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Wedding Gift

Recently I found myself looking for a wedding gift for a young couple. The groom is my relative - the bride I have never met. They are starting out in life but seem to have it all - already. Add to that, I don't know them well enough to actually personalize the gift. The process got me thinking about what a wedding gift is meant to be and what I was trying to accomplish with mine. My challenge was not so much in being able to come up with something to give them that they make like, but more about the impact I was looking to have through it.

 I wanted my gift to have meaning and use for them often, bring them joy and in that process I wanted them to think of me in happy context. I was trying to rebuild bridges with a part of the family that has grown distant over the years. In addition, it needed to express my personality and not be just more of the same that they may have received from other members of the family - I was looking to stand out from the crowd, I wanted the bride's interest piqued so they may want come visit me sometime. That was a lot to ask a gift to deliver. Only time will tell if I managed to hit the mark.
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