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Wedding gift ideas for everyone in your life

Your soon-to-be-married friends and family will want kitchen and dining gifts. Here’s what to get them

By Asad Syrkett
Photography by Winnie Au | Styling by Olga Naiman

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First, the good news: Spring is here! For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, this means warmer weather, longer days, and, if you’re feeling industrious, a thorough Kondo-ing. But spring’s arrival also heralds something less universally beloved—wedding season.

We know: Weddings are for celebrating the joy of two people pledging their love for each other in front of the people that matter to them. But the anxiety of wedding-season gift-giving is real. Luckily, Curbed is here to help.

When it comes to home goods gifts, there are lots of things you could give, but nothing sits at the nexus of useful and desirable like gifts for your loved ones’ kitchens and dining tables; it’s no secret that wedding registries fill up with these things first. (Your engaged pals might even thank you for sending this list their way—hint, hint.)

Feeling brave and looking to shop for gifts that aren’t on your friends’ registries? We’ve rounded up the best of the best in kitchen and dining appliances, ceramics, glasses, serveware, table linens, and more. Happy gifting!

A kitchen counter with trays, a table runner, bowl, and a serving board.
For the millennial: The soothing color palette of these pink-, blue-, and sand-hued accessories is sure to please your newly married millennial friends. Here, quadrangular trays by Clara von Zweigbergk for Danish brand Hay ($20) join forces with a peach runner from Minna ($78), a Saturn bowl from Light + Ladder ($210), a terrazzo serving board from Hudson Wilder ($65), and kitchen tongs, spatula, and serving spoon from Material’s The Iconics set ($245).
A row of sculptural accessories including a vase, bookends, and candleholders.
For your friend the drama queen: We cannot get enough of these very cool, very heavy sculptural accessories (from $200), aptly dubbed Swirl, from Tom Dixon. Though the exact material composition is a closely guarded Dixon family secret, the company says it uses a “recycled powdered residue.” The full set includes a vase, candleholders, and bookends. Your fire-sign friends will thank you.
Cookware and utensils on a surface with a black and white abstract pattern.
For the weekends-only Julia Child: We all have the friend who only pulls out the stops on Saturdays and Sundays. Upgrade them with cookware by Patricia Urquiola for Alessi ($659, full set), kitchen utensils from Material (the Iconics set, $245), speckled bakeware by Food52 and Dansk Generations ($45), and technicolor cloth dinner napkins by Kate Shepherd for WeR2 (10 for $148).
A green garbage bin with a metallic silver lid.
For your friend for whom everything must be ~*designed*~: Kitchen waste is deeply unglamorous, but we’ve all got it. Why not give a design-minded trash bin, like this stellar bright-green one by Josef Road for Erpa ($200)?
Cookware, a teapot, and a tumbler arranged on a kitchen countertop.
For the discerning amateur chef: Japanese cookware brand Vermicular released its deeply sexy Musui-Kamado enameled-cast-iron cookware ($670) in the U.S. for the first time earlier this year, and it doesn’t disappoint in the looks department. A four-cup teapot from Mud Australia ($288), inspired by Japanese design, and fluted carafe ($120) and tumbler ($28, set of 2) by Jasper Morrison for Finnish brand Iittala make nice accompaniments.
A ceramic water filter, a serving board, measuring cup and a scale on a countertop.
For the type-A type with taste: Water filtration systems have long had fans among the health-conscious worried about what’s in their H2O. This ceramic option ($395), from Brooklyn-based company Walter, also looks extraordinary. It’s got good company in the looks department from a terrazzo serving board from Hudson Wilder ($65), smart measuring cup ($44), and scale ($39) by Peter’s Pantry for MoMA Design Store.
Various items of cookware on a kitchen counter.
For the morning ritualist: We’ll let you in on a secret: Restaurants swear by Jono Pandolfi’s handmade ceramics, like its stellar mug and bowl, part of the company’s Coupe seven-piece set ($195). Get your coffee brewing, burn a little incense—seen with a Norden brass incense burner ($45) and Oresund incense ($20)—and your day’s looking up. They’re accompanied here with a nautical-inspired placemat from the Rope Company via Food52 ($120 for a set of four) and an XL tray by Clara von Zweigbergk for Hay ($65).
A group of various objects like serving trays, plates, and napkins.
For your friend who just can’t quit Instagram: Iridescent accessories are an easy way to spice up a tablescape, and these Hay serving trays ($40) make a strong case for adding some rainbow pizzazz. They’re partnered here with Felt + Fat plates ($192 for a set of five), Cutipol Goa salad serveware from Mud Australia ($62 for a set of two), and a blue-cotton napkin ($22) from Creative Women, hand-woven in Ethiopia.
