Advice on orchid as wedding gift

[gift_orchid]

I'm not an orchid grower myself but a very old friend is getting married and loves them, so I've been considering getting a relatively rare one as a wedding gift. As I said, I know nothing about this, so I thought this forum might have some suggestions about whether this idea is practical and/or good options for plants or where to find them. I'm in the Northeast corridor so I could travel in to the orchid show at the NYBG or such fairly easily, if that helps at all?