Our 25 Best Engagement Gifts From Parents Who Want to Express Their Excitement
Hugs are in order, and happy tears may be shed: Your kiddo is engaged… congratulations! Remind them of your love and support as they begin this new chapter with a commemorative present. Engagement gifts from parents are a thoughtful way to show how much you care. Whether it's a practical item to help with wedding planning or building their life together, or a sentimental keepsake to mark the occasion, your gesture reflects your confidence in their love and your excitement for their future.
We understand if you're feeling a little anxious about finding the right engagement gift for your daughter, son or child. While you're likely well-versed in picking presents for birthdays and holidays, this may be new territory. You might also tread lightly if the pair hasn't set up their wedding registry yet or if you're unsure of their partner's style and preferences. We took all of this into consideration as we curated a list of the best engagement gift ideas from parents, so you're sure to find something that feels thoughtful, intentional and, most importantly, celebratory.
In this article:
- Do Parents Buy Engagement Gifts for Their Children?
- The Best Engagement Gifts for Your Daughter or Son and Their Fiancé
Do Parents Buy Engagement Gifts for Their Children?
Engagement presents from parents aren't required, but they're certainly welcome and appreciated (especially if the couple is having an engagement party hosted by someone other than their parents). That said, since it's just the first of many celebrations, there's no need to go overboard. A heartfelt card with engagement wishes is a thoughtful gesture, and anything else is just icing on the (wedding) cake.
As a parent, if you decide to give an engagement gift, there are several options to consider. You might choose to give a sentimental keepsake gift, like a family heirloom, something practical like a wedding planning gift or a tried-and-true idea: an edible engagement gift. If you're still stumped, don't worry. Below, we've assembled a foolproof list of some great engagement gifts for your son, daughter or child and their spouse-to-be.
The Best Engagement Gifts for Your Daughter or Son and Their Fiancé
A thoughtful engagement gift from parents is a meaningful way to offer best wishes before the wedding planning begins. From classic ring dishes to personalized artwork, here are some of the best ideas for engagement gifts from parents.
1. Personalized Print for Their Shared Home
When we say this is perhaps the most beloved engagement gift for couples we recommend, we really mean it. Fittingly titled "Intersection of Love," this personalized photo artwork features street signs for crossroads, so that each of the couple's names are displayed along with the year they met and the year they got engaged. You can order just the print or add a wooden frame to make it a little more polished and ready to gift. If you're looking for a unique engagement gift idea for your daughter or son and their fiancé, this print tops the list.
2. Heart-Shaped Serving Board for the Engagement Party
Tasked with hosting the engagement party? Serve the couple's favorite charcuterie spread on this precious cheese board. It's crafted from wood and marble for a meaningful mixed-material look and fittingly shaped like a heart. For a personal touch, have it engraved with their initials joined by an ampersand. Once the party is over, they can proudly display the present in their kitchen. We love a good dual-purpose engagement gift from parents. You might even see it again at their wedding shower (and, of course, every cocktail party and holiday gathering they host beyond that).
3. Glasses That Show Their Love Was Written in the Stars
This set of two glasses will be a sweet reminder of the night they said that resounding "yes" to a life together. Each one is etched with their names, engagement date and the constellations that were shimmering in the sky during their proposal. You can select a pair of stemless wine glasses, a duo of beer pints or a set featuring one of each depending on the couple's imbibing interests.
4. Custom-Etched Bottle of Wine for Drinking and Saving
Classic gift ideas earn their reputation for a reason. Consider this your sign that a bottle of wine is not only an acceptable engagement gift from parents but a thoughtful one, too, especially when it's custom engraved with the couple's names and the important proposal date. This bottle is further embellished with the phrase "Cheers to love, laughter, and happily ever after." Once the Cabernet Sauvignon is gone, the couple will have a meaningful keepsake to cherish for years to come.
