The Newlywed Beat - The New York Times (May 29, 08)
WEDDING season is upon us, and with it the perpetual question of what to give to the newlyweds.
Some people like to be creative, preferring not to buy a place setting or a few soupspoons from a gift registry. And couples who do not register at all leave gift buyers on their own.
Gregory Krum, the director of retail at the Shop at Cooper-Hewitt, the National Design Museum, on 91st Street and Fifth Avenue, has been shopping professionally for many years. For the Cooper-Hewitt, he shops all the time, and all over the world, to satisfy a large and varied public. Before joining the design museum, he was the product manager for five years at Moss, the SoHo design emporium.
When shopping for wedding presents for his friends, he says, he thinks hard about the recipients. He tries to isolate what it is about them that he is celebrating, and he factors in the couple’s ages and needs.
“If they are young and just starting out I give very useful things,” he said. “But if the couple is more established I can be more esoteric with the present.”
He avoids anything generic, and he does not go to chain stores. Rather, he looks for independently owned shops where the owner’s informed point of view is apparent.
Mr. Krum searches for stores that are unique to New York — which, he laments, are becoming harder to find. “I always look for places that have the personality of the city I am in,” he said.
For Mr. Krum, a gift should have a deeper meaning than just what it looks like. It might be a useful object that was designed by a master, like Ettore Sottsass, in which a lifetime of thought is apparent. Or something made of a strong material like iron that will endure. He also likes items the couple will interact with every day, like an iconic Italian espresso machine by Pavoni.
Sometimes he searches for a special book, like a signed copy or first edition that relates to the couple’s interests. Or he gives a movie subscription to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where the repertory films, he said, are magical, and shown in a very New York theater rather than in a multiplex. Plus, he said, “a movie subscription is an opportunity to do things together as a couple.”
Well-thought-out choices, he said, “make a connection between the couple and the object.” And for close friends, “it’s nice to explore the deeper meanings of things.”
Full article with gift idea slide show
