One Of The Most Thoughtful Gifts We Received At Our Wedding

A bit over two years ago, I wrote on Facebook, complaining about the lack of pizza and bread in North Carolina. See, Pete and I are from New York, a magical land of great dough.

It's not like that everywhere. You can't get good bread down here. Oftentimes, we can't even get fresh bread down here. And pizza isn't pizza outside of New York. It's sad, honestly. But we found Chinese food. So I posted from our new home that at least we found Chinese food.

And my friend from high school, who at that point I had not talked to since graduation but was my Facebook friend because that's how Facebook works, wondered if it was the same Chinese food place that her parents liked. Because, as fate would have it, her parents also moved to the same North Carolina town as us. Just to make this circle a bit more complete, her mom was my Girl Scout leader back in elementary and middle school.

And about a year after that, my friend and her family moved here. And a year later, Pete and I got married.

I wanted to send my friend's parents an invitation, but we physically couldn't. We, quite literally, ran out of invitations. I verbally invited them, but her mom had already scheduled a sleepover with the grandkids. And, although my wedding was fantastic, it couldn't trump a sleepover.

My friend and her mom came to our ceremony and my friend and her husband came to the reception. Even though her mom wasn't at the reception, she sent along with one of the sweetest gifts we ever received.

It was a wicker basket (which I'm actually using to hold our wedding cards) with a picnic-y, patchwork fabric lining. Inside was two coffee mugs (that very perfectly match the fabric) and a picture frame with a note.

Dear Lisa and Pete,

This September Gary and I will be married 38 years and one of our bridal shower gifts back then came from an older couple married over 50 years. Their names were Ted and Kate who gave us two coffee mugs, not matching, not special, no brand name, just one blue mug and one grey mug.

They both have passed on, but 38 years later we still have those mugs and we still use them, so Ted and Kate will always be remembered by Gary and I.

So if they lasted over 50 years and we are working on 50 years at 38 years, we both want to start a tradition and give you both two mugs to keep your love growing and always keep us in your hearts.

Love,

Janet and Gary

(And below the note was a photo of the two mugs)

So sweet. My heart melted.

The next time I saw Janet, I thanked her profusely. She said she had done it for a few other couples and, as my friend had said, "It's kinda their thing." I told her I knew exactly that Pete's mug was the World's Best Chef one and mine was Time To Eat (since, over a handful of dinners over the past year since we've all been in town, they've learned that Pete can cook and I can, well, enjoy it). Janet then told me that both her and her husband thought the blue mug was theirs, and I laughed. Pete and I figured ours out easily.

I'm a sucker for traditions (we started one with our engagement gift that gets passed around) so getting to be a part of this tradition is awesome. I told Janet that I'm going to start doing this at bridal showers I'm invited to from now on. I love it.

You can purchase a gift off a registry and know the couple is getting something they want. You can make it real easy and write a check to the couple. But something thoughtful like this, these are the gifts you remember and treasure years into your marriage.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What's the most thoughtful gift you've gotten since being engaged?