Christian Wedding Gifts for a Couple's First Home Together
The best Christian wedding gift is one the couple will hang in their first home together, which means a picture they both like rather than their names and the date. Engraved crosses and personalised signs are lovely on the day. A few years on, many couples find they have three of them and nowhere to put them.
This guide starts from the home they are about to share. Six scripture pieces about crossing into something new together, about the table and the door, and one for the first storm every marriage meets. Plus what to write in the card.
How to choose for a couple
- For both of them Pick something neither would have chosen alone but both will like. A calm scene suits more tastes than a slogan.
- For the first home Most couples have a new place with empty walls. A piece for the living room or the hall will be used.
- Leave the names off Write the names and the date on the back or in the card, and let the picture outlast the season.
- The registry is not the limit A meaningful gift alongside a registry item is welcome. Keep it quiet so it fits whatever they are building.
Unto the other side, for two people getting in the same boat
"Let us pass over unto the other side" (Mark 4:35). The disciples set off together, "and they took him even as he was in the ship" (Mark 4:36). Nobody made the crossing alone.
A marriage is exactly that: two people getting into one boat, taking Christ with them, and pushing off toward a shore they cannot see yet. It is the most fitting wedding piece we make.
There am I in the midst, the verse behind the threefold cord
"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20). Many couples choose Ecclesiastes 4:12 for their wedding, "a threefold cord is not quickly broken", meaning husband, wife and God.
This is the same idea as a picture rather than a knot: two people, and Christ in the midst. It belongs in the hallway of their first home.
Planted by the rivers of water, for a marriage putting down roots
"He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season" (Psalm 1:3). A wedding is the moment two lives decide where to be planted.
It suits the living room of a first shared home, and it grows more fitting the longer they stay married. Parents of the bride or groom often choose it.
There was a great calm, for the first hard year
Every marriage meets its first storm. In Mark 4 the wind rose, the boat filled, and then "the wind ceased, and there was a great calm" (Mark 4:39).
It is an honest wedding gift: it does not promise smooth water, only that Christ is in the boat when it gets rough. Couples tend to understand it better on their first anniversary than on the day itself.
It is the Lord, for a home that recognises who is waiting
From the boat, one disciple saw a figure on the shore and knew him first: "It is the Lord" (John 21:7). Peter was in the water before the boat reached land.
For a newly married couple, it is a picture of the life they hope to have: noticing Christ in the ordinary, and running toward him. It suits the wall by their front door.
Come and dine, for the first table they share
On the shore at dawn, the disciples found a fire already lit, fish cooking, and an invitation: "Come and dine" (John 21:12).
The first table a couple owns together is where most of their married life will happen. This is the piece for the wall beside it, and for a couple who plan to have people round.
What to write in a Christian wedding card
Wish them something specific rather than general. "May your home always have room at the table" says more than "best wishes". A verse works well too: Ruth 1:16, "whither thou goest, I will go", and Ecclesiastes 4:12 are two of the most loved.
If you know the couple well, add one line about why you think they suit each other. Couples keep those cards. If they are also moving into their first place, our guide to Christian housewarming gifts matches pieces to each room.
The six pieces in this guide
What people ask before choosing a wedding gift
1.What is a good Christian wedding gift?
2.What Bible verse is good for a wedding gift?
3.Is it okay to give a gift that is not on the registry?
4.Should a wedding gift be personalised?
Pieces for the room they will share every evening
Still water, a crossing at dusk, roots by a river: art first, scripture for anyone who looks closer.
