Social Gifting – A Promise from Your Wedding Guests
The new Social Gifting service sees wedding guests promise to do something, not just buy something to commemorate your special day.
Born from one of Prezola’s very own couples, brides and grooms are already taking advantage of this new idea. Jessica and Andrew are getting married in August and their list includes lots of social gifts! Jessica says “We loved that people could give us their time rather than their money. We’ve both regularly donated blood since we were 17, so asking guests to give blood was important to us.” They also asked guests to donate old blankets to animal shelters and look after their rabbit Monty, which we would say yes to in a heartbeat!
There are a couple of reasons I love this; firstly weddings are expensive and not everyone has a big disposable pot of money – its nice that someone can feel like they’re contributing to your wedding without spending money on a physical-perfectly-wrapped gift.
I also think in this slightly troubled world we currently find ourselves in, where we might not be as neighbourly and as accepting as we once were, community is at the heart of this social gifting movement. In fact, one of the gifts you’ll find in our Shop Edit below is something my husband does – he volunteers his skills as a software developer to young people in Brighton looking to further their careers. I’m pretty proud of him for doing that and I only wish I was a little more like him, so perhaps I need a nudge with a social promise.
There’s also the environmental impact weddings can have and I know more and more couples, as mentioned in our 2019 Wedding Trend Report, are becoming aware of how their choices impact the world. Whilst there’s some way to go in our own household we’ve already started to cut down on our plastic use, meat is definitely a treat and I’m very conscious of how much I purchase when it comes to fashion. Whilst the idea of fast fashion hasn’t appealed for a long time (I’m sadly too old for Topshop and too big for Zara!) I’m curating a wardrobe that is filled with pieces I love and will treasure for years to come. Also a recent Marie Kondo session made me realise what I didn’t wear anymore and this was all donated to charity.
Prezola’s Social Promises can be anything close to your heart, whether that’s volunteering at your chosen charity, participating in community projects, cooking you dinner or even looking after your beloved pet when you’re on honeymoon. You can choose from some of their social gifts or make it completely personal to you by working with the friendly team at Prezola.
But there’s a but…
Know your audience – the last thing you want to be doing is virtue signalling in the face of your guests! The social gifting idea is one that will allow you to share your interests and loves with your closest people, not telling them they basically need to be better humans by doing X Y and Z. So have some fun and gear the gifts towards you and your guests.
Some of the gifts below will be things we all do naturally – for example I’m sure we’ve all had a parent assist with some household chores or DIY projects! Plus I’ve assisted a pal with some flatpack furniture over a glass of wine or three. So have some fun, don’t take it all super seriously but at the same time make it personal and important to you as a couple.
The Social Gifting Summary
Social Gifting was created in response to the ever-changing lifestyle choices of engaged couples and the millennial passion for all things experiential. Prezola says “We are more conscious now than ever about the things we buy and the money we spend as well as the social causes that are close to our hearts. With busy schedules, we often find it difficult to spend as much time as we’d like with family and friends, which is where Social Gifting comes in.”
Creating your Social Promises gift list couldn’t be easier and you can add your promises to your gift list just like any other gift and guests can add promises to their shopping baskets. In our Shop Edit below we’ve given you some examples of gifts under four categories: Acts of Kindness, Community, Friends & Family and Household.
You can read more about the service and start your own Social Gifting gift list here.
