Are you picking out a gift for newlyweds this year? Follow these three steps and add your own personal touch to a gift they’ll cherish for a lifetime.

It may come as no surprise, but I’m going to say it anyway: I think personalized wedding gifts are simply the best kind of wedding gift you can give!

When we shop for wedding presents, the couple typically has a registry. This takes much of the fun out of gifting them for their special day. On the other hand, some wedding guests decide to go off the registry to give the newlyweds a surprise.

Personalized keepsakes work well either as an addition to a gift you’ve already chosen, or as the whole gift. To show you how, I’ve put together some quick steps you can follow to turn your gift into a wonderfully personalized wedding present.

1. Incorporate a theme they will both appreciate.

For guests that wish to stick to the registry, a wedding-themed ornament is a safe choice. The bride and groom will be pleased with the main present, and surprised by a beautiful matrimonial keepsake.

Another option is to select several ornaments and gift a personalized collection. In this case, choose ornaments based on themes that the couple shares together. If they are sports fans, consider finding an ornament for their favorite team. If they have traveled somewhere special together, find the perfect vacation ornament to represent their trip. If it is an unconventional wedding, find a keepsake that represents their unique love.

These ornaments will hang on their very first Christmas tree together, so you want to find tokens that symbolize shared memories.

 2. Tailor the message to the couple’s new life together.

Once you have the ornaments chosen, consider how to personalize them. For most ornaments, you can include names, dates and brief personal messages.

You can personalize your selection with “Husband and Wife,” “Mr. & Mrs.,” “his first name & her first name,” or just their new shared last name. The wedding date is a safe choice if you’re choosing to personalize with a date, or relate the date back to why you chose the ornament so long as you know the date is correct, such as the day they met.

For your personal message, depending on the ornament you choose, you can treat it the same as you would a greeting card with a brief congratulation.

3. Consider the presentation of the gift.

Wedding keepsakes can either be gifted in their own box, or they work as wonderful present toppers. Some of our ornaments even come with their own special boxes when purchasing them. You could also try a DIY memory box project to include pictures in your keepsake gift.

To use a keepsake as a present topper, place your main present from the registry or your collection of keepsake ornaments into a box. Then after wrapping the gift, use ribbon to lace a personalized keepsake and tie it to the top of the box using our step-by-step present topper directions. This same concept can be applied to an envelope if you’ve chosen to give them a gift card or cash.

The newlyweds will be thrilled to see a personalized accent on top of their present!

Is there a special keepsake that represents a newlywed couple you know? Tell us in the comments!