Wedding Gifts

Most wedding guests here hand over an envelope, and there's nothing at all wrong with that. It's what most couples are hoping for, and it's the sensible thing when you're one of a hundred and twenty people in the room. But if you're closer to the couple than the envelope crowd, or if handing over money has never quite sat right with you, the alternative is something they'll still have in twenty years.

A photograph of a place that means something to the two of them will still be on the wall long after the envelope's been spent. Where they married, where they met, the county one of them is from and still talks about after a few pints. I photograph the Irish landscape for a living, and my advice to anyone hunting for wedding gift ideas is always the same: start with the place, not with the product. If you know the couple well enough to know their places, you've an advantage over any gift shop in the country.

Sunset over the Sleeping Giant and the Blasket Islands, Dingle, Co. Kerry, by Peter Cox
Sunset over the Sleeping Giant and the Blaskets on a June evening, Dingle, Co. Kerry

One couple, usually two counties

A couple is rarely from the one place. One reared in Mayo, the other in Kerry, married in Sligo because that's where the hotel was, and now setting up in Dublin because that's where the work is. That gives you options nobody else at the wedding will have thought of: the county they married in, the townland one of them grew up in, or the bit of coast where the proposal happened. The photographs on this page are examples of what I mean - the Dingle Peninsula at sunset, Achill Head from the air, and dusk at Mullaghmore in Sligo.

The collection is arranged by county, so if it's Kerry, Mayo, Sligo, or anywhere else you're after, you can go straight there through the Ireland by County page rather than working through everything. Prints ship worldwide too, which tends to be handy when half the wedding party flew in for the weekend and is going home again on Monday.

Achill Head from the air on a clear winter day, Co. Mayo, by Peter Cox
Achill Head from the air on a clear January day, Co. Mayo

If you'd rather they chose

Dusk over wet cobbles at Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo, by Peter Cox

April dusk at Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo

Buying art for a couple is a bigger ask than buying for one person. You're guessing at two people's taste at once, and quite possibly for walls you've never laid eyes on. A gift card takes all of that off your shoulders. They choose the photograph, the size, and the format between them once the wedding has died down and they're back in the house, and picking something for the walls of the home they're building together is a decent way for the two of them to spend an evening.

The practical bits

Each print is made once the order comes in, so allow two to three weeks from ordering to it landing with you. If the wedding is next Saturday, a card on the day saying it's on its way is no disgrace at all. Every photograph can be made as a framed print, on canvas, or as an acrylic print, and which of the three suits depends on their home and their own taste.

I check everything against my specifications before it leaves here, and if a piece is damaged in transit I'll replace it at no cost. If you're stuck between two photographs, or unsure what size to go for, get in touch through the contact page.

More gift ideas and wall art: First Anniversary Gifts · Retirement Gifts · New Home & Housewarming Gifts · Irish Wall Art · Canvas Prints of Ireland · Acrylic Prints of Ireland · Framed Prints of Ireland

Cheers,
Peter