A set of cookware arranged on display in a kitchen area.
For your closest frenemy: All-Clad sets the gold standard with its cookware, and giving the spendy 10-piece set of pots and pans ($699.95) is a real power move.
A rolling pin and other assorted tableware on a table with an abstract black and white patterned surface.
For the Great British Bake Off fan who doesn’t bake (yet): Three words: marble rolling pin (from CB2, $29.95). Experts will know it can be chilled and used to roll out pastries without transferring any heat from friction before it’s time for the oven. Amateurs will know it looks great and has heft. Paired here with Marimekko’s Siirtolapuutarha tablecloth ($160), stellar Hawkins New York Highland five-piece flatware ($90), a maple cutting board by Deborah Ehrlich ($165), and dishwasher-safe plates from Felt + Fat (full dining set, $192).
Wine glasses, plates, and kitchen items on a table.
For the consummate host: We fell head-over-heels in love with UMÉ Studio’s soap last holiday season, but the Oakland-based company also makes these terrific hand-cast-concrete, button-inspired trays ($220 for a set of three). Pair them with Hudson Wilder’s elegant Brant wine glasses ($45 for a set of four) and Marimekko’s Eläköön Elämä salad plate ($29.50).
A set of kitchen items including a blender, bowl of fruit, and mugs on a kitchen counter.
For the wellness-focused: A Vitamix 5200 ($450) passes a crucial test: It won’t end up in a corner of your best friend’s attic after they send you a thank-you card. They can banana smoothie to their heart’s content with this versatile, sculptural Saturn bowl from Light + Ladder ($210) and Dot mugs from Recreation Center ($49).
A group of kitchen items including a casserole dish, tea towels, and cookware on a flat blue surface.
For the dinner partier: Casserole dishes are a dime a dozen, but this speckled number from Settle Ceramics ($125) is head-and-shoulders above others we’ve seen lately. Cutipol Goa stainless-steel-and-resin serveware from Mud Australia ($62), Hudson tea towels from Norden ($30), and brand-new Edo cookware by Patricia Urquiola for Alessi (full set, $659) round out this set.
Various items of cookware arranged on a countertop near a stove in a kitchen.
For your sister who puts her takeout on nice dishes: Have you heard of East Fork? The Asheville, North Carolina-based home goods company makes gorgeous ceramics, like this three-piece plate set seen here in dinner ($42), side ($28), and cake ($16) sizes. Throw in Bowie salt and pepper grinders from Leif ($40 each) or a chic conical teapot by Aldo Rossi for Alessi ($300).
A colorful vase on a kitchen shelf above a stove.
For the flower fiend: This colorful vase ($75) from Danish design brand Hay was hand-blown in Morocco and comes in four eye-catching colorways. Might we recommend pairing it with anthuriums or parrot tulips?
A coffee maker, serving trays, and other kitchen accessories.
For your childhood friend who likes to accessorize: Accessories can make or break a kitchen. There are the sleek-but-uber-functional kind, like this French press from Stelton ($99.95), and then there are the kinds of kitchen accessories that sit between utilitarian and decorative, like these quadrangular ($20) and hexagonal ($30) trays by Clara von Zweigbergk for Danish brand Hay, this finely crafted, splurgey oak spice mill from Dejong ($150), and this soignée cheese knife by Sabre ($25).
A rice booker, cleaner and a stack of sponges in a kitchen.
For your cleanest friend: Raise your hand if you like to clean your kitchen! No? Just us? Clean in style with Hay’s scourer sponge set of five ($10) and Saint Olio’s citrus-scented No. 1 cleaner concentrate ($85). The same cleanliness-oriented friend will likely thank you for gifting them something heftier: An all-in-one induction rice cooker from Zojirushi ($329.99). Fewer pots to wash, right?
A grouping of kitchen items: a rolling pin, bowls, and a skillet.
For your brother, who needs a starter kit: Bowls from Jono Pandolfi (from $25), a hammered-metal roaster from Blanc Creatives (from $230), a marble rolling pin from CB2 ($29.95), plates from Felt + Fat ($192 for full dining set), and a 12-inch cast-iron skillet from Lodge ($31.95) are excellent places to start for a friend or family member embarking in kitchen adventures for the first time.
A grouping of various kitchen accessories arranged on a table.
These gifts aren’t likely to end up in a long-forgotten box. Iridescent and geometric trays from Hay (from $20); Bouton serving dishes from UMÉ Studio ($220 for a set of three); maple cutting board by Deborah Ehrlich ($150); cheese knife by Sabre ($25); floral Marimekko salad plate ($29.50); fluted carafe ($108) and tumbler ($28 for two) by Jasper Morrison for Iittala; Chef’n citrus juicer ($24.95); speckled roasting dish by Settle Ceramics ($125); and teapot by MUD Australia ($288).

Market editor/writer: Asad Syrkett
Photo direction: Audrey Levine
Photographer: Winnie Au
Photo assistant: Sam Dong
Stylist: Olga Naiman
Styling assistant: Julia Dotoli
Copy editor: Emma Alpern
Editor-in-Chief: Kelsey Keith
Special thanks to Ellen Van Dusen