5. Wedding Keepsake Library for Organization
Help your daughter, son or child and their fiancé keep all of their wedding mementos tucked away safely with this library-style organizer. The handy piece features illustrated labels, acid-free drawers, vertical files and a few small fabric bags to ensure keepsakes throughout their wedding celebrations are never damaged or lost in the throes of the attic. With a system this immaculate, they'll never scramble to find their USB drive full of photos or wonder what happened to their dried boutonniere.
6. Fabric Bound Engagement Journal
If there's one piece of marriage advice to share, it's to cherish every day together—time truly flies. Help them savor their engagement with this thoughtful memory book. With prompts to guide them through their love story—from their first meeting to their favorite date and, of course, the proposal—it encourages them to reflect on what they love about each other and why they want to spend their lives together. The book also offers space to document their wedding planning journey. After the big day, it'll become a keepsake they can look back on for years to come.
7. Instant Camera to Document Their Engagement
Here's a cute gift for your engaged child to pair with a memory book. Help them capture this unique time in their relationship with a polaroid camera. They'll capture meaningful snapshots of their engagement party, wedding shower, bach parties and even the little moments of wedding planning in between. Aww!
8. Elegant Frame to Show Off the Proposal Photos
Is the happy couple planning an engagement photo session? Help them display their favorite portraits from the shoot with this sophisticated silver-plated photo frame by Lenox. It's embellished with a double-heart motif that elegantly symbolizes true love. This could also be a wedding gift for your daughter or wedding gift for a son to be given the morning of filled with a special photo of the couple.
9. Honeymoon Hotel-Worthy Robes for Relaxing
Personalized bathrobes make great gifts for a newly engaged couple. They can throw them on for cozy late-night wedding planning, use them to unwind after a busy day of errands or even save them for getting ready on the big day. These ones are made from soft terry fabric, have a detachable belt and pockets and can be embroidered with each of their names. They'll feel like they're already at the spa on their honeymoon when they're wrapped up in these babies.
10. A Gift Card to a Local Spa to Help the Couple Relax
It's no secret that wedding planning can be stressful. Help the couple unwind and ease some of that inevitable tension with a SpaFinder gift card. It offers them access to thousands of spas and salons nationwide, giving them the flexibility to choose the perfect relaxing treatment to recharge at any point before the big day whether it's a deep shoulder massage or a manicure.
11. Wooden Scrabble Board With Personalized Name Plate
Start their collection of shared goods with a sturdy Scrabble board they'll love to show off at game night. Crafted from wood, it has a raised grid and plastic playing surface to keep the tiles in place, a Lazy Susan so it spins with each player's turn, and storage for easy cleanup and safekeeping. Best of all, it can be personalized with a nameplate.
12. Personalized Champagne Flutes for All the Toasts
If you want to get the lovebirds special toasting glasses, this arboreal set is one of our favorites. Each glass is etched with an intricate tree bark pattern as well as the couple's initials and engagement date, so they look like they were carved into a tree (aww, remember doing that as teenagers?). They're an especially great engagement party gift from parents, since the pair can sip and toast with them straight away at the event. *Clink clink.*
13. Long-Lasting Roses to Celebrate Forever
You just got the call, your child is getting married (yay!) and now you want to send a gift in celebration. Venus ET Fleur will ship beautiful Eternity Roses to the couple to mark their engagement. Select the number of flowers you want to send (the 16-piece square bouquet looks incredibly luxurious), then choose the petal color. To complete your order, add a personalized card. The blooms look fresh for a year, so they might even make it to the wedding.
14. Champagne-Scented Candle to Spark Joy
Candles are a great engagement gift idea for anyone unsure of what to give their favorite couple, parents included. They're simple and always a hit. This isn't just any candle though, it's champagne scented for a toast-worthy flame. Oh, and you can personalize the packaging with a handwritten note for extra brownie points.
15. Couples Stationery to Send Sweet Notes
Whether it's for thank-you notes or love letters, personalized couples stationery is always a sweet and useful option for an engagement gift. We love this bundle of minimalist note cards which features the couple's first names joined by an ampersand. They come with plain white envelopes or you can upgrade to a custom color option.
