Gift Box Galore - The Art of Giving

Today we are delighted to share with you some unique and exquisite gifts by Gift Box Galore.  Why say thank you to those who helped at your wedding with fabulous gift hamper that they will remember for years.

Gift Box Galore – The Art of Giving

Gift Box Galore supply gift box hampers to meet the diverse needs of anyone looking to purchase a unique but modern gift, based in West Lothian, they deliver nationally with orders being placed through an on-line shop.

Little Pamper

The initial concept was born October 2010, when time after time searching for the perfect gift box, new mother Louise could never really find what she was looking for. Louise explained, “I would spend ages searching on the internet with an idea of what I wanted in mind but could never really find it, and when I did purchase hampers or gift boxes was sadly disappointed when they arrived.” After numerous disappointments Louise started to create her own gift boxes to give on special occasions. Always met with an enthusiastic response, friends and family urged Louise to go into business creating and selling filled gift boxes.

Pamper and Indulge

Although on maternity leave and only having given birth in June, with the support of her husband John, Louise decided to seek advice from West Lothian's Enterprise Centre in Livingston. Following a optimistic meeting with a Business Gateway advisor they left feeling positive about Louise's new business venture.

Baby Gir

From there Louise spent the next few months sourcing stock suppliers and creating her own website. After busy and challenging days looking after a new baby Louise's evenings were then taken up by her new venture, although tiring and sometimes stressful she was determined to make a go of it. Louise explained, “I didn't know where to start and spent so many hours scrolling through the internet to find suppliers that could provide me with quality and luxury stock at affordable prices. The hours spent have paid off though as I now believe I have products with the quality I was looking for.”

Deluxe Pamper

Louise could use a computer well but had never done anything as complex as building a website, however she decided she would attempt this due to the limited start up funds she had. After finding a reliable platform to host her website Louise set to work and has now created a user friendly and inviting website to sell her gift boxes from.

Louise is due to return to work part time in March and the rest of her time, along with being a mummy will be spent on her new and much loved gift box business. Louise plans and hopes one day in the near future this will be her full time job!

Chocolate Lover

Gift Box Galore intend to keep adding to their gift box collection as the business grows, and also offer a Bespoke service for customers to create their own gift boxes from their full product list, and a corporate service for business needs.

So if you’re looking for a gift that is a little different from the usual gift hampers you see, then Gift Box Galore is definitely worth a visit!

Email: info@giftboxgalore.co.uk

Phone: 07900273400

website: www.giftboxgalore.co.uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/GBGL1

Twitter: @giftboxgalore

Money is the most desired wedding gift

Money is the most desired wedding gift

A recent poll conducted by Wedding Magazine reported that forty-five per cent of couples would prefer their guests to give them money as a wedding gift.

It has become the norm for couples to live together before marriage.  As a result, most couples no longer have the need or desire to set up a gift registry with a department store in order to buy household goods such as
kitchenware and bed linen.  Newlyweds are most likely to spend their money on a luxury honeymoon, home improvement or even paying back some of the cost of their wedding.

Notwithstanding the recession, couples still spend an average £20,000 on their wedding. As a result of the credit crunch, it has become much more acceptable for couples to ask for money as a wedding gift.

In other countries around the world, giving money as a wedding gift is traditional.

At Hindu weddings it is traditional to give money as a wedding gift as this symbolises prosperity. The amount should be an auspicious number ending in 1, for example, £51 or £101.  This money is usually placed inside an ornate, decorative money envelope which is presented to the couple at the wedding. 

At Sikh weddings, there is a ceremony called the "Sagaan" that takes place after the ceremony where guests present monetary gifts to the married couple.

In China, money is given in red envelopes (hong bao) from guests who are older than the bride and groom and in Japan, new, uncreased notes are given to the couple to the tune of 30,000 yen (approximately £210) in a festive envelope (shugi-bukuro). 

The "money dance" is a Hungarian tradition where the bride leaves her shoes in the centre of the dance floor and those who dance with her drop money in the shoes or pin money to her dress.  Pinning money to the bride and groom is also a popular custom in Cyprus, Greece and the Philippines.

In Poland, it is traditional for a family member of the bride to hold out an apron whilst the bride is dancing with her father. Wedding guests who throw money into the apron are then permitted to dance with the bride.

In the mid-west of the United States of America, the best man auctions the bride's garter. The best man carries a hat around the reception and the guests put dollar bills into it. Another mid-western tradition is a "wedding
reel", where the wedding guests form a queue and pay a dollar or more to dance with the newlyweds.

Admittedly, it is quite unlikely that brides and grooms across Britain will be adopting these customs any time soon.  Whilst dropping money into shoes and pinning cash to brides sounds like fun, it isn't exactly very British. Fortunately, there are more sophisticated and discreet ways of receiving money as a wedding gift.

The previous taboo surrounding asking for money as wedding gift will soon be a distant memory and given the research conducted by Wedding Magazine it looks like money is fast-becoming the most desired gift for newlyweds.

Article contributed by Gillian Bell, Director of StarWeds Ltd.

Website: www.starweds.co.uk

Twitter: www.twitter.com/starweds

Facebook: www.facebook.com/starweds

Email: contact@starweds.co.uk

StarWeds is the sophisticated and hassle-free way to ask for money as a wedding gift. We provide:

·        A personalised wedding website where your guests can
contribute money:
-  Choice of themes
-  Online guest book
-  Your own blog
-  Personalised web address
-  Directions to your venue
-  Countdown timer
-  And much more

·        Beautiful customised invitation inserts to tell your guests about your site.

·        Your guests can contribute via quick, easy and secure payment methods on your wedding website (i.e. credit/debit card via PayPal, cheque or balance transfer).

There are no set up fees and no hidden costs...all you pay is £50.  You don't have to pay any money in
advance, we simply deduct the £50 fee when you withdraw from your fund. 

Our service is completely hassle-free for both the couples and the wedding guests. Guests don't need to worry about whether or not there will be a money box at the wedding, or which of the bridal party they should give their money gift to for safe keeping, they don't need to stress about sending money in the post or if sending a cheque, whether to make it out to the bride's maiden name or married name. Also from the couple's perspective, they won't need to spend all day at the bank cashing in lots of cheques and cash. We simply send one cheque with all the contributions from their guests.

Please visit http://www.starweds.co.uk/, and if you would like to view a sample of the personalised wedding website, then please visit http://www.starweds.co.uk/sample.