Generosity

In the last few weeks since the wedding - and even before - presents and money started to pile in, alongside good wishes from far and wide. I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and family and could never have believed some of the wonderful ideas that people would come up with as presents for us. 

In cash alone we have been given almost £1000 and we have decided to start a holiday fund with that money, which will hopefully take us on a luxury holiday to Canada sometime in 2016 - before we plan to start a family (for those of you who looked at me suspiciously when I wasn't drinking on the wedding day - you know who you are! -  there wasn't a reason behind that besides the fact that on the whole I don't drink and haven't done so for a number of years!).

There was of course our gift list, which saw about 90% of the item on it purchased - something we were both amazed by. We had a fairly eclectic range of items on there with a heavy bias towards kitchen equipment as we both love to produce and eat delectable delicacies. Some people favoured vouchers above money and we have been able to purchase the few remaining items on the list with those vouchers. 

I can't possibly mention every single gift we received here as it would take far too long and would bore everybody. I would however like to highlight just a few that were particularly impressive. My university friend, Lucy, who has read my blog from the beginning had a book of it published. I'm yet to read my ramblings back but as a present it was just inspired! James' aunt made us a lace picture and my cousin gave us a painting of the church where we married. These are just a few examples of the thought and effort that went into everything we received and I am currently working my way through pages worth of thank-you cards. I'm writing each one with a personal message to reflect the kindness of those people who sent us gifts. 

In return we put a fair amount of thought into the presents that we have the key members of our bridal party. James' dad received a book on rowing Blazers. His mum received her favourite perfume. My dad received two general knowledge books and my mum got a bottle of my wedding scent, honey by Marc Jacobs. 

Our ushers and best man all received quiachs, with two being university of St. Andrews ones as that's where they'd met James. They also received miniature bottles of cardhu whisky, James' choice for all things wedding. Our page boy Zachary received a penknife. 

On the girls side my adult bridesmaids received Waterman fountain pens and my younger two received charm bracelets, tabitha's with a 't' and darcey's with a cat. 

Other gifts that we handed out included a cupcake themed surface protector to my cousin, and bottles of wine to the readers, flautist and car park attendant aka my cousin's husband!