Interview: Blue Ribbon on luxury wedding gift list

BLUE RIBBON is a premier wedding gift list service for modern couples choosing beautiful gifts for their home. The online company offers its customers a beautifully edited selection of timeless classics and unique, hard-to-find gifts from 60 contemporary designers and legendary brands.

One of the most exciting luxury players in the wedding industry, and featured in multiple blogs and magazines, BLUE RIBBON is a UK Wedding Industry Awards nominee, recognised for bringing exclusive high-end brands to the UK market.

5 Star Weddings spoke to the co-founder of BLUE RIBBON, Zsofia Jamieson, a former Global Head of Retail at the NET-A-PORTER Group.


5 Star Weddings: What is Blue Ribbon?

Zsofia Jamieson: BLUE RIBBON is a bespoke luxury service for modern couples choosing beautiful gifts for their home. We bring to our customer a beautifully edited selection of timeless classics and unique, hard­-to­-find gifts from 60 contemporary designers and legendary brands.

5 Star Weddings: What makes Blue Ribbon unique?

Zsofia Jamieson: We make our customers feel very special. We understand how important and exciting this day is in their lives, and we make the gifting experience as special as the wedding itself. We also understand the lives of modern brides and grooms. We cater to their tastes, to their lifestyles, to how they lead their lives. We make registering for gifts effortless and offer a lot of complimentary services, such as shipping to multiple locations, storing their gifts until they are ready to receive them and free consultations with our stylists. Free UK shipping, free monogramming and engraving come as standard.

Glass and Water Jug

5 Star Weddings: What are the top registry items?

Zsofia Jamieson: The favourites among our couples are porcelain, silverware and crystal glassware. When selecting tableware, it is best to choose designs that can be easily dressed up or down and can be used for various occasions. Do treat yourselves to a beautiful set of crystal glasses – the lovely weight and texture of cut-crystal in your hand is a special feeling, and it will remind you of the person who presented you with the gift every time you pick up your glass.

Bed and table linen also feature highly on our wedding gift lists. Look carefully at the descriptions of the materials used: there is more to cotton than just thread count. Choose clean, elegant colours, and do add a colourful cushion or two and a beautiful bed cover for extra flare.

Luxury Wedding Gifts

5 Star Weddings: What does your ultimate gift list look like, if you were to get married today?

Zsofia Jamieson: When I was getting married, I was overly conscious of imposing, as my guests were traveling abroad to attend my wedding. I then realised that people really want to share this experience with you, and your friends and family are more generous that you may expect, so I would now select more items to allow guests more choice. I am an advocate of quality over quantity and would probably have chosen more special pieces which would last longer, and not having to upgrade 10 years on. I would get the foundations for my kitchen, which would be the sturdiest cookware, an amazing and high-performing set of knives, and I would get two sets of china: one to be used everyday, even with kids running around, and another one for special occasions. Lastly, I would choose extra-fine, embroidered linens that can withstand the test of time.

Blue Ribbon Wedding China

5 Star Weddings: What are your most amazing finds?

Zsofia Jamieson: We personally visited all the factories in Murano, the famous glass-making island off the coast of Venice, and chose the houses we wanted to work with, such as Nason Moretti and Venini. We hand-picked all the styles that work for our customer.

We fell in love with museum-worthy quality of Nymphenburg porcelain. It amazing to find a manufacturer who does not use any kind of automation. Its porcelain painters work without templates so each piece is truly unique.

We built a strong suite of heritage brands for the launch of our website and in 2016 we are seeking out the brands that share the same philosophy of amazing craftsmanship, superior quality and passion for their work.

Floral Teapot and Cup

5 Star Weddings: I never knew that….

Zsofia Jamieson: I never knew that you could make warm soups with your Vitamix machine until we had in-depth training with them. We learnt that it makes soups, sauces, salsas, dips, sorbets and whole fruit Margaritas! It’s a very versatile machine that’s a must-have for any kitchen.

5 Star Weddings: What are your top 2016 trend predictions?

Zsofia Jamieson: Fashion trends are always a great indicator for what is going to happen in home ware, and we will continue to see runway ideas re-interpreted for decor. We will see romantic bedroom pieces with swathings of lace and toned-down colours. We will see lots of shine, and crystal will be key centerpiece on our dining tables. Blue is a strong colour, and we will see different hues dominating home offerings, across porcelain and textile pieces. This is an easy way to bring an on-trend update to your home. Lastly, after a few understated seasons we expect pops of colour to come back.

Luxury Wedding Gifts

5 Star Weddings: Personalisation is a huge trend for our customers. How to personalise?

Zsofia Jamieson: If a bride decides to change her name, there is something so special about receiving gifts with your new name, even before you change your passport! It is thrilling – and personalised linen makes for a wonderful gift. And should you decide to keep your name, there is always the “his and hers” option, which also works very well.

Personalised Wedding Gifts

Because we are talking about things that will last you a long time, it is nice to keep it understated, almost like a secret that only you know about – there is something very elegant about that.

5 Star Weddings: Any final tips for brides and grooms?

Zsofia Jamieson: Don’t overthink the process! With a helping hand, this is a really fun experience to put your gift list together and our amazing stylists can help identify personal style and find gifts that are ideal for you and your home. We can then curate a gift list that is totally bespoke and suited to you. These will be the items that you will be delighted to receive and that will be treasured for a lifetime.


Zsofia Jamieson is a Director and a co-founder of BLUE RIBBON Company, a wedding gift list, www.blueribboncompany.com. The company offers beautiful homeware gifts from over 50 luxury brands and ships worldwide. For expert advice on how to create a beautiful wedding gift list please contact [email protected]

Zsofia Jamieson is a Director and a co-founder of BLUE RIBBON

Blue Ribbon is a 5 Star Wedding Directory Trusted Supplier