Author: May 11, 2022

How many times have you been invited to a wedding without a clue as to what the bride and groom actually want or need? You know you need to bring a gift and you want it to be something special, something commemorative of this very special day in their lives, but what? In a situation like this, a little bit of creativity goes a very long way. Try stepping off the beaten path as far as wedding gift ideas go with one of these three unusual gifts that might just be something they could really use.

1. Cover the Costs Associated with a Church Wedding Service

The first thing to understand about a church wedding is that it is not supposed to cost a red cent. However, although you don’t need to pay your parish for use of the church, it is traditional to give the celebrant a monetary gift. This is usually covered by the couple because the parents of the bride and groom are covering much bigger expenses like the costs of the wedding reception and honeymoon.

In some cultures, it is the bride’s parents who pay for the wedding and reception while the groom’s parents cover honeymoon lodging and travel fare. However, even that isn’t written in stone, so the newlyweds often pay a huge chunk of those as well. Why not offer to give the priest his thank-you gift while covering the cost of the organist and vocalist for the Mass?

2. The Unity Candle to Be Lit During the Nuptial Mass

This is a beautiful part of the Mass in which the bride and the groom light the unity candle from two separate candles signifying the two families now being joined as one. They are unifying the two ‘houses,’ as it were, and this tradition dates back most likely to the feudal days.

With all the costs associated with the wedding, a lovely and often hand-crafted unity candle might be that one expense too many. When it comes to wedding gift ideas for Catholics, this is perhaps one of the nicest gifts you can give. After the ceremony it is brought home to be proudly displayed and then kept in the couple’s memory book to be passed down to their children at some unknown point in their future together.

3. Decorative Vile of Holy Water for the Blessing of Their Home

When the couple returns from their honeymoon, they will begin life together in their new home. It is customary for Catholic homes to be blessed before being inhabited and the couple can do it themselves with blessed holy water. Perhaps a lovely small crystal decanter filled with holy water blessed by the priest presiding at their wedding would be something no one else has thought of.

Not only can the couple sprinkle holy water throughout the home but they can place the decanter by the door so that anyone who enters could have a chance to be blessed as well. These are all amazingly unique Catholic wedding gift ideas. It is probably safe to say that your gift may be the most unique of all and maybe even that one thing the couple really wanted or needed.