Wedding present filter

July 25, 2011 5:21 PM

What would be a great wedding present for our friends? The bride is French, early 30s, groom, late 30s, New Zealander. They have two very sweet children, a little girl, three years, and a little boy, just under a year old. Wedding is in France and we won’t be able to attend, but we will be able to see them on Saturday this week.

Degree of difficulty: must be able to be purchased on Saturday morning in Adelaide, Australia and ideally something that would be nice for the whole family, up to $100AUD. They’re kind of nomads, moving from city to city and country to country regularly, so the usual, crystal, china, bottles of wine, etc won’t be any good as they’re just too heavy. Bride and groom are often apart, in different cities and countries, for work. They would consider money, gift cards or even an experience-style gift (restaurant certificates etc) extravagant and embarrassing. They’re not really the type for adopting animals/charity donations. We are in remote Australia and there is nowhere to buy anything here. Online purchases will take way too long to arrive. We'll be in Adelaide for a couple of hours on Saturday morning though. I’m well and truly stumped. Hope me MetaFilter!

posted by t0astie to Shopping (4 answers total)

It's a long-shot given your comment about not being the type for a charity donation, but if they have a sense of humour and are at all environmentally focussed, a Greenpeace membership?
posted by tim_in_oz at 7:50 PM on July 25, 2011

Haigh's Chocolates. I'm sure there will be some really fancy ones in the city store - the truffle collection! Take photos of them eating them, eating them with you, chocolate smiles all round including kids. Print, frame and mail to the wedding. Ta da! Or just take them shopping for chocolates as the gift and eat them right there.
posted by dinoworx at 12:19 AM on July 26, 2011

Do you have pictures of them? You could create a photobook online and get it sent to them in France or to an address in Adelaide?

Failing that, take them out for a good lunch.

Or you could create a really nice, personalised voucher and just give them cash to spend in Oz on something they want.
posted by MuffinMan at 3:18 AM on July 26, 2011

I was going to suggest Haigh's Chocolates too.  Nomads might appreciate reminders of places they've lived, and Haigh's have one particular selection of chocolates made with uniquely Australian ingredients; once they've been eaten, the empty chocolate box would make a lightweight and reusable sort of memento.  Admittedly, the children (the older child, at least) might prefer the chocolate frogs.

The other thought I had was that you might be able to find something arty (and light) that they'd like at Tandanya, the National Aboriginal Cultural Institute. 
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 11:27 AM on July 26, 2011