Reception Only Invite - Do I bring a gift?

Here is what Miss Manners says:

"There is no such thing as an invoice for a wedding present. Neither a wedding invitation nor a formal announcement constitutes that. You give a wedding present because you want to indicate symbolically that you care about the couple.

Yes, there is a catch. That is that you should not be attending a wedding if you do not care about the couple (either truly, or because they are relatives and you are supposed to care), and therefore wedding guests give wedding presents."

So it really does not matter whether the invitation is to ceremony and reception, or just reception. If you care enough to go, you should give some kind of present. If there is no mention of a registry on the invitation (and there never should be one!), you ask your friend what kind of present she'd like. She can then point you to their registry if they have one. If they don't have one, assume they'd like cash.

Perfect, thanks 2d! I'm pretty new to weddings being part of my life so I was completely unsure. I'll make sure to ask her - I wasn't sure if that would be strange either.

I agree, it would be polite to bring a gift if you were invited. Ask her where she registered so you csn get an idea of what to get her

I would agree that you should give something. I wouldn't take your chequebook with you - that's a little crass - but certainly you can get a nice card and include a cheque inside (in advance!) and I'm sure they'd be delighted and appreciate the gesture.