No Wedding Gifts. Give us Adventures!

When I go to weddings, I prefer to just give cash (or usually a check) for the couple, which is also the norm in my area over physical gifts, and also why I feel like cash funds are silly because they charge a percentage along with rubbing many people the wrong way. We typically give between $200-$300 that we place in a card and bring to the wedding.

You are not going to get a consensus for a country as large and regionally diverse as the US. The best thing is to just have a wide variety of price points available. I wouldn't phrase this as not asking for gifts though; money is a gift.

It depends on what type of wedding it is, however my fiancé and I both try to “pay for ourselves “so to speak so sometimes we factor in how much we think it is per plate and pay that way, but we never go below 150 each. So for example a typical wedding we would give 300 bucks, 150 for me, and 150 for him. But if it was at like a mansion or someplace where it was going to be easy 200 bucks plus per plate we would try to give more.

I agree with pp about this varying a lot depending on guests' economic status and general feelings about gift giving. In many social circles in the US, wedding gifts of cash or checks are the norm. Also, in some social circles "honeyfunds" or similar third party websites that take a percentage of the gift are not looked on favorably. Some guests, particularly older and/or more traditional may find any kind of "cash fund" particularly offensive. Unless you know your guests well enough to know they will look favorably, you are likely much better off just not creating a registry for physical gifts and then not saying anything about "what you want." Odds are guests will give you gifts of cash/checks that you can then spend on whatever adventures you want -- without paying a middleman to collect your gifts for you or potentially offending anyone. There were about 100 guests at daughter and SILs wedding, the large majority gave them cash/checks. Specific gifts from guests of varying ages and financial situations probably ranged from $50 to more than $1000.... The older/more traditional guests tended to give larger gifts without any prompting or solicitation of specific "adventures."

Be prepared for many to not participate and instead give you physical gifts because they feel a honeymoon is your own (optional) financial responsibility.

There is no average as everyone's budgets vary drastically. Also those closer to the couple may give more but there is no guarantee.

They would go from $100 to an average friend of one, to about $200 for a very good friend of one or general social friends with the couple, to $300 for close friends of both ( all lower than close family.)
Our income, and area. Usually given as a physical gift, registry or not. Money for some specific thing they want, we like.
$O for a Universal tour or experience$0 for a honeymoon fund.We work hard to give some one a start, and to build their home, ( including actual help building) home or a substantial vacation thing (canoe) that would get a lot of use. But a one shot experience to someone who needs nothing, buy it yourself.

My fiancé and I didn’t ask for gifts either. We have a well established home. We just asked for things like money for couple massages in $5-$10 increments.

It really varies and some people might still decide to give a gift even if you don't have a registry. I wouldn't rely on your guests to pay for your honeymoon. I would plan a honeymoon you can afford rather than hoping your guests will contribute.

There are too many variables to get an average, IMO. I also believe that by dictating in any way as to how you would like to be “gifted”, you are in essence expecting your guests to gift you.
Gifts are optional and there should be no mention of any “type” of gift at anytime by the hosts. If someone reaches out to you personally, then express your wishes.

View Quoted Comment 100% agree

When I went to weddings I would gift $100-$200 cash in a card.

I wouldn't specifically ask for cash for fun vacation things to do with your husband. A lot of people won't even pay for that for themselves. I think it's different if it's framed in the context of a honeymoon; I happily contributed to a honeymoon fund for a friend to go to Hawaii, and when my sister's honeymoon plans fell through, I helped pay for her hotel to spend a nice weekend with her new husband. I would rather contribute to someone's honeymoon experience than gift them another piece of junk that will sit in a kitchen cabinet unused until they toss it. My fiancé and I combined household recently and we've got stuff everywhere. I think asking for a waffle maker or something is a waste of everyone's time and money. We're doing a registry through Traveler's Joy to let guests contribute to our honeymoon. I think the fun thing about this registry is you can break down the experiences of the honeymoon into dollar amount chunks so people can feel like they are paying for something specific (like a nice dinner or other fun experience). But I think if you ask for this outside the context of the honeymoon... you're not going to get much. Just let people contribute cash if you want to do that.

View Quoted Comment For young couples who don't have a lot, the kitchen stuff really is needed and won't go to waste. Neither FH nor I have a blender, a hand mixer, any baking pans, any stainless steal pans or pots, placemats, a crock pot, a tea kettle, or more than 2 plates. Every couple is different I guess! Agree that I wouldn't want to give a couple something they wouldn't use, but how am I to know what they will and won't use?

I spent generally $100-300, but I honestly give more if the couple registers for things they really need because I like the idea of helping them start out. When couples register for luxuries, I usually give $100 cash. But every guest will be different!

The price someone spends on a wedding gift varies and has different factors! One of the main ones being finances, and how much that guests is able to spend. That's why it's suggested to have gifts is multiple price ranges, so that's there's something for every guest's budget!

We typically spend around $100-$200 dollars total on gifts. This is the rough estimate total of what we would spend on gifts when we go to the showers, and the wedding present. For the wedding present, we either get something left on their registry, or we'll give a cash amount!

It depends.

I've spent anywhere from $50 (for a friend for whom I was a bridesmaid, and therefore I didn't feel I needed to get her an expensive registry item in addition to the near $1000 I was spending just to be a participant) to $300. It varies based on how close I am to the couple as well. Some couples I only see once every two or three years or have never been to their house - I'm not dropping $300 on a gift for them. Not everyone really only invites "nearest and dearest" to weddings, so if I know I'm not "nearest and dearest," they're not getting a nearest-and-dearest gift budget.

Just don't register. People will get the hint and just give you cash then you can spend it on whatever you want.

I wouldn't ask for experiences, I'd simply not include a registry. That's usually the only hint guests need that cash gifts are preferred.

I'm in my early 30s and have a social circle mostly in our 20s and 30s, up-to-date on trends, etc. and even I think a majority of us would feel off put being asked to contribute towards the honeymoon vs just a cash gift. The money may still go towards one, but the verbiage and attitude shifts it IMO.

View Quoted Comment

Don't count on this as a rule everywhere with every social circle, because if you don't register, many will still buy physical gifts you don't want and cannot return.

View Quoted Comment

True, but I feel like people who do that will give you whatever they want anyway regardless of your registry. We had a few like that! But overall it's still tacky to ask for cash.

Just don’t register. People will get the hint. If you do a honeymoon fund a lot of people may not find that appropriate. Honeymoon is your responsibility, not your guests’.