A friend now living in Toronto is getting married and moving to SF. She does not want to worry about having to take alot of wedding gifts with her so it looks as though cash is the alternative. I'm not as comfortable giving someone cash - just seems impersonal. Can anyone recommend a place in SF that might do gift certificates - a favourite funky store or restaurant perhaps that might be a bit out of the ordinary for this extraordinary gal. Not a travel question I realize but thanks for any suggestions!

The traditional upscale store that says "San Francisco" is Gumps. I couldn't find their own site, but here's a good one: http://www.go60.com/gumps-gifts-collectibles.html

Here's another interesting site: http://sf.ruggedelegance.com/select.php?r=50

Found it -- http://www.gumps.com/
http://www.gumps.com/faqs_giftcerts.asp

Lots of to-be-marrieds set up, what does one call them, "wedding accounts" (?), at large stores, like Crate and Barrel.

You make a wedding gift of a certain amount into her account. Your choice of how much.

She and her new hubby then can go and shop at the store's branch in SF and get whatever she wants from the store with the "wedding account" money.

I've done this for friends in Europe - much better to just deposit money into a store account than to have to mail things.

Another nice aspect of this system is that the newlyweds can choose things they really like, rather than getting that random silver plate from Aunt Sue that they can't use.

Gumps is the traditional SF wedding gift place, it is not however in the least bit "funky", just lovely and somewhat expensive. How old is she? Will they need lots of furnishings, dishes, etc.? The reason I ask is that depending on age an IKEA gift certificate might work. Or maybe a Williams Sonoma so they can set up their kitchen. I know these are not unique to SF but they would be practical.

Wow, that didn't take long! Just what I needed too. Thanks so much to you all for the great suggestions. The bride to be is 25 but I think there are lots of choices at Gumps that she and her hubby could get excited over. We are also doing something for her at work so could do a combination through Crate and Barrel/Williams Sonoma as well. Thanks again for yur help!

Also large department stores like Nordstrom's, Macy's - they'll know exactly what kind of account to set up for her. Believe she or her family have to go and set up the account.

I'm not sure what your budget is, or what your friend's tastes are, but . . . How about a membership to SF Moma or the Asian Art Museum, or the newly reopened Conservatory of Flowers? Boulevard and Kokkari restaurants are both great, and would probably do gift certificates. Wishbone on Hayes has fun knick knacks, Flax on Market has tons of great art supplies, textiles, etc. Sue Fisher King has amazing home stuff.

If I were just getting married and starting up a household, I would find Gumps to be impractical. The items there are very expensive and not generally practical. I agree with Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn. You can order online and have stuff sent to her also.

Oh, Grasshopper, you disappoint me with your practicality. Don't you know that long after the gift toaster has burned out, or the set of placemats and napkins are stained and tossed out, that lovely little impractical bauble the bride and groom picked out at Gump's will still be a prized possession always reminding them of who gave it to them? I think that's the real point of a good wedding gift.

oh Lordy! I thought the point of a wedding gift was to help a couple begin housekeeping. Every single one of my friends when getting married ranted about the people who bought them "baubles" reflecting the giver's taste, not the couple's. Every gift is welcome, of course (we still have to have manners) but if you are thinking about the bride/groom's needs, you'll consider giving them something from their registry, cash, or something very, very returnable.

There you go, "registry", couldn't remember the term, for the life of me!

Thanks Mommar!

Well the original poster said "favorite or funky" -- and included restaurants -- so a gift cert. to a "hot spot" might in order. I'll defer to locals on this one.

In my defense the poster emphasized SF -- that's why I recommended Gumps -- it's quintessinal SF -- and they have all sorts of stuff that might appeal to the discerning funker. Ikea etc... you can get that anywhere. She wants something special -- hmmmmmm... how about a gift cert. to Thomas Keller's Laundry ??

Mommar, you and I are on two completely different wave lengths. I agree about people buying newlyweds baubles that reflect their own taste. But here we were talking about providing the couple with an opportunity to buy some sort of a "bauble" of their own choosing -- a luxury gift they wouldn't normally buy for themselves, but could pick to match their own taste, one which could in theory become a life-long "heirloom" or memory.
On the other hand if we are talking about a couple who really need the basic necessities of setting up housekeeping, then fine -- get them something practical, but I didn't get that idea from the original post.

Great Patrick, Send me your address and I'll send you some of the creative cr*p I got for my wedding oh so many years ago.

I guess I just don't see Gumps as being very exciting. I live here and I never found anything there I wished for. But there are a lot of things at Pottery Barn or Macys I'd like to have.

Grasshopper, if someone sent you money or a gift certificate and you went out and bought some "crap" you have nobody to blame but yourself. That's not what I was talking about if you will read my post.
And as to the store, obviously it would take a little thought on the giver to figure out what store. Sure, I know some people who would be much happier with a Pottery Barn gift certificate. But then I know some who would drool over the thought of being able to buy themselves a trinket for a couple hundred dollars at Gump's. Depend on the person.

Folks, that's the whole point of the to-be-married couple setting up the registry (ies). THEY make the choice of WHICH store(s) and you, the friend/relative/donor just simply put money into the account. THEY then select what THEY want to buy at THEIR selection of store(s).

It's not unheard of to set up several registries at different stores, so it's possible for them to set up one registry at Gump's and another at Crate and Barrel and another at Macy's, and so on.

When one of my friends' son got married in the south of France, they set up SEVEN different registries in Paris. I, as an invited guest, could put money into all seven accounts (haha!), into one account, or into none and mail them a gift of my own choosing.

Oh, and BTW, they could also specify what they want from a particular store, like, a particular set of silverware. Then the guest can contribute towards that set of silver, all or a little.

There's no hard and fast rule that they HAVE to select Gump's over Crate and Barrel or some other store. They can do as many stores as they want to.

In the case of my friends' son, they posted everything online, names of the stores, the items they wanted with pictures, and so on. This worked remarkably well as the guest list was international and people could just get online and do everything online from around the world. Ah, the miracles of the internet!

Sorry, Patrick... I misread your post.

No problem Grasshopper, and I apologize if I seemed to come on a little strong with that "read my post" line. Seems I'm having a lot of trouble making myself understood lately -- especially with all those SF posts.

Whoa folks - more food for thought that I can digest! The couple have already been living on their own for a while so will have all the basics. I was hoping to give them something that they would certainly remember us by (in a good way!)so may have to agree with Patrick on this one. Thanks again for all the input, and of course the humour!