16. Custom Return Stamp for Addressing Invites
One thing your son, daughter or child and future in-law will need before the wedding—and even before the shower—is a return address stamp. It'll make their invites look extra luxe and save them from writing out their address hundreds of times (no more hand cramps!). This one even comes in a self-inking version, meaning it can make thousands of impressions before they'll need to fuss with ink again.
17. Proof of How Special Their Engagement Day Is
There's no doubt the day when the couple put a ring on it was a special one—one for the history books, really. Help them learn about the other historic milestones that happened on their special date via this personalized book. It compiles the most important news coverage by The New York Times from that day in history and binds it all behind a leatherette or linen cover that's customized with their names.
18. Jewelry First-Aid Kit for Their New Bling
If there's a new sparkly ring in the family, look no further than a jewelry first-aid kit. This gift set includes a cleaning brush that requires no water to create instant shine, a polishing mitt to remove tarnish from precious metals, and a jewelry cleaning bath—aka everything needed to clean an engagement ring at home. Now the special jewelry will keep its shine through the wedding day and years after.
19. Trinket Dish for Engagement and Wedding Rings
How about an engagement gift that's as sentimental as it is practical? A stylish ring dish is a sweet nod to their newly minted status as an engaged couple—and it ensures that they have a place to store their important jewelry. This shallow porcelain bowl by Kate Spade is painted a pretty shade of blue and reads "with this ring" on the inside.
20. Matching Mugs for Their Morning Coffee
Wedding planning must-have: coffee—and adorable mugs for sipping the good stuff. If you need a small engagement gift for your daughter, son or child and their S.O., a set of campfire mugs will get plenty of use. These double-sided cups feature a cartoon nature scene and say "the adventure begins" along with the couple's names.
21. Cocktail Recipe Book to Inspire Their Signature Drinks
Shopping for a pair of budding mixologists? A craft cocktail recipe book is a great way to honor their shared hobby and help them find a signature drink (or two) for the wedding. Romantic Cocktails by Clair McLafferty has over 100 recipes centered around love, like The Afternoon Delight and The Goodnight Kiss. Sip, sip hooray to that.
22. Cookbook to (Literally) Spice Up Weeknight Dinners
If the lovebirds prefer simmering something over the stove rather than shaking it up behind the bar, opt for this incredible cookbook by culinary icon Alison Roman (who also just got married in the fall of 2023). The whole premise of Dining In is flavorful recipes that are simple to make, but never boring to eat, so if they can't nail down a res at their favorite spot, cooking at home will feel just as glamorous. Plus, the photography and design are incredible.
23. Multi-Purpose Pan From Their Registry Wish List
Another engagement gift idea from parents: anything you know will be on their wedding registry. As a parent, you have the inside scoop on what your child and their fiancé will be asking for. If you know they need (or just really want) some new kitchenware, the Always Pan from Our Place will likely be high on their wish list. This 10-inch, multipurpose nonstick pan comes with a beechwood spatula (with an integrated spoon rest) and a stainless steel steamer basket so it can fulfill the role of eight different cookwares in one. Basically, it'll become their second true love.
24. Commemorative Ornament to Remember Engagement Season
Did they get engaged around the holidays? Add this darling ornament to their tree so they always remember this special time. The ultra-polished, heart-shaped porcelain ornament can be personalized with a commemorative phrase like "We're engaged!" or the classic "Forever has a nice ring to it." Underneath it's customized with the couple's name and the date the question was popped.
25. Matching Fiancé Sweatshirts
You know your child best, so you'll have a good sense of whether they'd enjoy matching swag to announce their new relationship status. If the answer is yes, this cozy crewneck is perfect for wedding planning sessions on the couch. Available in a variety of soft Comfort Colors, you can choose between "fiancé" or "fiancée," along with the year they officially earned the title.