Cohabitation isn’t always bliss. Help keep them happy together with a wedding gift designed to stave off divorce.
1. Gifting a meeting with a financial planner certainly isn’t a standard wedding token, but it will likely be a lot more valuable than anything on the registry. Money issues can ruin marriages, while solid financial planning can put you on the right side of “in richness and in poorness.”
Scout for a reputable fee-only financial planner -- one who will meet with clients to get their finances in shape and charge an hourly or flat fee, with no products sold. Then present the couple with a note explaining the sitdown to come.
2. Think the happy couple needs a great wine but wants none of the hassle of going out and buying one? Join the club. Actually, sign them up for it. Sign them up for anniversary-worthy wines, delivered to their door. Opimian, one of Canada’s oldest wine clubs, offers members a selection of more than 500 wines, all chosen by Master of Wine Jane Masters. Married life is busy. Save the bridge and groom a trip to the store.
opim.ca
3. Domestic labour, and how it’s handled, can make or break a marriage. Why? Because chores, are, well, a chore. Spare newlyweds from bickering over who’s going to mop the kitchen floor with the gift of a house-cleaning service.
For packages, contact mollymaid.ca.
4. There will be less fighting over whose turn it is to clean up if the requisite gear is gorgeous.
Japanese floor and kitchen cleaning brush, $14 (U.S.), at kaufmann-mercantile.com. Concrete toilet brush, $75, at mjolk.ca.
Hand broom with cedar dustpan, $135, at mjolk.ca.
5. This five-volume set of cookbooks that includes The Essential New York Times Cookbook and Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything comes personalized with your choice of colour and the couple’s names on the spines – a reminder that cooking is a task worth sharing.
Personalized cookbooks, $350 (U.S.), at juniperbooks.com.
6. Encourage them to raise a toast to themselves with crystal flutes by Vera Wang.
With Love silver toasting flutes, $75 (U.S.), at wedgwood.com.
7. These Bolivian hammocks are built for two.
Bolivian hammocks, $535 (U.S.), at lavivahome.com.
8. Designed by Karim Rashid, one of these cocktail shakers would be a welcome addition to any bar; two means there’s never cause to fight over vodka or gin.
Klasp cocktail shaker, $100 at nambe.com.
9. Set them up for a night of Netflix with top-shelf snacks, including jam, caramels, smoky sugar, chocolate-hazelnut spread and ginger syrup for cocktails.
The Happy Couple, $153 (U.S.), at mouth.com.
10. If you can’t promise them the world, give them the chance to travel it in style with a pair of these leather passport cases that have three card slots, two pockets and a zippered pouch for cash, cards and passport.
Brad, $70 (U.S.), at rudsak.com.
11. The more reasons there are to climb into bed, the better married life will be. The classic look of these sheets, made from Egyptian cotton, will be a draw all its own.
Porto Sheet Set, $725 (U.S.), at frette.com.
12. Encourage swinging on a double-seater made from redwood with a manila hemp rope.
Old-fashioned tree swing, $219 (U.S.), at kaufmann-mercantile.com.
13. Save them from petty arguments over mislaid keys with the simple tech of the Tile key finder.
Tile Key Finder, $89.99, at amazon.ca.
14. Monogrammed towels from Au Lit Fine Linens keep it classy, but more importantly, keep everyone’s germs to themselves.
Monogrammed towels, from $59 to $149, at aulitfinelinens.com.