Wedding lists ? love them or hate them? Are they a labor-saving device for time-pressed relatives or an exercise in brazen cheek? While you're making up your mind, think of the alternative ? buying a gift for the wedding couple that is from you, thought of by you but has sentimental value that will long outlive the set of silicone baking trays.

?We're getting married!? sings the gleeful invitation. Oh good, you think. Also falling out of the envelope are a photocopied map to the church and a strange, unassuming little list of things. Have they accidentally sent you their shopping list? And why does it have bells and cupids on it? It's a wedding list, of course ? an insight into the married couple's, needs, tastes and socioeconomic aspirations. You imagine their kitchen with little gaps on the worktops where toasters, toast racks and wrought iron toast scraping units should sit; the bed bereft of sheets and pillow slips; the bedside cabinet without a ? what?

Yet the moment you have the wedding gift list in your hands, you instinctively know it's a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, it makes the task of choosing a wedding present simplicity itself. You know it will be wanted and appreciated, and nowadays you don't always have to physically leave home to buy it.

But on the other hand, it agitates something of a hornets nest inside you. Some couples get a tiny bit too greedy, and this makes guests resentful. There are certain weddings to which you're pretty certain you'd remain uninvited were it not for the wedding list. And finally, it can look like a statement by the couple that you have no taste, you shouldn't even try to dream up something nice and that you will be instructed what to buy and from which shop.

No wonder so many couples are choosing a middle way. Recently a little note has appeared on some invitations saying ?wedding presents are not expected; your presence is enough? or ?Please bring no wedding gifts. Donations to Adopt a Celebrity will be accepted.?

Okay, now we have a triple-edged sword situation. What on earth would you get someone like this? Of course, it will depend on how well you know the couple. If you've had a snoop around their house, you might have noticed a few gaps that need filling.

Or they might have mentioned in passing how much better their life would be if they had a couple of personalized wine glasses or a set of his ?n? hers eye masks for the night after the wedding night.

And before you get the wrong idea, Getting Personal is a web-based treasury of gift delights with page after page of unique gifts, ranging from the romantic to the hair-raising, with plenty of laughs along the way. In essence, there are endless opportunities to find a gift that could have been made just for them.

The site is categorized into occasions and themes which are then divided up so you can zero in on a specific event on the calendar (and yes, they do calendars, too). Navigate through ?Occasions? to ?wedding gifts? and all of a sudden you'll be spoiled for choice. In fact, one look at this page and you might just pop the question to your nearest and dearest just in case someone buys you a champagne balloon flight (and no doubt you'll find a subtle way to suggest you need one).

Perhaps the ultimate recognition of their eternal togetherness would be to have a star or two named after the couple. On moonless, romantic night walks, they might well pause to focus on the heavenly body that's beaming its love rays into their dewy eyes ?

Or perhaps something a little tongue-in-cheek, like a humorous book or personalized doormat, is more to their taste. There are also dozens of wedding day keepsakes on which their married names can be printed, engraved or otherwise immortalized. And there are the wedding gifts that simply tell the couple that you appreciate them, care about them and instinctively know that it will mean something.

Please visit http://www.gettingpersonal.co.uk for our range of personalized gifts.