Great Wedding Gifts For The Kitchen

The weather is warm, everything’s green,  a lot of people are getting married, and you are looking for some great wedding gifts to give. The options are unlimited, and if the couple to-be enjoys cooking and baking, then some special items for the kitchen are a great place to start.

They have probably registered at a few stores, and you could get some ideas there.

We have come up with a list of items that are popular for the kitchen. We know you want to give something that is thoughtful and unique, and we tried to take that into account when we came up with the following list.

Make sure if you do decide to get something for their kitchen, that they will put it to use, and it won’t end up sitting on the shelf collecting dust.  You might spend a little time talking to them, and see if any of these gifts would come in handy.

Great Wedding Gifts - The Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer

Great Wedding Gifts - The Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer

Mix it Up

We found the Kitchen Aid® Stand Mixer to be one of the most requested items for the kitchen.  It’s powerful, has dozens of attachments, and you can get it in eight different colors (Even though we’re guys we kind of like the Cook For The Cure® Mixer – It’s Pink! ;-) )  We use our mixer all the time, and if the couple to be enjoys baking, they’ll love their new mixer, and it will last a lifetime.

Quality Cooking!

Most of the couples to be are probably cooking on pots and pans that came from the local retail  or thrift store.  Sure, they do the job, but anyone who’s cooked much knows how great it is to cook with quality stainless steel cookware.  The results are better and the process of cooking is much more enjoyable.  The couple to be will be genuinely surprised when they start to use the quality cookware you got them.

(Bonus: Another great cookware idea is cast iron.  It will last forever.  It’s naturally non stick and will probably end up handed down to their kids!)

The Gift of Health

This is a great idea for the couple that either likes being healthy, or likes entertaining.  A great blender can be used to make a multitude of different drinks, whether it’s a healthy morning smoothie, or crushing ice for the beautiful dinner party.  They could even use it to make homemade soups.

Java, Java, Java

If they drink coffee, they’ve probably already got a coffee pot.  If it’s like ours, it’s slow and noisy.  Getting them a quality coffee pot that lasts for ages will ease their busy morning schedule because they won’t have to wait for the coffee pot to finish gurgling before they can leave. :lol:

(Bonus: Getting them a french press for their coffee is another great idea.  You can get them in different sizes, and it really brings out the flavor of the coffee so much better than a drip pot.  And you’ll be the only one who thinks of this!)

Unique and Personalized

We know some people are looking for gifts they can buy and wrap up, but others enjoy giving gifts that are a little more unique.  This one is for you.  You can get a nice wood or metal recipe box just about anywhere.  Decorate it and make it unique.  Then fill it with 3×5 cards and some of your favorite recipes.  You could even contact the bride and groom’s parents/grandparents, and have them put some of their favorite recipes in the box as well.  A great wedding gift that will sit on their kitchen counter for years to come.

Whether you’re looking for a quality appliance for the kitchen, or a unique personalized gift, there are many great wedding gifts that the future husband and wife will enjoy together.  And these days, buying online is often far less stressful than the hassle of running from store to store looking for a gift.

Here’s to the Newly Weds!

The Hot Gift Guys

P.S.- Kitchen Aid’s Outlet Store offers discounts of up to 80% off of the retail price.  Watch it closely, and you may be able to get a great gift at substantial savings.  Also, check out their rebate offers.  You may even be able to get some cash back!

Personalized Wedding Gifts – Custom Photo Frames

Custom Photo Frame

Custom Photo Frame

I look around our home and see a few remnants of our wedding day from seven years ago.  There are the keepsakes from the wedding itself (Candles, the flute set,  etc.), the hand made photo album filled with photos, and a few appliances that we didn’t have at the time.

What’s the point?  If you want to give a lasting gift, make it meaningful and filled with memories.  And make it a personalized wedding gift.  The hand made photo album made by our friends was great.  It’s classy, nice, one of a kind, and you always need a place to store photos.

That’s what makes the custom photo frames at personalization mall a great wedding gift.

You can customize it to say anything you’d like.  The names of the bride and groom being customary.  But experiment and try some different ideas.  You might be surprised with what you can come up with (I actually enjoyed trying different sayings using their preview option).

The only draw back is the 13 character limit.  Although, I found that the names of most of the couples I knew would fit within that limit.  If your special couple won’t fit, then it’s time to get creative.  They’ll love the gift even more!

Giving a custom photo frame on that special day is the best way to show the couple you are thinking about them, and to give them something that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Here’s to the Newly Weds!

Hot Gift Guys

P.S.-  Rather than just give the bride and groom an empty photo frame, get it early.  Then coordinate with their parents to get copies of photos.  You’ll have a unique gift they can hang on their wall in their first apartment, and they’ll still have it when they buy their first home!

Graduation Gift Ideas – Apple iPod Touch

Apple iPod Touch

Apple iPod Touch

It is that time of year again – Graduation.  What better  graduation gift idea, than the gift of music?

