What's the best engagement gift you've received?

KJ7985

Good friends of ours recently got engaged and we'd like to get them a thoughtful engagement gift. They aren't getting married for awhile (two years) and don't live together/have a house yet. Has anyone received a really awesome/creative/thoughful engagement present?

MsLaura31

Not creative, but if they don't live together, I'd probably get them a nice giftcard to an awesome restaurant. That way they can have a date night together.

jessicabessica

A friend got me a cookbook as an engagement present, and I liked the idea a lot, so now it's my go to engagement gift.  If I'm going to get someone an engagement gift, I generally know their tastes well enough to pick out something they'd like.  We also got a homemade banana bread in the mail, which was really sweet and thoughtful. 

I like the restaurant gift card idea, too.  You could get movie passes as well if you wanted so you could treat them to dinner and a movie, depending on how much you wanted to spend. 

noodle_oo

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_whats-engagement-gift-youve-received?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:658d2312-4d5f-4cca-99ed-5e7bc79aa79dPost:7bd4a7d0-2adb-4779-b51b-06dfb0f025a4">Re: What's the best engagement gift you've received?</a>:
[QUOTE]Not creative, but if they don't live together, I'd probably get them a nice giftcard to an awesome restaurant. That way they can have a date night together.
Posted by MsLaura31[/QUOTE]

Ditto.  Love restaurant gift cards. Or a nice bottle of wine.

zazelle

You could make her a wedding organizer, with a three-ring binder, some colorful dividers, etc. There are a number of templates online, and some websites even have checklists that you can download and put in there for her.  I'm sure she would appreciate that!

SirJuliusVonHaast

Someone got me a crystal ring holder, which I really love. I tend to lose my phone/keys, so it was a thoughtful (and pretty) way to keep me from losing my E ring!

katieisawesome

I am building a garden bench for my friend and her husband-to-be but that may not be in every person's skill set

[Deleted User]

katieisawesome - BRILLIANT idea on the bench.  And while not everyone has a DIY idea, it would be nice to buy a pre-made and personlize it.  It might be cute to scratch their initials into it like an old tree. 

shortee426

My brother and FSIL are big wine drinkers, so when I went to a wine tasting in Australia I bought them a nice bottle of wine (I don't normally like red wine, but this Pinot was the best wine I had tasted in quite some time!).  It has a celler life of 5-7 years, so I included a handwritten note that they should enjoy it on their 5th anniversary.  I also bought wine markers that were shaped like Australian animals.

Karen's MOH

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_whats-engagement-gift-youve-received?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:658d2312-4d5f-4cca-99ed-5e7bc79aa79dPost:a85956d1-f235-4844-94ff-8b0ab83fcdbc">Re: What's the best engagement gift you've received?</a>:
[QUOTE]Someone got me a crystal ring holder, which I really love. I tend to lose my phone/keys, so it was a thoughtful (and pretty) way to keep me from losing my E ring!
Posted by SirJuliusVonHaast[/QUOTE]

<div>I actually got crystal ring holders from two different people but I love them both, since i have one by the bed, and one in the kitchen for when I do dishes and handle meat and stuff. </div><div>
</div><div>Also love the idea of a restaurant gift card and movie tickets. </div>

mandi921vh

I think a GC to their favorite restaurant is a great idea!

seprincipe

The only engagement gift I've given was two crystal toasting glasses and a bottle of champagne.  My friends used it at their wedding 8 years ago, and then I used them as our something borrowed at our recent wedding.  

shopgrl3177

I really love the website www.thatsmypan.com. I think the personalized cake pans are fantastic andd Iwould love one with my future name!  A friend of mine received a cookbook with a gift card to their favorite restaurant with a note "just in case the cooking didn't work out"  It was really cute.

Milsey32

Why are they waiting two years? Are they saving money? Are they still in school?

If they're struggling financially (or not necessarily "struggling" but using most of their spare cash to save for the wedding) any sort of date-night gift certificate would hopefully come in handy and very appreciated - whether it be a restaurant GC, a couples massage, a scuba lesson, etc... Whatever works best for their personalities.

TEA&Co

I LOVE the restaurant gift card idea.  Or, if they live in the same area, a few towns in my area have downtown gift cards that can be used at most any restaurants, stores, etc. in the downtown area of that city/town.  Either of those are our go-to engagement party/housewarming party gifts.