Do you know someone who is getting married soon?  Are you scratching your head about what gift to get the happy couple?  I’ve been there.  I’m not sure what to get and the low priced items on gift registries tend to get bought up fast.  This leaves you with a conundrum of shelling out for a mid to high priced item listed on the registry(s) or doing your best to choose something on your own.  However, there is one very thoughtful gift which often gets overlooked and that’s what we’re discussing today: how to choose fine art as a wedding gift.

The Wedding Gift Conundrum

A few years ago, popular wedding registry website Zola polled 650 newlyweds to ask about what they wished they had included on their registries.  The top answer was luggage.  Among the other popular answers was custom artwork.

Now I’ve been a wedding guest and I’ve been a newly wed.  It can be very confusing to try and figure out just what the happy couple needs.  Brides heads are swimming with wedding plans.  There’s the dress, the venue, the cake, the decorations, the photographer, etc.

Somewhere on the list for most couples is choosing a new place to live.  This means choosing furniture, appliances, linens, etc.  There’s arranging the furniture for optimal space and utilization.  There’s merging of households and duplicate stuff everywhere.  Then, once the dust from everything settles, most couples run into an unforeseen problem: blank walls.

While getting swept up in all the wedding stuff, the bride and groom (mostly the bride) often forget to list something to hang on the walls for decoration.  It just isn’t a top priority for most brides.  They figure that they can simply use wedding photos.  Many first-time brides don’t quite understand that wedding photos aren’t immediately available.  Also, you don’t want to walk into EVERY SINGLE room of your new home and only see your college dorm decor and your wedding pictures.  That gets boring fast.  You want some variety.

This is where you as a wedding guest can solve a problem which the bride and groom haven’t even thought of yet.  You can buy the happy couple some wall art.

The Problem

Now that I’ve probably sold you on the idea of wall art or fine art as a wedding gift, you’ll run into an additional problem.  Art tastes are very subjective.  What one person likes, another person will hate.  How do you choose the right kind of art without being bothersome, giving away the surprise, or offending someone?  That’s a difficult call to make and I do wish you luck there.  However, I can offer some advice and some ways to find out the information you need.

If you’re willing to do some light snooping and digging, you can find the information you need to make a good choice of wall art for the happy couple.  Don’t go to the level of all out stalking or spying.  Do not do anything illegal to gain this information.  However, a few well-placed light and discrete inquiries should net you the information which you need.

How to Get the Info

There are a few different vectors available for you to find the information which you need to make a sound choice of artwork for the happy couple’s new walls.

Ask Friends or Family

One of your best sources of information for the bride’s preferences in art will be her family or friends.  College roommates can also be a good source of information.  These people have spent a great deal of time with the bride and will have a good idea of what she likes and dislikes.  Even if they’re a bit unsure of her likes, they should be able to help you avoid some possible pitfalls which you might otherwise consider.

Of course, you do need to trust these people.  If you happen to know/hear that a particular individual can’t keep a secret or might be unhappy with one or both of the couple, then I would avoid asking that individual.  Such an individual might steer you correctly but you risk a much higher likelihood of being outed or receiving bad advice.  Choose your assistant(s) carefully and they should empower you to choose well.

Creep on Social Media

Most people these days are on social media in some form.  Most people dump a good portion of their personalities and preferences into social media without even realizing it.  You can do some Facebook stalking WITH GOOD INTENTIONS ONLY on whatever social media is public access or friend/follower access if you happen to be a friend/follower.  Most girls/women will eventually share some picture which they love for more than just the meme saying.  Scroll through Pinterest pins, Facebook shares, Instagram pictures, etc. and get a good feel for what she posts and shares.

You may need to go back a ways in social media feeds to get a good feel for everything.  If the bride has more than one social media account, that could work to your favor.  Check out what other accounts she happens to be following.  It’s another place to check out what she likes and get closer to the right kind of wall art.

The Couple’s Honeymoon

Perhaps one of the best options for choosing wall art for the happy couple is to choose a picture which reflects where they chose to go on their honeymoon.  A couple’s honeymoon is full of memories and it supposed to be the beginning of their life together.  Surely they would appreciate a picture of something which would remind them of such happy times together.

With the widespread acceptance of landscape and fine art photography on the internet, you should easily find a great picture of where they went and acquire an appropriately framed version at the same time.  There is a lot of variety available for many of the popular honeymoon and travel sites so you should be able to find something suitable or even amazing. There are also other options besides matting and framing which you might find as well such as canvas prints, metal prints, acrylic prints, wood prints, and more.

The Fallback Option

If you can’t figure out what to get, don’t have time for proper shopping, or feel intimidated by making the choice, there’s always a fallback option for you which will still mean wall art as a gift.  You can always buy the couple a gift card for wall art. Gift cards will enable the couple to find the right wall art for them if you, for whatever reason, feel inadequate in choosing such a gift yourself.

Many photographers offer gift cards and many art sellers/galleries will do gift cards or credits if asked.  Many artists will take money for a commission.  There are options out there for you as a wedding guest to deliver a gift of wall art.  You need not risk making a poor choice of the wall art itself.

Conclusion

In conclusion, giving the gift of wall art is really the perfect thoughtful gift for a wedding.  It’s not a duplicate appliance to be re-gifted.  It’s not something outdated and useless like a punch bowl.  It solves a problem the happy couple will have before they even realize that they have it.  It’s a win for everyone.  Make sure that you choose well (or have really good help) and the couple will thank you for years to come.

Since you’re likely in the market for some fine art as a wedding gift, you might check out my landscape photography.  Most people enjoy a beautiful landscape scene on the wall.  You might get lucky and find a picture of where the couple went on their honeymoon too.