In our world, the Apple iPod Touch is the best product at a reasonable price.

In case you’re curious, we’ll fill you in on all of Apple’s music makers!

iPod Shuffle - For around $80, you can get into the iPod craze.  A compact and basic design, the iPod shuffle is the first step into digital music playback.  Lacking the software extras of the other iPod models, the iPod Shuffle is the base model with no extras.

iPod NanoStarting at just over $120, the iPod Nano may be the best budget high school graduation gift idea.  With plenty of cool, and useful accessories, it is the perfect music player for the college bound student, and it won’t break the budget.  Lightweight, sturdy, and user friendly.  Your high school grad will think of you every time they play their music!

iPod Classic - $220 buys you a step up from the Nano.  For the extra hundred dollars, you get some software upgrades, more storage space and a larger screen.  Worth the extra $$.. you be the judge.

iPod Touch - The king of the hill, the top of the line, the best of the best.  For around $200 you can get the 8GB model (nowhere near the 80GB you get with the classic), with more memory costing more money.  But you also get all of the software that comes very close to making the iPod Touch a hand held computer.  If you have the budget for it, and your high school grad is looking for a good all in one device, the iPod Touch is the way to go.  And with the 3rd generation just released, now is the time to get the hot new iPod Touch.

Of all the graduation gift ideas, the Apple iPod Touch is the best product for the music loving grad in your life.  With quality products, and prices to fit everyone’s budget, the iPod is the way to go.

Congratulations Grads!

The Hot Gift Guys

P.S. – A gift card to iTunes to go along with their new iPod is a great addition.  They can start downloading their favorite music immediately.

Graduation Gift Ideas – Laptops & Netbooks

Laptops & Netbooks

Asus eee 1001P Intel Atom Netbook (Black)

Everyone’s looking for graduation gift ideas this time of year.  Take the time to do some research before you run out to your local box store and get sold on laptops & netbooks that won’t fit your needs (perhaps it’s not the best buy ;-) )

Laptop vs. Netbook – The difference

As you can see from the stats, the laptop is designed to be a computer more similar to a desktop.  More computing power, more memory, and a more versatile Operating System.  (If your grad is into gaming, videos etc. this is probably your best bet.)  The Netbook is more of a bare bones, keep it simple computer.  Great at accessing the internet and doing word processing etc.  Also, the Netbooks are smaller, lighter weight and typically with a longer battery life, they are easier to carry from class to class.

Below is our list of top performers on multiple review sites.  Take it for what you will, but be informed before you buy.

Laptops -

Gateway NV7915u-

Processor- 2.13 GHz Intel Corei3
Ram- 4GB
Hard drive-  500 GB
Operating System- Windows 7 Home

HP G62t -

Processor- 2.13 GHz Intel Core i3
Ram- 4GB
Hard drive- 500 GB
Operating System- Windows 7 Home

These two make the top of the list, earning honors in multiple reviews, on multiple sites (cnet and laptopmag)  At around $600, all of our research says these are both great laptops, and very comparable (the hard drive on the HP spinning a little quicker)  . Earning honors for best laptops as well as best budget laptops, they’ve got all the software and computing power the college bound grads will need.

Netbooks -

ASUS Eee PC 1001P –

Processor- 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N450
Ram- 1GB
Hard Drive- 160 GB
Operating System- Windows 7 Starter

Netbooks are the hot new thing in computing power, and this one is the computer earning top recognition on multiple sites.  This seems to be the pick, and at about half the price of a laptop, not a bad investment for your High School Graduate.

If laptops & netbooks rank high on your list of graduation gift ideas, then look into these recommendations.  We promise you won’t be disappointed.

Happy Computing!

The Hot Gift Guys

P.S. – Our experience shows it’s best to opt out of the extended warranty.  Most electronics come with a solid manufacturers warranty that will cover any issues that may come up.  The extended warranty is a great way to increase the retailer’s bottom line. ;-)

Graduation Gifts – Cross Ink Pens

Cross Ink Pens

Cross Tech 3 Satin Black Multi-Function Pen

Living in a digital age makes it difficult to believe that a quality ink pen would be a graduation gift that would get much use.  Whether they’re heading off to college, or on to the corporate world, the reality is that paperwork isn’t going away.

Imagine the feel of  good, cross ink pens in your hand.  The extra weight, the feel between you fingers, the smooth flowing ink.  All of these factors add up to a quality writing experience.

Especially if your grad is planning on going out into the professional world.  Imagine how your grad will feel filling out client contracts and paperwork using the quality pen you gave him.  And then he’ll hand the pen to his client to get their signature.  Definitely a great way to start a new career!

Remember, just because we live in a digital age, doesn’t mean there’s no more paperwork.  Cross ink pens make great graduation gifts…and they’re timeless.

Congratulation Grads!

The Hot Gift Guys

P.S. – Get your grad extra ink refills to make the gift extra special!