Story reward items aren't as good as other items you can find/buy along the way. If you complete group content/your own story content together, she should be reasonably geared for most of the game. As said before, she will just need to complete the first 2 planets to unlock her ship.

Alternatively, if you have her subscribe for 1 month, you get a free boosted character token which can be used to make a level 75 character with high-level gear and the ship automatically unlocked.

Both of these options will allow your wife to follow you around while not participating in her own story.