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Best wedding gifts 2025: top present ideas for newlywed couples
If you’re going to a wedding this year, you might be wondering whether to give the happy couple a cash gift, an ‘experience’ or a more traditional present to unwrap on their big day.
We surveyed 1,180 people who had attended weddings or civil partnerships in the past two years to find out what they did, and we also asked those who were married to share their own wedding experiences.
Below, we've listed the best ideas for wedding gifts from our experts and readers.
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There are no hard and fast rules to how much you should spend on a wedding gift, but in our survey more than a quarter of respondents (27%) had spent between £50 and £99.99. Almost one in five (19%) spent between £25 and £49.99 on a present and around one in six (13%) had spent between £100 and £249.
You might also be happy to club together with other guests, which could be the ideal solution for treating couples to more expensive gifts.
If money is tight, you could always give the gift of your time and perhaps pledge to pet sit. Or why not gift a family heirloom – something done by 3% of respondents in our survey.
See also: 10 ways wedding guests can save money.
Small appliances
They may be small by definition, but a newly married couple may find the cost of buying these essentials soon racks up. Here are our expert gift picks.
Matching designer kettle and toaster set
Matching kettle and toaster sets are perennially popular, and newlyweds may love the stylish, retro-chic Dualit Lite set.
Whatever your budget, you'll find great options in our guide to the best kettle and toaster sets.
Read our review of the Dualit Lite JKT43 and Dualit Lite 26205 DLT2Pa or check prices for the kettle below:
Ooni Karu 12 Multi-Fuel pizza oven
If paying for a wedding has put a lid on going out with friends, a pizza oven could be perfect for creating that ‘dining out at home’ experience.
The Ooni Karu 12 Multi-Fuel pizza oven features a wide opening so that guests can enjoy the theatre of watching their 12-inch pizza being cooked – before tucking into the delicious slices.
This model allows you to cook with wood logs and/or charcoal briquettes, as well as propane gas (requires an additional attachment), and although it's costly it makes a great group present.
Read our review of the Ooni Karu 12 Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven and other best pizza ovens, or check prices below:
Kenwood stand mixer
A statement appliance may well see the couple through years of food prepping together. Several survey respondents said their Kenwood appliance had lasted decades – one was still in use after 40 years.
The Kenwood Titanium Chef Baker has attachments that are easy to slot on and handy features such as integrated weighing scales, so you can add your ingredients straight to the bowl and save on washing up
Read our review of the Kenwood Titanium Chef Baker and other best stand mixers, or check prices below:
Ninja Foodi MAX air fryer
A decent air fryer can make a great wedding gift, offering effortless cooking to help busy couples save time.
The Ninja Foodi MAX AG551UK health grill and air fryer can cook all manner of food using functions as diverse as air frying, baking and roasting. Plus, it has a ‘smart cooking system’ to remove guesswork for better results.
Read our review of the Ninja Foodi MAX AG551UK and other best air fryers or check out prices below:
DeLonghi Piccolo XS EDG210.R
This coffee machine can make both hot and cold drinks. It doesn't have a milk frother, but you can use milk pods to make milky drinks such as cappuccinos.
The machine has a 0.8-litre water tank (best suited to households that don't drink big rounds of coffee) and has an adjustable drip tray to prevent splashes when you're making drinks in a small cup.
Read our DeLonghi Piccolo XS EDG210.R review to see how this model fared in our lab. For alternatives to add to your shortlist, see the best coffee machines.
Panasonic SD-YR2550SXC bread maker
This Panasonic bread maker has 31 programs and 63 recipes, so there’s always something new to bake. It features a delay timer (up to 13 hours), a rapid bake mode and auto dispensers for nuts, raisins and yeast.
According to Panasonic, two built-in sensors optimise each program at every step. Meanwhile, the kneading blade works in conjunction with specially placed ribs in the bread pan to give your bread the 'ideal texture.' If you have any questions during setup or need baking inspiration, you can consult the included instruction booklet.
See how we score this breadmaker with our Panasonic SD-YR2550SXC review. Alternatively, explore our guide to the best bread makers.
Samsung Jet 85 Complete cordless vacuum cleaner
Some cordless models are now good enough to dispense with the need for a corded model, as well as being light, easy to use and compact – perfect for saving space without compromising on cleaning power.
One option is the light (2.7kg) and reasonably priced Samsung Jet 85 Complete VS20C8524TB, which also comes with tools, including an LED brush to highlight dusk hiding in dark areas.
You can read our review of the Samsung Jet 85 Complete VS20C8524TB and other best cordless vacuum cleaners, or check prices below:
Looking to buy a present for mum, grandma or a partner? See our suggestions for the best gifts for women.
Cookware and kitchen accessories
If you’re planning to peruse a couple's gift list or registry (21% of people surveyed did this), you can't go far wrong with these must-have kitchen and cookware accessories, picked by our experts.
Tefal saucepan set
A couple that already owns some pans from their previous single lives may not think this is a priority – but they may want to think again.
