest gets. No, there are about a thousand and five blogs dedicated to ideas for those gifts, so you probably don’t need any help there!

The type of gifts I’m talking about here is the gift you might give to your dad, or the gift you give to your bridesmaids or groomsmen, or the gift you give to your soon-to-be spouse even! These are the gifts that are above and beyond the “expected” wedding favors and with which can get really creative and meaningful.

I’ve just been lucky to work with some really creative and appreciative couples, so here is a short list of some of my favorite gift-giving I’ve seen on a wedding day.

I hope it inspires you to plan in a little something extra to honor those closest to you for the support they’ve given as you prepared for your wedding!

Gift Idea #1

Take your spouse’s ring to a jeweler and have something special or meaningful engraved on the inside to surprise them with on your wedding day!

This is especially a great gift for grooms, as often times there is so much emphasis placed on the bride’s ring - it’s design, size, color, and significance - that the groom can end up with something simple that may not be as unique as it could be.

Groom’s rings being more simple is definitely changing with cool stores like ManlyBands.com that have thousands of rings for guys to choose from, and a bunch of customizable options. But, if your guy tends to get overwhelmed with options, and prefers something simple, this is a beautiful way to “up the ante” and create something really meaningful for him!

Engravings are usually not very expensive to have done, and you can choose something that is really unique to you two. My husband Dom and I did this with our rings together and every time I take mine off for the night I see that etching and remember what it meant for us and what it still means for us to this day. Plus, on your wedding day you can then have your photographer take candid photos of you giving your partner the ring and showing him the engraving you’ve put on it! Gift-giving during a First Look for example, is a really fantastic way to make those photos even more emotional and amazing than normal!

Gift Idea #2

Custom Cuff Links or an Engraved Watch for your Dad!

Oh man, I am totally one of those people who just looses it any time there is a touching father-daughter moment at a wedding! One of my favorite things to build into a timeline for my Kate Holt Photography Brides is a First Look with their father. It is easily the most emotional part of the day and I rarely escape with dry eyes! The photos speak volumes to this special relationship you may have with your father. One way to take this moment to the next level is to give him a little gift, maybe even with a hand written note.

One of my brides gave her father these awesome cufflinks which I loved, as this is such an easy thing to customize (check Etsy and support local artists!) and is also something he can wear the whole wedding day, show people and talk about. He’ll love it! I only wish I’d had this idea for my dad on my wedding!

Gift Idea #3

Custom Drink Accessories for your Bridal Crew!

Choosing your wedding party can be one of the more difficult decisions of your wedding, and when you finally pick those people who have meant so much to you in your life that you want them next to you for the biggest step in your relationship with your partner you’ve ever had, it makes sense to honor them with a little something on the day-of!

Plus, while you are hanging out, getting your hair and makeup done, you might as well have something awesome to toss your mimosas in right!?

This is a gift that you can absolutely make as custom as you want. I’ve seen monogramed flasks for groomsmen, champaign flutes for Bridesmaids, even crazy straws for a more casual alcohol-free setting. Have fun with it and make it truly your own!

Gift Idea #4

Write or hire an artist to make a custom song about your relationship!

Now this is truly unique!! I recently had a super creative bride hire a local Portland musician to write a simple, but very beautiful song about she and her fiancee and the journey that brought them together. It was a simple guitar with vocals, and this bride had the artist record it and then she played it during the reception.

This was especially moving as in their ceremony vows and later in their guest’s speeches, many of the significant things that led them to be wed were mentioned, so when they also appeared in the song in verse, everyone, I mean EVERYONE was tearing up as the bride held the grooms hand and they listened to their love story in musical form.

I tell you what, it was beautiful!

This can also be customized if you yourself are a musician! Another of my brides took a popular song and just wrote new lyrics over it about her and her fiancee’s relationship and then she performed it live while a band mate of hers strummed on a guitar during their intimate backyard ceremony.

I’ve also seen a groom pick a song that was a gorgeous love song and at the very end of the night when most of the guests had already gone home, he pulled her over to a corner and serenaded her in the most beautiful and humble way.

Music really moves people, so incorporating it as a something to give to your spouse is a truly wonderful gift!

Gift Idea #5

Keep a brief journal during your wedding planning process and note down every time your were helped and supported by your mother and write a brief entry of what that meant to you.

Ready for another idea that is sure to bring about some tears? When you get engaged, go pick out a nice journal and carry it with you in your purse whenever you are out and about doing wedding planning things with your mom. Take it with you when you visit venues, have it next to you when you are discussing the food menu, and definitely pop it in your bag when you go to pick out the dress!

Then, at the end of the day after one of these planning steps, take 5 minutes to write a brief thank you note to your mom about what you were thankful for in terms of her help, guidance or support for that particular step.

For one, this will be a gorgeous thing for her to recieve on your wedding day, and the secret personal benefit to you is that after writing down all these ways you’ve loved having your mom a part of your wedding planning, it will bring your love and appreciation for her to the next level!

Weddings can be stressful on familial relationships. Moms sometimes get so excited that they can be overbearing or too controlling. I encourage you in these moments to still find something that you appreciated about her and write it down in your journal.

A lot of mothers of the bride are nervous and want to help, but don’t know when it’s too much or not enough. On your wedding day, all these emotions can come to a head in a slightly stressful or negative way, and having this beautiful gift to give her will show her that she did a good job and that you were truly so happy she was there for you despite whatever bumps there may have been along the way.

Reading something kind about yourself that someone else has written, especially if it is about a situation you were uncertain of means the world to people. This particular gift takes a little extra time and effort than just purchasing a gold bracelet that says “best mom ever” but in the end, I think you’ll find it is a gift that means more to her than possibly anything else could.

You can also of course customize this to any person who is close to you and helping you through the wedding planning process, your maid of honor, your sister, an aunt, or even the mother of the groom if she has been by your side the whole time. Make it your own and see the beautiful effect it will create!

Bonus Gift Idea!

Cool Custom Jean Jackets to add a little Spice to your Wedding Day!

Now, this look might not be for everyone, but the Kate Holt Photography Bride who pulled this off did it with so much spunk and sass that I couldn’t not include it!

This bride had jean jackets custom embroidered for herself and her bridesmaids for her Bachelorette Party and then they brought them to the wedding as a fun accessory for photos and during the reception.

Obviously these gals didn’t wear the jackets during the ceremony, but check out how badass they looked in their jackets during their Bridal Portraits!

I hope you enjoyed these ideas and that it gave you some inspiration to add a little something extra to your wedding day!

Emotional and moving candid images are my absolute FAVORITE thing to photograph! Images that are captured at the time a truly meaningful gift is given is an amazing way to bring back all those wedding day feels when you look back on your wedding images in the future.

If you are still looking for the perfect photographer to ensure emotional and moving photographs are a large part of your wedding images, feel free to drop me a message! I’d love to set up a time where we can get to know each other and talk about how to incorporate some extra special elements into your day that will make your wedding memories last a lifetime!