Easy Engagement Gifts

I know we're only in the first month of the year, but I'm so looking forward to 2014 already. I have three close friends who are all engaged and planning their weddings, with more friends to follow. With engagements come parties...and lots of gifts. In this post I'm going to talk about what I did for a friend's recent engagement present and provide a few other gift ideas for y'all!

 Depending on the length of the engagement, some couples won't have gift registries yet at the time of their party. If they do have a registry when you start looking for a gift, it's easiest to pick something off of their registry that they've asked for. If they aren't registered, it's up to you and me to find the perfect gift for them!

For my friend Tiffani's recent engagement party, I decided to make a simple present centered around the saying, "Love is Sweet." I was inspired by the wedding "dessert bars" I've seen on Pinterest. These cute dessert bars replace a formal wedding cake. The tables I've seen are typically decorated with cute banners, cake stands and cards, somtimes featuring this phrase...so I ran with it.

Richmond has a great local chocolate/candy store in Carytown that's been around since I was a a small child (probably even before that) called For the Love of Chocolate. I stopped by there one afternoon and purchased different kinds of homemade truffles for them to try...

Give us this day, our daily...chocolate. Brian and I have it (a small piece...or two) almost every day.

Before getting the chocolate, I went to Michael's and bought a polka dotted to-go box, black  scrapbook paper, gold ribbon and gold sticker letters to create the card. For the Love of Chocolate gave me one of their cards to include in the present as well. I put it all together to look like this:

Then promptly stuffed it full of yummy treats.

She told me they ate a few the night of the party, so I think that qualifies this gift as a success :o)

Here are some other ideas for gifts to help the couple start their marriage and wedding planning off right that won't break your bank:

• A few bridal magazines & two mini-champagne bottles (I'd recommend Real Simple Weddings)
• Homegrown Monogram Mugs from Anthropologie & their favorite coffee or tea
• Monogrammed cheese board, coasters, or other decorative accents from C. Wonder
• Lolita Wine Glasses & their favorite bottle of wine
• Wedding Planner & Organizer
A couple packs of cute stationery (they'll need it for thank you notes!)