Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Marriage Gifts



The concept of 'arranged marriages' is the thing of the past and 'love marriage' is the buzz word at present in India. Indian marriages are characterised by pomp and show with huge expenses on marriage halls, food, dowri in disguised form, entertainment, music, dance, procession,...!

Marriage gift for the couple is normally a ritual either in the form of money or stereotype articles without any consideration for the couple's choice. In my son's marriage reception, he received as many as 25 alarm clocks, 5 tea sets and a lot of photo frames with God's picture and the couple found it difficult to use / dispose the extra set of articles!

In this connection, I would like to share with you the gift concept practised by American society.


When the couple (lovers!) decide to marry, they plan their marriage in detail - date, venue, expenses, guests to be invited, arrangements for accommodation of guests, food, events, etc., in a very exhaustive manner to render the first celebration in their married life a grand success. They also plan their new home, contents of home, essential items to be bought and articles to be received by way of gifts for their home.

As regards gifts, the couple prepares an elaborate list covering utility items like furniture, utensils, clothes, clock, electronic gadgets, etc., along with their cost. The list is known as Registry and it is displayed in selective shops by the couple.

Reference to the Registry and the shop(s) are mentioned in the marriage invitation. This enables relatives and friends to select a gift of the couple's choice from the Registry suiting their purse. In case of high valued articles, the cost is shared by more number of people. The cost may be paid at the shop and the shop will arrange to deliver the gift to the couple.

This simple process effects the following advantages.

1. The couple gets the gifts of their choice.
2. The same gift article is not repeated by many people.
3. Money spent by the presenter finds real use.
4. The presenter contributes an amount of his choice.
5. In case of any extra amount to be paid for a particular article, the same is taken care
by the couple.
6. The amount is paid direct to the shop and a gift delivered to the couple.

I am sure you will find this gift system more structured, simple and utility oriented. Should we not adopt this system?

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