Wedding gift question

merika

merika

Wol
O.G.
Nov 1, 2006
10,400
115
#1
A friend who was in grad school with me is getting married. He left grad school after completing his Master's so we haven't been in touch for a while. He did tell me of his wedding, and just got my address so he could mail me an invitation.

I'm not even sure if I am going because the wedding is out of state. If someone would let me know what kind of gift would be appropriate - this is a person I hung out with a lot but have met only twice in the past three years.

If I don't go, do I still send a gift (not sure of American etiquette. Back home we do)?

Is it acceptable to gift cash? (In my culture it is acceptable to, and I happen to know that the couple are in a bit of a tight financial situation)

If I get a gift, what is an acceptable price range? Bride and groom are teachers and both are heavily into cars /car stuff.
 
#3
If you buy a gift, buy something off of the registry. Cash is totally acceptable too, especially if you know they're on a tight budget. Or you could do a gift card to one of the places they're registered at. As for price range - whatever you are comfortable with, there is no minimum requirement.
 
#5
merika said:
If I don't go, do I still send a gift (not sure of American etiquette. Back home we do)?

Is it acceptable to gift cash? (In my culture it is acceptable to, and I happen to know that the couple are in a bit of a tight financial situation)

If I get a gift, what is an acceptable price range? Bride and groom are teachers and both are heavily into cars /car stuff.
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I still send a gift if I don't go to the wedding so that's completely appropriate!

Getting married is the only time I feel it's appropriate to give cash as a gift but I typically purchase something from their registry.

I believe the typical cost of a wedding gift is $50 but don't feel you HAVE to spend that amount. Just what you can afford.
 
#9
Even if you don't go, it is still proper to send a gift. Call me a snob (I've been called worse), but I would be embarrassed to only give $25 for a wedding gift. This is a marriage, not a birthday party. You also have up to a year to give a wedding present.
 
#10
^^They were trying to save up for a honeymoon in Europe. Is it okay to send the gift about a month before the wedding? Since it's permissible etiquette I would send some cash - maybe they could use it to fund their dream honeymoon.
 
#11
HubbaWubba said:
Even if you don't go, it is still proper to send a gift. Call me a snob (I've been called worse), but I would be embarrassed to only give $25 for a wedding gift. This is a marriage, not a birthday party. You also have up to a year to give a wedding present.
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You are not a snob...lol. It's proper to give at a minimum $100 dollars IMO.
 
#13
merika said:
^^They were trying to save up for a honeymoon in Europe. Is it okay to send the gift about a month before the wedding? Since it's permissible etiquette I would send some cash - maybe they could use it to fund their dream honeymoon.
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Hmmm...I don't know if I would send it that far in advance. For weddings I don't attend, I usually make sure the gift gets there the week of the wedding or in the first couple of weeks immediately following the wedding. That's just my preference but others may have a different opinion.
 
#14
You've got all the advice I'm going to offer, but I'll give my 2 cents anyway.

Not attending and still sending gift is very appropriate. I remember getting 10.00 from some of my guests (from my small hometown) and dh and I were pleased w/every dollar we received.
I received some gifts very early. Some of the givers wrote in their card that they were not able to attend and wanted us to have 'xxxx' and I wrote it down and it was great. Also nice as that was a thank you note I could complete w/out a hundred others at the same time.
 
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