Poetic justice

This weekend I am going to a friend’s wedding. As seems to have become the custom these days, he and his fiancé have registered a wedding list at a high end department store. I find the idea of telling people what to buy you quite vulgar, and defeats the object of buying a gift to congratulate the new couple. The definition of a gift is ‘something given voluntarily without payment in return, to show favour toward someone (or to) honor an occasion.’ Although I do appreciate that it can be helpful to some people to have an idea of what to buy, but it leaves me cold and wondering if I’m only invited to the wedding as a potential gift giver rather than a friend. Many couples who have already set up home together give you the option to donate to a charity. But in this case, not only did they not offer this, I even received a text message from the soon-to-be-groom to remind me to get him a good present from the list! On this list there is a kettle priced at £70, £120 for a sandwich toaster, and so on! So as my gift to the happy couple, I am going to donate to a charity in their honour. Not sure how that will go down, but I will feel a lot happier giving my money to a worthy cause… and one that I hope will at least raise a smile from them – proud owners of 2 gorgeous greyhounds - the retired greyhound trust!