Bespoke Handmade Wedding Gifts and Other Presents

3rd June 2012

Every year, around the end of spring, I get a lot of requests for smaller items to give as wedding, birthday, and anniversary gifts. I guess there’s a disproportionate number of weddings in the summer months, but I thought birthdays were pretty well spread out. In any case, I thought it might be nice to put together a little compilation of some of the gifts and presents I’ve made in the last few years.

I think one of the reasons why these smaller items are popular is that they can be inscribed with the receiver’s initials or a message which make them a truly personal and bespoke handmade gift. Here’s a few of my favourites…

 

 

Jewellery Boxes:

I’ve made lots of jewellery and keep-sake boxes over the years, and they do make a lovely present. I designed an inlaid leather lid-stay which I’ve incorporated into a number of the boxes (photo above), but the great thing about these presents is that you can have anything you like.

One of my favourites was for someone from the Isle-of-Man, where I inliad a walnut three-legged triskelion into the oak box. It also had a book-matched top (where a single piece of wood is divided in two and joined together like a butterfly print).

 

 

Another was a wedding present, for an old friend in Northampton, made out of walnut and oak. The side was engraved with the couples’ initials and the year of their wedding.

 

 

Inlaid Backgammon Boards:

I absolutely love making these, because they require lots of different processes and techniques, and they really do look fantastic when they are all finished and oiled. I posted a photo diary a few months ago about an Oak board inlaid with ash and walnut (check it out here…). It was a 50th birthday present, and the clients initials were inlaid in ash and walnut in the centre of the board. I also made a full set of hexagon counters which slotted into the felt lined counter trays at the side.

 

 

After seeing the photo diary for the board above (here), a woman ordered one for her fiancé as a wedding present, but she wanted to change the timber to Walnut. Walnut is my favourite wood to use, because it has a beautiful chocolate colour and machines, planes and sands perfectly. I engraved the couples’ initials and their wedding date into the spine of the board, just above my makers mark.

 

 

House Sign with Secret Bird Box:

I love this quirky little piece, because it looks like a normal house sign until you notice the hole for birds to come in and out. I should point out that the Robin is not included. The solid Oak house sign was hand engraved with serif text, and was made specifically for the tree it is attached to, so it fits perfectly.

 

 

Bookends with a Twist:

This present was for a client who was going to a wedding in South Africa. The couples’ initials are engraved on each side, and letters and notes can be stored in the nooks. The bookends were handmade in Oak, with dovetailed corners.

 

 

 

Walnut Ring Box

A couple of weeks ago I made this cute little ring box for a guy who was proposing to his girlfriend. It’s made from walnut and has a sliding dove-tailed top which is locked in place by a hand-carved pin.

 

 

 

 

If you would like to see more bespoke handmade presents and gifts by Hugh, or some of the other hardwood furniture and fitted interiors that HM HandMade specialises in, check out the website at www.hmhandmade.co.uk.

 

 

 

 

 

Handmade Wedding Present; Bespoke Wooden Wedding Gift; Bespoke Handmade Anniversary Box; Handmade Oak Jewellery Box; Bespoke Wooden Box; Hardwood Handmade Keep Sake Box; Handmade Backgammon Board; Bespoke Inlaid Backgammon Board; Handmade Bespoke House Signs and Bird Boxes; Bespoke Handmade Book Ends.