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With weddings come presents. But making sure you get things you need or want takes more than luck. Carole Hamilton, author of the Sublime Wedding and a former editor of You and Your Wedding magazine for more than 13 years, picks Britain's best wedding list services. Click to view Top 5 Wedding Lists.
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Best Alternative Gift List (Oxfam) |
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 If you really don't want friends and relatives to buy you any wedding presents, how about having a list that gives to others less fortunate than you? The Oxfam Unwrapped service will make you and your guests feel great. |
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As couples are marrying later in life and are often more financially secure, charity wedding lists are becoming more and more popular. This way your guests still feel they are contributing towards your celebration but the gift goes to help someone else, rather than furnishing your home.
Oxfam Unwrapped is my favourite charity list and because full details are available online, it's easy for your guests to see how their money will be spent.
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From Goats To Condoms |
 One of the most popular wedding gifts has been a pair of wedding goats (£24 each), one male and one female, to help an African family to start a goat family of their own. Other ideas include a school desk and chair (£15), condom kits (£20), safe drinking water for 18 people (£13), 21 mango saplings (£42) or sponsoring an orphaned child (£50).
There are gifts from as little as £5 to over £500 so there's something to suit everyone's budget. To date, more than one million gifts have been bought since the service started in 2004. |
The List Unwrapped |
The simplest way to see the service in action is to log on to the website at oxfamunwrapped.com or you can pop into your local Oxfam shop and ask for a brochure.
You can set up a personal wedding wish list online and will get an account reference you can give to your guests so they can buy online. The whole list can also be e-mailed to friends if you prefer. |
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 Guests can buy online using any of the major credit or debit cards or over the telephone.
Once the list is closed after the wedding you will receive a full list of what has been bought in your name and who bought it, so you can still send out thank you cards acknowledging your friends' and relatives' generosity.
The latest Unwrapped catalogue is available from March 2007 through the oxfamunwrapped website, from any of the 750 Oxfam shops around the UK, or by calling 0870 410 50 30. |
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