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Any thoughts on what is a reasonable amount to spend on a wedding gift? One thing I've also heard people say (that the article doesn't mention) is that they'll try to give a gift to cover the cost of the wedding (per person). So if they find out it'll be a fancy wedding, they may give $200. If they find out it'll be a smaller, lower cost wedding, then maybe only $50. That seems a little odd. I agree w/ the article on giving more the closer the bride and/or groom are to you.
I've also known brides that only invite those fridens/family members that they know will give them a very generous gift despite how much they actually spend on the wedding. Selfishness that comes with weddings huh?
I'm glad you brought this up. We are going to a wedding in July. Now my grief with this very topic started about three years ago. I was invited to my co-workers wedding. I went to her wedding shower and spent about $70 for her gift for that and THEN she had the audacity to want another gift for the wedding! Talk about greedy but then again, maybe I'm cheap!
What happened to the wedding being about love, romance and forever and ever? I digress....
Now we have this wedding coming in July for which we have to DRIVE from PA to RI (diesel, checked those prices lately?), then we are staying in a hotel and attending the wedding. Now, we are getting a gift but my fiance hasn't seen these people since 1998 LOL so, nothing big and nothing expensive.
The whole wedding thing cracks me up - we plan on registering at all the places we normally shop and nothing fancy LOL
I just think that people with these weddings get very carried away!
I also agree with others that the closer I am to the couple, the more I'm probably going to spend... but there are limits. First, a gift is just that... a gift... not an obligation. If they are inviting me because they think I'm going to get them something that going to offset their first mortgage payment.. they are going to be disappointed.
And with today's technology, I think it's easy to help people who have to shop for a wedding gift for you. When I was a best man at my friend's wedding, I tried to give them simple advice... set up a registry. You can set up multiple ones at different establishments (say... one at Neiman Marcus, and one at WalMart ). Then... make sure that you choose things for the registry that vary to accomodate every wallet or pocketbook. There will be those that can and will spend $200 and more for a gift. But there's others that realistically can't...so make sure what you enter in the registry spans the gambit. And with a registry, they put what they want in there. So, if they get something they don't like.... the finger points one way.
Being a newly-wed I remember my wedding vividly! We only spent about $3,000 on the wedding total. We had a small Friday afternoon/evening wedding and a very fun reception. We kept the budget low. We did not expect anything from any of our guests. We were actually amazed at the gifts that some people gave us. Our parents and Grandparents especially. We never would have expected any of it.
I think to us the most important thing was who came. It meant so much to me that my cousin and his family of 6 drove all the way from Joplin, MO and back, just to be there. They could have given me nothing and I would have just appreciated them being there! As it was, I got beautiful gifts from each of them and each of their children gave us something wonderful (home made) as well. That is what really meant the most to us! Things that came from the heart!
Any thoughts on what is a reasonable amount to spend on a wedding gift? One thing I've also heard people say (that the article doesn't mention) is that they'll try to give a gift to cover the cost of the wedding (per person). So if they find out it'll be a fancy wedding, they may give $200. If they find out it'll be a smaller, lower cost wedding, then maybe only $50. That seems a little odd. I agree w/ the article on giving more the closer the bride and/or groom are to you.
I definitely give more the closer the bride or groom are to me. I'm sure I've attended more than one wedding where my gift didn't cover my cost for the dinner but I figure it's the bride and groom's choice how big/fancy a wedding to have so it's their bill. That doesn't really impact what I give.
I definitely give more the closer the bride or groom are to me. I'm sure I've attended more than one wedding where my gift didn't cover my cost for the dinner but I figure it's the bride and groom's choice how big/fancy a wedding to have so it's their bill. That doesn't really impact what I give.
I agree that the cost of the gift should be more based on what one's relationship is to the couple getting married rather than the fanciness of the wedding.
BTW, I assume that all the suggested prices quoted in the article are per person. So if someone goes to a wedding w/ his/her sig. other, than the value should be doubled.
It's also rude if you know the couple flew in from out of town for the wedding, but people give them bulky gifts that they'd have to either ship back or somehow lug back on the plane. I know some married couples that this happened to where the ones giving the gifts knew the couple were from out of town.
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). Then... make sure that you choose things for the registry that vary to accomodate every wallet or pocketbook. There will be those that can and will spend $200 and more for a gift. But there's others that realistically can't...so make sure what you enter in the registry spans the gambit. And with a registry, they put what they want in there. So, if they get something they don't like.... the finger points one way.
I know some married couples that this happened to where the ones giving the gifts knew the couple were from out of town.