Brand new pans in various sizes that stack together beautifully and serve you tirelessly whatever you're cooking is something newlyweds will appreciate for years to come.
You can read our review of the Tefal Ingenio Emotion 4-piece pan set and other saucepans and saucepan sets or check prices below:
Ninja Foodi StaySharp Knife Block
A great selection of kitchen knives is pivotal to any kitchen setup, especially when you consider how often they'll be put through their paces, from slicing bread to dicing vegetables.
Whether they're reluctant chefs or can't get enough of cooking, a newly married couple will benefit from a good set of knives, such as the Ninja Foodi StaySharp Knife Block. The in-built sharpener also makes this an investment that they can truly appreciate year after year.
You can read our review of the Ninja Foodi StaySharp Knife Block and other best knife sets or check prices below:
A posh bin
Although a bin might not sound like the most exciting present, top-of-the-range models from the likes of Brabantia and Joseph Joseph might be out of the reach of a couple that's just dropped £20k on a wedding.
However, a pricier bin may offer superior functionality, which is great if they want to up their sustainability credentials without compromising on style.
Gifts for home
Scented oil diffuser
A scented oil diffuser makes a thoughtful gift, helping newlyweds enjoy a calm and fragrant home. To set it up, you fill the base with water, add some drops of oil and then use the buttons to decide how long it will run for until it turns itself off automatically.
You can cycle between different LED colours to set the mood, and the device is reasonably quiet while running – in fact, we think it's quiet enough to put on a bedside table.
A subscription or membership
Whatever the couple’s interests (and your budget), there’ll be a membership scheme to suit, from a £40 The Wine Society membership (‘It has introduced us to some lovely wines,’ said one survey respondent) through to a £3,500 National Art Pass couple’s life membership.
Subscriptions are many and varied, too, including The Cheese Society's Cheese Club subscription (from £38 for a one-off monthly box) or the gift of regular flower deliveries by post from companies including Bloom & Wild (from £20).
Alternatively, give the couple an annual gift subscription of one of our Which? magazines.
A tree or plant to grow
Give the happy couple a tree to nurture and grow together as a meaningful and unusual gift that gets better as the years go by (entwined cherry tree, The Present Tree £50).
Or how about a rose? Which? Gardening editor Ceri Thomas says: ‘Our Best Buys include 'Champagne Moment', 'Lets Celebrate' and 'Celebration Time'. Plant in the garden for a memory that will last for years.’
Read our guide on how to buy and grow the best roses.
Memorable gifts
Papier The Mini hardback photo book
Memorable gifts come in all shapes, sizes and guises. If you're looking for a traditional memorable gift, a printed photo album is certain to be appreciated by everyone who gets to flick through it.
This hardcover book from Papier has up to 40 pages and comes in various colours including white, pink and lilac. On the website, you'll need to upload your favourite photos and arrange them manually. You can also tweak the size of the images and add filters.
See how this service compares to rivals with our guide to the best photo album books.
Money or charitable donation
The average cost of a wedding is £20,700 according to wedding experts Hitched, which may account for why almost half (49%) of respondents in our survey have gifted cash – one person said they’d wanted to ‘ease their financial pressure’, while another said that ‘cash translates to anything they want’.
Each tax year you’re allowed to give a tax free gift to someone getting married or starting a civil partnership, with the amount depending on factors including your relationship to the recipient.
HMRC determines that this applies to gifts made on the date of the marriage or shortly before (in other words, the couple of weeks leading up to the marriage or civil ceremony).
Donations to a UK-registered charity are tax-free, which is worth knowing if the couple have asked guests to give to a charity instead of being given a gift (6% of people surveyed gifted in this way).
Seek professional help from a financial advisor first as there may be inheritance tax and income tax implications for gifting money.
Inheritance tax planning and tax-free gifts – how to give away money from your estate to reduce your bill, plus what is a ‘potentially exempt transfer’?
Honeymoon help or an ‘experience’
Some couples may already live together and have everything they need by way of household items and would rather be given cash to pay for their honeymoon. They may also enjoy an experience while away, such as dog sledding or a scuba diving session, or when they return, such as a cookery class.
Almost a third (28%) of survey respondents said they'd contributed to a honeymoon or holiday and an additional 4% had given an experience such as afternoon tea.
What was your most memorable wedding gift?
We asked respondents in our survey if they had ever received a memorable wedding gift. The answers were many and varied – here are just some of them:
- ‘A stay on a boat moored in Antibes harbour for our honeymoon’
- ‘Cutlery, saucepans, ironing board, kitchen scales, food grater, food mincer – all still in use after 60+ years’
- ‘A combined effort by friends to club together to buy a sofa’
- ‘Life membership of the National Trust. It’s for life!’
- ‘Half a lamb through the post!’
- ‘Six glasses with our wedding music printed on (we’re musicians)’
- ‘A first-aid box’
- ‘Years' supply of clingfilm and plastic bags’
- ‘A Hoover refrigerator from my parents. It’s memorable because it’s still working after 53 years’