Wedding gift in Edinburgh

March 7, 2006 10:26 AM

My wife’s cousin is getting married and we’re looking for ideas for a wedding present. Given that we don’t know him very well the current idea is to get a gift certificate, either for an “experience” or for a nice (local, non-chain) retail store. The couple-to-be is Scottish and living in Edinburgh (we’re in Seattle and have one visit to Scotland between the two of us) and in their mid-thirties. They’ve been living together for a while and have a baby, so they probably don’t need basic household items. The cousin is a top notch chef, so I’m guessing a certificate for a restaurant would not be the answer. Budget is around $100. Any ideas?
posted by skyscraper to shopping (10 comments total)

Err... those are apostrophes. Looked okay on preview.
posted by skyscraper at 10:31 AM on March 7, 2006

Well, the nice (local, non-chain) retail store in Edinburgh is Jenners.
posted by matthewr at 10:38 AM on March 7, 2006

If you're in North America and he's in Scotland and he's a chef, I'd suggest foodie things that he may not be able to easily get there. Dried or smoked chiles, key lime juice, Willamette Valley mustard with dill, locally produced salt, things like that. Only stuff in cans, jars or pouches but things that a Real Chef would use creatively.
posted by solid-one-love at 10:42 AM on March 7, 2006

Have you considered a gift certificate to some highquality online cookery store? I assume Amazon.com may not be it, but I would think there's something like it out there that offers great kitchen ware.
posted by TrueVox at 10:59 AM on March 7, 2006

I often use One Share to give a single share of stock in situations like these (and many can be had for under $100, and you don't need to buy the expensive frames for stocks under $44), but I have no idea if this is something that would work for someone who is not a US Citizen.
posted by anastasiav at 12:24 PM on March 7, 2006

I prefer to give Nambe for wedding gifts. The relish dish would be beautiful and functional. It is priced at $125. The chile bowl is smaller and is a very interesting piece to have on the dinner table during a party. It is priced at $80. It may seem like "basic household goods", but this stuff is so beautiful. The metal line lasts forever. Several of my pieces are approaching 50 years old and look like new. (No, I don't keep them in the box. I use them all the time.) I love that it does not tarnish. Nambe has a number of pieces in the $100 range.
posted by onhazier at 1:39 PM on March 7, 2006

Money.
posted by qwip at 1:58 PM on March 7, 2006

Jenners (to MatthewR) has been bought over by some mega corp, much to the disgust of many in Edinburgh, and the enrichment of the family who sold it. See the Scotsman for details on the problems the staff are now facing, while the family are set for several lifetimes.
On topic, I don't know if they do vouchers, but Valvona and Crolla are a top, non chain Edinburgh foodie store.
Without knowing much about the couple (as it seems you don't), it's hard to recommend. If it were me, I'd like a voucher to do something different, snowboarding, rockclimbing, mountain biking, a health resort, with creche included for the child, something to give them time off from being parents. Locally we have Ratho Adventure, nearby (couple hours drive) way too much adventure experiences to list. Search adventure Scotland for ideas.
posted by aisforal at 2:19 PM on March 7, 2006

My go-to wedding/shower gift is the wedding spice gift boxes from the Spice House.

Their spices are really good and the wedding gift boxes include neat traditional good luck charms with an explaination of what everything means.

They're in Chicago but they ship all over the US if you wanted to order it and then send it on.

There's a smaller box (more of a gift add-on) and a deluxe box.
posted by awegz at 5:13 PM on March 7, 2006

How about a course at the Edinburgh cookery school?

Having said that, if they're accomplished chefs, they may know it all already...
posted by badlydubbedboy at 4:22 AM on March 8, 2006