Ok, I lied... My life is still all weddings all the time... It just is... In fact the theme of this summer seems to be weddings. Several of our girlie's friends are getting married as are the adult children of several of our friends. So all I have to talk about is weddings right now... Sorry if all this wedding talk makes me sound like a broken record... I guess it's the season we are in right now.
As I type this one thought keeps popping into my mind... There is a
Here is why I ask, Katy and Jed didn't receive much in the way of wedding gifts... Aghhh... That last sentence sounds horrible to me... I am really not ungrateful at all for what they did receive, I am just curious about why people don't seem to give wedding gifts like they used to.
I was taught as a child and believed that there are certain rules or guidelines to gift giving. Here is what I have always believed, how much you spend on birthdays and other "annual" events is flexible based on how well you know the person and what family traditions / local customs apply to where in the country you live. (Believe me, location does seem to impact gift giving... Big time.) When it comes to "showers" (baby-bridal) it is also based on how well you know the person but I always tried to aim for a gift of at least $25 in value. (More based on how well you know the bride/mom-to-be.)
These days I always try to get them something off their registry. Because they actually want and/or need the stuff on their registries... I didn't always do this, but have started in the last few years because let's face it, almost everyone registers at Target and and the like and it is so easy to get them what they really want.
But when it comes to weddings, graduations, and other once in a lifetime events, the very nature of the event seems to require a bit more. Our personal rule of thumb was if we attend the event to either buy them a gift or give them cash in a minimum of $50 value. It has always been our view that our gift should at least cost as much as it cost to feed us at the wedding. If we receive an invite to a wedding we can't attend we just generally pick something off their registry that lets them know we are thinking about them, but let me just say, I don't think this is necessary, but rather just something I think is nice to do. I may catch a lot of flack for this next sentence, but I do think it is obligatory to give a gift if you attend the wedding.
Now I want to go on the record here and say, this is all coming from me... Katy and Jed never have so much as uttered a negative word in front of me about their lack of wedding gifts... In fact there was one card that had $20 in it that wasn't signed and when Allison pointed out the fact that they didn't get very many gifts Katy said (with a smile) that maybe that card was collectively from everyone else.
Sorry if this post offends anyone... That is not my intent, I am truly just curious about the question I asked above: What do you view as proper etiquette on wedding gifts and/or what do you personally do for wedding gifts?
Thanks for listening,