The older I get, the more I move away from wanting to give and receive physical objects as gifts. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the thought that goes into them. It’s just that I really don’t want any more stuff in my house.
I mean, this is the battle cry of so many engaged couples, right? Your community wants to get you a gift to commemorate your nuptials. The aunties really would prefer if it were something they could wrap in nice paper and pair with an overly sentimental card (bonus points for glitter embellishments). But you really, really don’t need another set of pots and pans. And so you put the word out that you’d like cash, or cobble together a non-traditional registry that maybe includes some subscriptions or a honeymoon fund.
I often think experience gifts are one of the best solutions to this problem. They’re thoughtful, more significant than cash, and your guests have the satisfaction of knowing they got you a thing. But every single time I consider buying one for someone, I get overwhelmed and close my computer. What if my friends don’t actually want the experience I pick out? Or what if they move and can no longer do a Napa Valley wine tour? Which is why when I first heard about Tinggly, the experience gift service that lets your recipient pick out their own experience gift, I was like:
Because you know what I want way more than pots and pans? Surfing lessons. Wine tasting on a sailboat. Or maybe, I don’t know… two days of beekeeping in France? (Hey, a girl can dream.)
The idea behind Tinggly is actually really simple. Instead of buying your besties an experience gift that you pick out, you give them a Tinggly gift box (or printable PDF or email depending on how you roll.) Then they can take that gift and redeem it for one of 2,000 experiences in 100 countries worldwide. A Tinggly gift is good for five years, so there’s no worry that your procrastinator friends might forget to redeem it and then not be able to 🙋. And since they offer experiences all over the world, a Tinggly box is the perfect addition to your friend’s honeymoon, even if they don’t know where it’s gonna be yet.
Tinggly’s wedding gift boxes start at just $119, which is not too shabby for, say, a kayaking tour of Stockholm, or parasailing in France, or a sunset dinner cruise in Thailand. But if you ask me, Tinggly is the gift I would want to have for doing something special in my hometown when my anniversary rolls around and I realize I haven’t planned anything special with my partner. Which I do. Every. Damn. Year. And spoiler alert: the stateside gifts are just as baller as the international ones. I might just do this sailing cruise next time I go home to Maine. And this SF GoCar experience gift is calling my name for Michael’s birthday.
So if you think the next wedding gift you give should be a little more outside the box, here are just a handful of experiences your recipient could choose from if you were to gift them a Tinggly wedding gift:
International Gifts
Thermal Spa Experience in New Zealand
Two-Night Beekeeping Adventure in France
Traditional Cooking Class for Two in Portugal
Scuba Diving the Underwater Museum in Cancun
Spend a Night in a Bubble Hotel in France
Learn About Tea Culture in China
Float in the Dead Sea in Israel
Go Kart Racing on Ice in Finland
Explore Barcelona by Helicopter, Boat and Foot
Domestic Gifts
Horseback Riding Under the Hollywood Sign in LA
Windsurfing Lessons in Florida
Gold Panning and Salmon Bake in Alaska
Catskills Ski Trip Getaway from NYC
Wine Trolley Tour in The Bay Area
Lobster Dinner Cruise in Connecticut
So if you’re looking for that perfect compromise between non-traditional gift and cash, how about the gift of an amazing memory? Because no one ever complained that their bungee jumping adventure was taking up too much space in their closet.
