Do you give less money as a gift at a lunch reception vs. a dinner reception?

Get ready for some negative responses, like, you don’t plan your wedding around what gifts you think you might get.

To answer your question, it’s impossible to predict what your guests will give you for a gift but personally, the gift would be the same.

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Thanks for your reply. We are strapped on a budget and we're not trying to like maximize ROI or something like that. We really do like a venue but it is outside of our budget for dinner, which is why I'm asking.

For me, the gift is the same. We had a lunch reception and knowing our friends and family, they gifted us the same. For reference though our lunch reception cost was identical to what it would have cost for us to serve dinner (as is true for most venues in our area).

I'm not sure why you're concerned about the potential gifts when you just need to be concerned about staying in your budget....

View Quoted Comment Well if you are genuinely asking, it is because that has a part in my budget? If my lunch reception is $125/person but the average gift is $75/person, vs $100 gift/person for dinner, then I know I can spend $150/person for the dinner reception at the same cost? Why wouldn't I be concerned?

Sorry I don't mean to be rude, I literally just proposed last week, and trying to figure out the budget stuff lol

ROI!? Goodness. That is not why you have an event. If this is what you're thinking spare your guests and elope.

You should plan the wedding you can afford. If you are hoping for cash gifts you may end up very disappointed not to mention starting off your marriage broke or in debt. Not a good start. Focus on your budget meaning cash on hand or what you can save per pay period over the next 2 years and DO NOT PLAN FOR A PENNY OVER THAT.

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This is NOT how you set a budget.

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I just said I wasn't going to do that. lol. I'm just trying to know if it's worth doing a lunch reception or not

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Okay cool. But let's say I want to spend $150 per person. And I can do it at a more upscale venue for a lunch reception, or I can do it at a less upscale, still nice venue for a dinner reception, all other things being held equal, then my last concern is about whether or not people spend less on gifts for a lunch reception.

Plan the wedding you can afford.

Assume no one will give a gift because you shouldn't expect gifts.

View Quoted Comment It was a genuine question, sorry if it came off rudely but I guess my mindset is more of plan what you can afford to pay for on your own and not even think about the monetary gifts.
You might end up screwed if more people gift items than money, y'know?

View Quoted Comment The budget for any event should be based on what you can afford before the event. It's a rare vendor who isn't paid in advance. Plus, you have absolutely no idea what gifts you MIGHT receive. If you can't afford the $125 or 150 per plate meal, then you need to find another option. It sounds like $50 is what you can afford. There are plenty of options that fit in that budget. Another choice you can make us to have 1/3 the number of guests and have the $150 meal.

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I think you are looking at this the wrong way. The question you should be asking is what kind of wedding do YOU want to have. What is your vision for your wedding day?

You: Plan the wedding you can afford to pay for at a venue within your budget. Where you can properly host your guests meaning, food, seats and drinks.

Your guests: Attend. Maybe bring you a gift. Maybe bring you cash. Maybe bring nothing at all. Have a great time and then leave.

There is literally no way to predict how much a guest will bring or if they will bring anything at all. You need to change your focus.

People have weddings in barns or backyards and get money, gifts or nothing at all.

People have weddings in grand ballrooms and get money, gifts, or nothing at all.

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Yep, and I guess my starting post didn't really specify, but the reason I'm asking is not because I am accounting for the monetary gifts in my budget. We have set a budget up already, but if I am spending that amount for a lunch reception, vs that same amount for a dinner reception, I just want to know the full picture I guess.

People post on here all the time about large amounts of their guest list not even gifting them so assume no one will give you a gift and pick whichever reception you want/can afford.

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You get screwed if people gift gifts rather then money? What? Like really, what?

View Quoted Comment Out of context that sounds bad. I was talking about depending on money from guests to set budgets. If you're planning on people giving you $100/each to offset your costs and somebody gives you a gift gift....you dont have that hundred dollars you were hoping on.
For the record....I dont expect gifts from anybody so none of this matters to me. I was trying to understand OPs perspective and offer insight based on what I understood.

View Quoted Comment The full picture is the amount your guests could potentially give you should have zero calculation into your budget.
If you want a nicer lunch affair, do it. If you want a less formal evening affair, do it. But not because of what your guests might give you to subsidize your wedding cost (and you're backpedaling because that's exactly what you said you were doing above...).

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Okay. You can't think like this.

Whatever someone gives, they give. Doesn't matter. You do not "off set" your costs. You plan a wedding based off what you can afford. If you get a gift, yay! That's great. But money from a guest should never enter your mind.

No matter how you try to spin this, you are wrong if you keep thinking money from gift=helping your budget/off set costs.