Have any friends or family tying the knot? Don’t know what to get them? Don’t know how to even go about buying a gift for the love birds? Yeah, it can get frustrating. Wedding gift etiquette has a few simple rules. First of all, lets get to the logistics. You don’t want the engagement gift or the bridal shower gift to be more than the wedding gift. The wedding gift should be most of the budget and the bridal shower gift along with the engagement gift should be around equal amount of each other. The rule of thumb that I have found is that the wedding gift should be 60% and the engagement and bridal shower gift should be 20% each. For the actual wedding gift, money is the way to go.
Every wedding I have gone to I have not seen many gifts besides the cute little box of envelopes full of cash. After putting on a huge shindig they’re gonna need all the financial help they can get…. Can you say new house? Now, when you are looking at how much to spend or give, it should never be under $50. That’s rule one. Rule two, LOOK AT THE REGISTRY. It’s not rocket science, this takes all the stress out of trying to figure out what to get, unless you’re super indecisive and can’t even choose whether to get the towel set or new dinnerware.
So, if you can’t decide, a group gift is the way to go! Now don’t decide to do a group gift because you’re indecisive, though it’s a great cop out, but group gifts are getting increasingly popular for bridal shower gifts! The couple can go out and get the small stuff easily; it’s the big stuff that they really need. Also, get the gift early so you have dibs at all the good stuff! When do you give the gift? Yes you do have one year from the wedding to be able to give a gift, but within two months is more appropriate.
Please don’t forget that less than half of all brides won’t have a wedding video but nearly all couples recommend that brides to be get a wedding video. It is a must have. Give a Weddeo as a group gift!
So, lets talk about wedding gift etiquette in regards to gift money.
When it comes to wedding gift etiquette, there is an amount associated with the relationship of the newly weds. If you are giving to a co worker around $75+ is usually customary. If you’re a relative or a friend of the couple, $100+ is a safe amount. Now, if you are a close relative or a close friend, $125+ is a pretty good place to start. If you bring a guest, you should give a little more because the bride and groom are going to be paying for you and your guest; it’s only polite. One more thing; you may be questioning whether or not to give less money if you have to travel to get to the wedding. The answer is yes, it is ok! The bride and groom should understand that it was expensive to travel all that way and should appreciate that you were willing to travel all that way! BUT you HAVE to give a gift regardless; it is only proper wedding gift etiquette.
We’re Kate & Nick Storey, and we created Weddeo because we couldn’t afford to get a videographer for our own wedding – and we’ve regretted it ever since. Fifteen years and four babies later, and we STILL wish every year that we had a wedding video of that one incredible day where everyone we love was all together, and we began our happily ever after.
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