We got two gifts in total. A vacuum cleaner and a pressure cooker. Both most welcome and the pc is still in use. No ’shower’ and only 8 wedding guests. Just parents, siblings and their spouses. DD got married during covid with the permitted 6 guests but a year later we had a party with 100 guests. They requested no gifts, just donations to two charities. The Italian side of the family found this diffcult to grasp and gave a lot of knickknacks they neither want nor need.

I love Sees candie. Miss living out West, one of those things we can't get out in the East. ) : I have no idea what to take to someone in Japan. Years ago, my mom went to visit her family there and took gifts for her family. I don't remember what she took, but she brought back things for all of us, including a Western style tie thing for my dad. I thought that was odd, but my mom said you can buy anything in Japan that you can get in the U.S. I guess that's not totally true, according to the above posts, lol. Wish I could go with you on your cruise, Jodi! I'm sure you'll take lots of pictures and post them when you get back?

if you weren't invited to the shower, you don't need to give them a shower gift. If you DID go to a shower, you would give both, as you know. If you wish you had been invited to the shower, you *could* give them a shower gift, but I wonder if that might make them feel bad for not inviting you--in which case, don't label it a shower gift. But the wedding gift alone is just fine--and I bet they'll like it, LOL! it'll certainly fit w/ their decorating scheme.

I love the locket idea, but I think I would save the idea for later -- a birthday, Christmas or just because in support after he is gone. I wore a locket with my boys photos when I had to travel on business. The only negative in my mind is that it is personal to her and whether that is okay or not depends on when it is given and her sensitivity -- both of which may be uncertain now. I think it's better as a gift to just her when it is just her. Even though she may be the only one to see or enjoy any gift b the time it gets there, it is a wedding gift. Etsy has a number of lighthouse paintings. DH and I received a framed watercolor from a friend of my mom's. I thought it was a very bold and unusual gift -- one I doubt I would have thought of, but it isn't large and there has always been a place for it and it is very special to us. Some lighthouse charms and lockets came up -- you could give them a painting and her a lighthouse to keep with her too. Your heart is in it -- you will figure it out.