| Are you attending a wedding this season?
Everyone wants to select just the right gift from the bridal registry. Take my advice on the best bets for wedding gifts that will be vintage collectibles when this season's brides and grooms reach their golden anniversary. Here's how to distinguish the contemporary trinkets from the treasures of the future.
Advice for the Couple
When it comes to long term collectability and wedding china, complete sets are icing on the wedding cake. Many contemporary couples only ask for those pieces that they really need when it comes to the all-important wedding china. Today's brides will complain that the wedding china must be hand washed and that storage space for settings with more than 100 pieces just isn't practical. Despite the trouble, ask for the entire set. In the long run, it will increase in collection value if you have the whole set.
For today's brides, your mother's high quality Wedgwood, Limoges or Spode sets from the 1940s to the 1960s still bring significantly more money in the world of vintage china than incomplete china sets. You may not use all of your requested china, but when the time comes to reap vintage value out of it, you'll want the entire set - gravy boats, soup tureens and all.
Use the textiles
Nearly every couple asks for textiles. It's a waste of coveted registry space. Most grooms roll their eyes in disbelief over the possibility of owning yet another frilly pillow or tablecloth, and collecting evaluation trends agree. Most textiles bring relatively low values on the secondary market after 50 years. If you look at today's market for printed textiles from the 1950s, post-war era printed tablecloths bring $5 to $15.
Collect wine, not wine glasses
Many brides and grooms would actually end up with a larger nest egg if they invested in collecting vintage wines rather than new wine glasses. First of all, 50 years from now, if you still have a complete set of wine glasses, you'll be lucky. Odds are that over the years, you will have lost a few glasses as a result of hosting clumsy Uncle Louie for a family reunion. Or maybe you realized too late that the lights inside your china closet get so hot that your glasses cracked under the heat.
Don't discourage your groom from adding tools to the registry, as vintage and antique tools have a very strong resale market. Overall, the most valuable items in the world of wedding antiques remain original works of art, precious metals, and furniture.
Article Sources:http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19720945&BRD=1769&PAG=461&dept_id=81975&rfi=6 | 
