German Wedding Gifts: Part 4 of German Weddings

German wedding gifts are similar to wedding gifts that you would find in North America.  Gift certificates and cash being especially popular for couples who have been on their own for a while and have already bought the requisite toaster.  J.P. didn't want to give cash at the German wedding we recently attended so we decided to get the couple a gift certificate for an outdoor adventure course since they're an active couple and we thought it would be fun.   Great, a gift certificate and a card, that was easy! 

Many of the German wedding gifts came with flowers such as this one.

 J.P. kept saying that we should wrap up the gift certificate in ropes hanging from some small trees or something to this effect.  Frankly, the idea was lost on me, I didn't see why we couldn't just put the gift certificate in the envelope with the card and be done with it.  Besides, at most weddings in Canada, they have a box for the cards so if no one was going to see it anyway, what was the point of making a big fuss about it?  I assumed that Germans being as practical as they are, this would also be the case at German weddings.  I was wrong.  

This German wedding gift was my favorite.  I loved the winter theme and guessed it had something to do with skiing since  the couple loves to ski. 

As we entered the German wedding reception, much to my surprise we saw the gift table filled with very creative arrangements  - all containing a card and presumbly either cash or a gift certificate.  Oops.  Setting our card down beside  these beautifully decorated cards arrangements our gift suddenly felt rather inadequate.  I then understood what J.P. was getting at earlier, but I was surprised since the arrangements while very cute, didn't seem very practical.  I guess German practicality does not apply to German weddings - note to self!    We were quite relieved when we left the German wedding to see that there were a couple of other stand alone cards with no arrangement either.  Whew, glad we weren't the only ones, and I'll definitely be better prepared for the next German wedding I attend!

If you missed the first 3 parts of German weddings see:
Getting Engaged to a German:  Part 1 of German Weddings
German Wedding Ceremony:  Part 2 of German Weddings
German Wedding Reception & Dance:  Part 3 of German Weddings