My Friend Handmade Our Wedding Gift, and Honestly, It's Awful! What Should We Do?

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Whether you've created a registry, set up a honeymoon fund, or are asking for charitable donations in lieu of gifts, having a wedding means that people will want to get you gifts to celebrate the big event. Brand new dishes, enough cash to cover those massages, or a hefty check to send to your favorite organization? It's a win-win, right? And if you have friends who are creative or crafty, they might be inclined to put their skills to use and create something that's truly one-of-a-kind in honor of your marriage. But what if the handmade gift in question is more amateur craft than work of art? Here's how our experts think you should respond.

Not every friend is a wiz with a paintbrush or a sculpting pro, which means some of those handmade items aren't the quality you'd want to display on your bookshelf or coffee table. But the first thing to remember is that someone who loves you put in the time and effort to create this object for you. Begin by sending a thank you note acknowledging how much you appreciate the work they did to make something for you, and thanking them for their friendship. Don't lie about how much you love it, but instead focus on what the gift means and how much you value them as a person.

Of course, there's the age-old question of what to do with a gift you, well, hate when the giver comes over to visit. Find a special spot to display the item, no matter how awful you might think it is. If you have the space, keep the knick knack on your bedside table or hang the artwork in your office, somewhere it won't be front-and-center in your home but that also shows the personal connection you have to the piece. If it's really just something you can't display, keep it amongst similar objects you love to create a vignette of sorts that will help to camouflage the item, and hope that future moments of celebration have a different outcome.