There’s no pressure like that of showing up for a same-sex wedding fearing you didn’t buy a thoughtful gift. So, we’re here to help alleviate you of this undue pressure with the best gift guide for your next lesbian or gay wedding, or housewarming, or any LGBTQ celebration for that matter.
Same-sex couples are making up for lost time seeing as how we could only get married starting a few years ago. Seeking to show adequate support, LGBTQ and allies alike rack their brains hoping to think of just the right gift for pending same-sex nuptials.
Use the next 11 ideas as inspiration for your gift or just get one of the next 11 gifts and rest assured your affections will be known.
11 gift ideas for LGBTQ couples
1. Wedding socks
Nothing tickles us more than clothing and housewares that celebrate the bride-bride or groom-groom relationship. From towels to hats to pillows, your options are plentiful.
A popular trend today is celebratory wedding socks that are practical for the day your dual dames and dudes say “I do” and many days thereafter. Sock Connection has a variety of socks for the brides the grooms and the whole wedding party. Help your special spouses celebrate their special day and keep their toes warm year-round cause nothing’s worse than having a partner crawl in bed with frigid feet.
2. Charitable donations
The thing about many same-sex weddings today is that many couples are not-so-new newlyweds. Sure, they may just be officially saying “I do,” but many have been in a partnership for several years longer than heterosexual newlyweds. Yours truly were married nearly 15 years after we started dating.
The point is that at their current stage of life, many gay newlyweds have all the homewares they could need. Unless your groundbreaking avocado peeler makes a better avocado toast, your gift may go further and mean more as a donation to the gay couple’s favorite charity.
We declined wedding gifts for our wedding, but several attendees and non-attendees made donations in our name to some of our charities of choice. It was a nice touch and made our special day even more special.
3. Gay Love Pop cards
Admittedly, we’ve mocked the greeting card industry for finding an unnecessary need to send cards for the most meaningless of reasons. However, the industry’s been using their creative revenue generating schemes to raise the bar on greeting cards.
If you’re spending $8 to $12 on a gay wedding greeting card, it may as well have a 3D, pop-up surprise like your favorite Jack in the Box of yore. Some of this pop-up art is so intricate, your groom and groom are likely to display your gift for months to come.
4. Monthly subscriptions
Some of the best gifts are those that give all year long. Remind the newly married men in your life just how much you care by reminding them every month how much you care.
With Crate Joy Gift Box Subscriptions’ numerous creative monthly gift subscriptions, you’re bound to find the perfect box for even the most particular of gift recipients. Some of our favorites include:
- Unicorn Dream Box: There’s nothing more perfectly gay than a rainbow and unicorn-themed monthly gift box for the gayest of gay grooms. Described as “a monthly subscription box full of magic and pixie dust,” your grooms will get unicorn erasers and key chains, rainbow suckers and even a unicorn floaty for their poolside libations. This one may get tired after a few months, but it’s a lot of fun those first few.
- Culture Carton: From beatnik reads to hipster face wash, the Culture Carton will keep your coolest brides or grooms well -groomed and dignified for many months.
- VetPet Box: Nearly 52% of LGBTQ women and 80% of LGBTQ men don’t and won’t have kids, at least the human kind. If the newlyweds in your life treat their pets like the neighborhood helicopter parent, then the VetPet subscription box will be their favorite gift. Gifts like high-end chew toys and designer brushes will enable even the neediest of comfort animal prescribers.
- Sprezza Box: If you’re looking for a more sophisticated subscription, Sprezza Box may have what you need. Give the most stylish cufflinks and coaster and the latest neckties and Nectar Polarized Sunglasses to the most stylish of men.
5. Discount travel cards from Gift Card Granny
Stereotypes are sometimes true, and it’s true that gays love to travel. Help travel-hack your newlyweds’ next travel by buying discount travel cards from Gift Card Granny. Seventeen percent off at BedandBreakfast.com, 13% at Delta Airlines and 4% off at Marriott Hotels will let your honeymooning brides and grooms spread their money further and farther. Because of your strategic gift giving, they’ll return home with a lifetime of memories rather than a lifetime of debt, and you get the discount without them knowing Cha-ching!
6. Hard case luggage
We’ve gone through more luggage than we care to share. That is until we found these heavy-duty luggage cases. If your new brides are living up to the stereotype above, they’ve probably gone through more than their fair share, too. Help them protect their wallets and their travel wears with Delsey’s polycarbonate luggage. With nine colors to choose from, there’s a color that matches every pair of eyes and shoes your brides must match.
7. Wine from Wine.com
… or wine from anywhere, really.
When you don’t know what to gift the most discerning of brides and grooms, win them over with wine. Buy them one bottle to celebrate the special occasion or a gift basket up to $1,200. Whatever you choose, you and yours will get your money’s worth at Wine.com.
8. Dollar Shave Club
As any man can attest, razors are stupid-expensive and may explain the increase in men growing facial fur. Another gift that keeps on giving and will help your newlywed men keep on saving is Dollar Shave Club. We’ve been using them for years, and we love saving money and the costly trips to the store that are as painful as nicking your face.
9. Discount Visa Gift Cards
If you just can’t decide what to buy your guys, buy them more for less with a discount Visa gift card and let them get what they need when they need it. Sure, it’s not the most creative of gifts, but no one hates money and you can save anywhere from 1% to 45% depending on when and how much you buy.
10. Personal Chef
After throwing the most fabulous of weddings or returning from the most memorable of honeymoons, the last thing anyone wants to do is restock the fridge with a grocery shopping trip. Help your newlyweds ease back into reality by hiring a personal chef to deliver meals for a night or a week customized to their liking.
11. Massages
Last but certainly not least are massages. What do you want after hosting a wonderful, though somewhat stressful wedding? A massage. What do you want after feeling like cattle flying at 600 miles per hour in a tube at 35,000 feet in the air? A massage. What do you want just because? A massage.
Give a much loved and never unappreciated gift of a couple’s massage to your newlywed couple. It’s the gift of health and relaxation that everyone loves.
There you have it, folks, our gay gift guide for some of our favorite gifts that’ll make your couple happy. Eliminate your stress and increase the happy couple’s happiness with one of these creative and thoughtful gifts.