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"In the most ancient, strictly observed etiquette traditions, it would have been considered rude to request any presents at all. Presents are supposed to be given freely by the givers, not selected by the receivers. Now, this is far from the case today where brides and grooms are expected to register at a well-known store or two for things they want. (This is an enormous relief to those of us who are indecisive and afraid of giving presents that people already have.)"

You have arrived at Rachel's wedding gift idea web page.

One of the magical things about living together for three years is that you manage to acquire material objects at an alarming rate. As a result, we don't need anything.

Let me say this again, we don't need anything. We considered having a no-gift policy, but there are several who will insist, and who are we to prevent our loved ones from doing what they want.

For those who are interested, here is a list of 7 gift ideas:

1 Visit us. The best gift of all is spending time with you. That's why we've invited you to join us for one of the most important and meaningful events in our lives. If you can make it to our wedding, that is gift enough. If you cannot, then a great gift would be the promise of a future visit, or the invitation for us to visit you.

2 An experience. We love the gift of an experience. Possible ideas include:

• a coupon for a picnic lunch with you the next time we visit you
• a coupon for a cooking lesson from you of your favorite vegetarian recipe
• a coupon for an evening of stargazing with you
• a coupon for an afternoon of hiking with you
• a coupon for a backpacking trip with you
• a coupon for karaoke with you
• a coupon for a session of Malibu Grand Prix racing with you
• a coupon for a session of LeMans Karting racing with you
• a coupon for an evening of clubbing with you
• a coupon for a night of bar hopping with you
• a coupon for an evening of playing games with you
• a coupon for dinner & a movie
• a coupon for Mahjong lessons
• a coupon to teach Rachel to sew, embroider, or knit
• a coupon to teach Rachel how to make a tie purse
• tickets to a Cirque du Soleil performance
• tickets to a Formula 1 race
• a gift certificate for a weekend of racing school for Matthew
• a gift certificate for a couples spa (ooh la la!)
• a gift certificate for a massage
• a gift certificate for Watercourse Way
• a gift certificate for Ciana Day Spa
• a gift certificate for yoga lessons
• a gift certificate for singing lessons
• take us plant shopping at a local nursery
• lend us CDs to learn a foreign language (French, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Vietnamese [the Pimsleur Approach seems promising])

3 Obsessions. We each have a passion to which we devote a serious amount of time and money. Matthew's obsession is car racing. Rachel's obsession is genealogy. Matthew's costs include race registration fees, club membership fees, brakes, and tires. Rachel's costs include fees for copies of certificates, postage for letters, fees for foreign research and translations, fees for ordering microfilms at the family history library, and the cost of DNA tests.

If you'd like to fuel our obsessions, we would be delighted! With $30 you could sponsor one of Matthew's races or treat Rachel to one or two certificates. By sponsoring a race, they will actually announce that Matthew is sponsored by you as he competes. It is very exciting!

As a warning, if you are one of Rachel's blood relatives, she will probably ask you to take a genealogical DNA test. This is her latest point of obsession.

4 Handmade. We would love something handmade by you that reflects your passions. What do you love to create?

• a painting
• a song
• a handwritten recipe book (note: Rachel is vegan)
• a handmade piece of furniture
• a homemade game
• a handmade musical instrument
• a handmade purse (note: Rachel is vegan)
• handmade clothing

5 Collections. We have various collections you could add to:

• We love games! We have several on our registry (see below). We'd also love a surprise, but you might want to check our list of games we have and our list of puzzles we have. We would particularly like:
  • Hip Pocket Games from Cheapass Games
  • Formula Dé and various expansions
  • Beyond Balderdash
  • unusual and/or handcrafted puzzles and games
• We love DVDs! There are some on our registry, some on Matthew's wish list, and some on Rachel's wish list (see below for links). If you'd like to surprise us with something else, you might first want to check Matthew's list of our DVDs.
• We hope to collect the entire Twilight Zone Series on DVD
• We hope to collect every film by Alfred Hitchcock on DVD
• Rachel would like to have a collection of handmade musical instruments from around the world, and so far we only have maracas from Colombia
• Rachel collects (and uses!) wonderful & unusual purses (no leather please)
• Rachel loves science fiction novels, and has a semi-up-to-date list of sci-fi books she has read
• Rachel is fascinated by paper engineering and has a list of books she has on the subject

6 Our registry. We are registered at Amazon.com:

• Our wedding registry at Amazon.com
• Matthew's wish list at Amazon.com
• Rachel's wish list at Amazon.com

7 Other. Rachel has the following additional ideas and suggestions:

• We love plants!
• We love scented candles of any kind (any scent except vanilla; we especially love lemon verbena, rose, plumeria, and apple spice)
• We would love a few sets of wine lights with lamp oil
• We would love to own the following Mac software:
  • BBEdit
  • Cheetah3D
  • MailDrop
  • QuickTime Pro for Mac OS X
• We would love a gift certificate to UncommonGoods
• Rachel loves scrapbooking & crafting supplies
• Rachel would like a singing bowl (such as this one or available from any of the stores at Gear That Gives)
• don't let him know that you heard it from me, but Matthew loves fancy soaps, especially cinnamon or lemon verbena

E-mail. Our registry will automatically update purchases that are made through Amazon.com. If you would like us to remove something from this list or our registry because it has been purchased elsewhere, please feel free to use this e-mail form: