Gifts

Ok, let’s talk about gift giving and receiving at weddings. Rule number #1 and this rule is never broken, no matter what the department store tells you. You do not include any mention of gifts in your wedding invitation! I know the store where you are registered gave you a cute little card and told you to include it in your invitation (of course they do, they want all your guests coming to them with their credit cards out). But if you do this, you are wrong, wrong, wrong, tacky, tacky, tacky and Emily Post will come back and haunt you. “But how will people know I want that beautiful silk comforter I registered for” you ask. You tell your mother and your bridesmaids and let them spread the word. Don’t worry people will ask.

But this brings up another point, the idea that people are required to buy off your registry is a myth. They are not required to, they can pick out something totally not on your registry and Emily Post will still smile on them. Also, the idea that their present is suppose to cost the same that you are spending on them for the wedding, is a total myth. One the brides on the Knot love to push, but it is incorrect. A guest should spend what they can afford to spend on you, what they want to spend on you and never anymore. Now this doesn’t give them a license to be stingy, but it doesn’t give you the right to badmouth them either. In fact, they are not required to give you a gift at all. Yes, it is tradition if you attend the wedding to present a gift (and guest should always try to send it ahead of time, not take it to the wedding) but it is not a requirement. So don’t expect gifts from those distant cousins you haven’t seen in years and aren’t going to be able to come to the wedding. If you send wedding announcements, these never require a gift from the recipient.