Gifting My Groom

What do you buy for the guy who has everything he needs? While I might lust after something for months, Mr. Quiche is one of those people who, when he wants something, he goes out and buys it. (It has made birthday and Christmas shopping quite difficult at times. grr.) I needed to think of something truly unique for his wedding gift. He loves french cuffs, so naturally I thought of cufflinks. Having already bought him Wrigley Field wooden links the year before, I was fresh out of ideas. Until I saw Mrs. Tirimisu's gift for Mr. T - map cufflinks! Mr. Q loves vintage maps, so these would be perfect for him!

I searched for the best deal on Etsy and contacted the seller, dlkdesigns. She will custom make your links to your desired locale. Montego Bay was the obvious choice for one, and I went back and forth between Chicago (where we live) and Dublin (our honeymoon spot), ultimately deciding on Dublin to keep it in the wedding family. What's great is that she actually emails you picutures of the map that will be used, so if you don't like them, she'll find something else! In keeping with our pink accent theme, I told her I'd prefer there to be some pink in them.

Here was the proof:



Score! It was perfect!


Mr. Q opening his gifts
Photo by Ashley Colhouer


The final product!

Since the beginning of our relationship, I've kept a "Mr. Quiche & Miss Quiche Box of Memories", stuffed to the top with concert tickets, Cubs stubs, vacation trinkets, oh - and more concert tickets. We are quite the music-loving household, with live music being our favorite pasttime. Well, a box of memories is nice and all...but unless you drag it down from the top shelf and actually go through the disorganized mess, well, you never really see anything. I decided that I wanted to scrapbook our relationship. I talked it over with a scrapbook queen friend & we decided that it would probably be too much to take on. So, I ended up focusing solely on our "Life in Music".

In the simple album, I laid out groupings of ticket stubs, pictures and favorite lyrics on pages of black and silver. If I didn't have a picture from a particular concert, I wrote out the lyrics (or snippets of lyrics) to our favorite songs. I tried to stay away from the tragic lyrics that I love so much and focused on the happy, positive ones ;)

Well, take a look for yourself!


Oh Ray...how you move me with your perfect lyrics!


BM Nic joined us for Maroon5! (NOT groupies (I swear!)

I was literally putting this together the day of the wedding. Considering I started it mere days earlier, I was pretty proud of myself!


The handsome groomsmen checking it out
Photo by Ashley Colhouer

I never thought I'd DIY Mr. Q's gift - but I was so happy that I did. Not only did we get those memories out of the box and in something for us to see, but the personal touch is better than any other gift I could have bought.

Do you have a "Box of Memories"? Are you incorporating mementos from your relationship into your grooms gift?