A leather basketball isn’t your typical wedding gift, but my Dad insisted on giving one whenever one of this sports buddies got married.  He figured the bride got to choose what she wanted via the gift registry.  He wanted the groom to have something to cheer about as well.  Without fail, he was right.  After the wedding, family and friends would gather around for the ceremonial gift opening.   The bride and her lady friends would swoon over the china, tablecloths, and can openers.  But when her new husband opened the gift from my dad, the crowd went wild.

Here are some other wedding gift ideas that are sure to make the highlight reel:

• Play Together. When my little sister married her best friend and high school sweetheart, I couldn’t resist following my Dad’s lead.  I sent the newlyweds a gift card to a sporting goods store with a note that read, “The family that plays together, stays together.”
• Dine Together. Remind your newlywed friends that getting married doesn’t mean they stop dating each other.  I once gave a young couple just starting out a wooden spoon with a gift card to a nice restaurant tied with ribbon around the neck of the spoon.  On the note I wrote, “Enjoy a nice dinner together that you don’t have to cook.”  Since they were both still in school, the free dinner was a big treat.
• Stay Together. Wanna get away? Goodness knows I do!  How about gift carding your friends with a stay at a nice hotel in a nearby city—some place they can get to without plane tickets.  Package the hotel gift card with a nice candle and a note that says, “Hope the honeymoon never ends!”
• Travel Together. If the bride and groom are a couple of jet-setters or are still working out the details of their honeymoon, give them a gift card to an airline and some decent airplane snacks or some travel size containers.  Or get a “good anywhere” card and suggest they use it to pay for the trip or to pick up a souvenir when they get there.
• Live Together. If you’re not comfortable picking out a new power tool for the groom, get him a gift card to a home improvement store so he can pick one out for himself.  Whether they’re moving in to a new home or just need to assemble some furniture, they’ll both thank you for tools to get the job done right.  Attach the gift card to a “Honey do” list, a welcome mat, or his and hers toolbelts.
• Face Reality Together. After the cake is cut, the gifts are opened, and the tulle is tossed, real life begins.  Get the new couple a gift card to a grocery or drug store and attach it to a pair of toothbrushes (or some other mundane item). Add this quote from Barbara De Angelis, “Marriage is not a noun; it’s a verb.  It isn’t something you get. It’s something you do.  It’s the way you love your partner every day.”

If you have an idea of your own, please share it with me.