Wedding present disasters: the 10 worst gifts

Wedding season always brings a present dilemma: what do you give the couple that already has everything? How much are you supposed to spend? Can you go 'off list'? Or do you really need to buy the last thing on the list if it's a £400 toaster?

Every year someone somewhere gets things spectacularly wrong, so we've tracked down some of the worst wedding present fails in recent history.

1. Re-gift

The Knot website asked its readers for the worst wedding presents they had received, and one said she had received a set of wine glasses. On the face of it, not the worst gift in the world, except it was from her cousin - and it was the same set of wine glasses that the she had given them for their wedding gift.

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2. Multiple versions of the same thing

Clearly this is hard to guess in advance, but The Knot revealed that one reader had received six George Forman grills for their wedding.

3. The inexplicable

When Weddingbee asked its readers for the worst gifts they had received, one bride said she had received a set of personalised towels with the name Mary on them. Her name isn't Mary.

4. The unfortunate

The Weddingbee thread revealed the couple who received a cheque - which bounced.

5. The presumptive

Mumsnet also asked its readers about their worst wedding gifts, and one bride said she had received a packet of nappies. She wasn't pregnant and didn't have any plans to be.

6. The shock

One bride on Reddit received the most unexpected gift of all - her mother-in-law was left on her doorstep the day after the wedding, with the news that it was her turn to look after her. She ended up staying for six years.

7. The gothic

One Mumsnetter received a framed photo of a graveyard - and not even a graveyard that anyone in the family had any connection to.

8. The kitsch

Another Mumsnetter received a table lamp in the shape of the Vatican. When you turned the light on, it lit up, with the Pope waving from one of the windows, and it played Arivaderci Roma.

9. The pointless

When Reddit asked its readers for the worst gifts they had received, one said she had been given an ashtray as a wedding gift - despite the fact that neither her or her husband were smokers.

10. The rude

One Reddit user received a book on coping with divorce from his uncle. It was apparently a joke.

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