If you were given a gift that required assembly, would you rather it be assembled for you, or do it yourself?

I would rather assemble it myself. It gives me something to do and then I know it's right.

It depends on the husband, how many tools he has, and how good he is with them. Some guys should never be allowed to touch wrenches, screwdrivers, or god forbid, saws. If he's more of a Homer Simpson than a Norm Abram, then by all means, have it assembled for him. If he's a banker, sells anything but power tools, or worse, an Engineer, then pay for professional assembly. But if he works with his hands, owns tools, and knows how to use them, then save the money and let him do it himself. Maybe buy a gift card if you're buying the grill from a home center with the money you're saving on assembly, because "every project is an excuse to get new tools". No matter his occupation, unless he's an Engineer, if he is fairly handy around the house, and doesn't have to call in professionals every time he tries to fix something, then buy a gift card with what you save. Most guys think they're good with tools, but few are though putting a grill together isn't exactly like building a deck or hooking up a home theater system, so should be fairly easy for all but the Homer Simpson's or Engineers among us.

You have to make the call, but I know I prefer to put things together myself because I've been building things for a long time, and when I worked at Home Depot, I saw they guys they often had on assembly teams, and they weren't exactly highly trained specialists.

Grills can be a Royal Pain - so get that assembled; otherwise, by the time it is assembled he may be too hot and furious to even use it.

I used to work at a home improvement store, and I noticed that many customers preferred to have the grills assembled for them.

I agree. Unless he likes to fix things?

I like to put stuff together like that