7 Local Gifts to Shop This Wedding Season
June has been knocking on the door and waiting on the front porch is wedding season, a wonderful time of the year spent celebrating your soon-to-be married friends — and also a period met with equal pressure to give thoughtful gifts that can add up quickly and start to feel like a chore. But wedding gift shopping doesn’t have to include mindlessly checking off one “The Knot” registry after another.
We’re here to help you spice up your wedding gift-giving with a touch of RVA. There are plenty of options around town, from moonshine below the train trestles to artistic renditions of the city’s biking trails, so break out your “shop local” spirit, and add these gems to your gift list this summer. You’ll be remembered for more than that nesting bowl set or the “Basics Silicone, Non-Stick, Food-Safe Baking Mat — Pack of 2” from a big-box store and known as an authentic Richmonder who embraces their city and shows up in style!
— by Andrew Knight, Contributing Writer (and the brains behind RVA James River Fishing Report. Follow him @rvajamesriverfishreport!)
Shreddy Art
With part of every sale going to support RVA’s trails, this is the wedding gift that keeps on giving — literally! Created by local artists — who each possess varying styles and takes on the park system — these colorful maps bring to life miles of biking trails found in the James River Park System and help avid cyclists and hiker (or otherwise outdoorsy) couples have their favorite route memorialized on the wall.
Who’s behind the business? Richmond’s Queen of the Capital Trail: Beth Weisbrod, who served as the former director and founder of the Capital Trail. Yes — she’s always pedaling forward!
Right now, our favorite map is the Blueberry Trail, partially because of the route itself (a true gentle cruiser for all the mountain bikers reading this) and also because of the checkered/camouflage-inspired background that reflects the trail’s gritty character.
>> Buy it here <<
Burly Fire Pit
This is for you group gift-givers. Who says you have to go solo for wedding gift-giving anyway? Friends that combine their energy and money for a big gift are the friends I want by my side (and most likely, your newlywed friends feel the same way)!
Don’t be like me and get stuck pooling your money into a boring flower arrangement — I’m still waiting on my thank you note, which probably isn’t coming. Do pull your money together with some friends for the OG Solo Stove, made right here in the heart of the River City. The Burly fire pit is the real deal — heavy-duty, smokeless, and made to last for centuries, with that stylish look you see at all the local breweries.
Burly’s mission reads: “We believe that outside is always more fun than in. We’re outdoor people aiming to make the outdoors more inviting to all.” If you’re driving up a mountain road, sand dune, or some other faraway outdoor location for the wedding in question, showing up with a Burly stove (wrapped in cute paper!) will be the right move. You will certainly need your fellow group members to assist in the delivery of this “long-lasting, heavy-gauge steel” pit, but it will be a gift for generations to come, and you’ll leave the wedding knowing you hit a home run!
>> Buy it here <<
Belle Isle Moonshine
When it comes to bringing high spirits to a future marriage, nothing is as tasteful as a bottle of RVA’s finest moonshine, distilled right in the heart of the historic Manchester area. Belle Isle Moonshine came to life in 2013 based on the notion that moonshine didn’t have to be some undercover drink made up in the mountains to the west. For over 10 years, the local distiller has been bottling spirits and moonshine infusions like Honey Habanero and Blood Orange, as well as canned cocktails, including Cherry Lime Drive and Ice Pick, to name just a couple!
The flavors are bold, and the bottles will leave the bride and groom thinking of you and your cozy hometown for a lifetime. (Bonus points if your gift recipient(s) has successfully jumped off the train trestle pillar using that sketchy ladder roped to the side. If you know, you know!)
>> Buy it here <<
Rosewood Pottery Studio
Couples who make pottery together, stay together. Rosewood Pottery Studio is where newlyweds can celebrate their forever commitment with equally long-lasting clay creations. Serving as the city’s only full-service community pottery studio, located in the heart of the Fan on Cary St, Rosewood offers group classes for all skill levels and individual sessions for beginners to master the art or learn a new craft.
The class fee includes twenty-five pounds of clay, so you’ll have room to stretch your imagination and transform a block into a dazzling masterpiece (or masterpieces). The folks at Rosewood don’t mess around with any other materials, and their laser focus on clay provides a start-to-finish experience, from creating the piece to putting it in the kiln, adding a glaze, and going home with a final product — whether it be a new drinking glass, bowl, or display vase!
>> Buy it here <<
Mise En Place
Nothing screams romance more than cooking a delicious meal together with the guidance of a professional chef. At Mise En Place, you can find that happy place, as their talented team of chefs will guide you through cooking up a memorable meal from beginning to end.
Offering dinner options with the themes of “Bistro Dining,” “Date Night at the Brasserie,” “Ciao! That's Italian,” and the “Wellness Kitchen: Cooking for Detoxification,” the bride and groom will surely find something that fits their appetite, and you can rest at ease knowing you’ve given an experience of fine dining and future date-night dinners.
The team at Mise En Place has been helping families, friends, newlyweds, and coworkers come together to learn how to cook a new meal for over 10 years. They remind us all (but particularly the less experienced cooks) that there is a difference between cumin and thyme. Don’t let your friends get married without at least one good recipe to kick off their next chapter!
>> Buy it here <<
Popperhaus
Quilts are never going out of style, and Popperhaus quilted homegoods and accessories are a sure way to impress the bride and groom this wedding season. Handmade right here in RVA, Popperhaus’s pieces offer a vibrant spin on traditional table runners, pillowcases, and otherwise boring, drab coasters. The patterns are intricate and offer a modern style.
PH artist Erika accepts custom orders, too, so consider treating the bride and groom to a quilt made just for them to enjoy for a lifetime of picnics, bonfires, and movie nights.
>> Buy it here <<
Gifted
Our list wouldn’t be complete without Richmond’s one-stop-shop for everything locally owned. Gifted rounds up products from local businesses and neatly packages them together into a wedding-friendly gift box, customizable for every couple.
Are your soon-to-be-wed friends in love with each other and coffee? Gifted could help you package Blanchard’s Coffee Roasting Company and Legacy Roasting Company beans into a coffee-centric box. If the newlyweds are snack lovers, Hudson Henry Baking Co. granola, Capital Chips, and Lammar Marie’s Gourmet Popcorn could all be intertwined for a snack-inspired box. Or maybe the couple is expecting and could use some zen vibes with a Gifted box including a Burn Down for What? candle and Handsocks goodies.
Build your box as you see fit, and be the guest who brings the total (RVA) package.
>> Buy it here <<
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