Comments on: $100 here, $100 there. $100 every where a Wedding.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 11:56:59 +0000

In reply to mrs.C. Being more generous vs less never hurt anyone :)

By: mrs.C

mrs.C — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 23:24:41 +0000

My husband and I give $100 as a standard gift for weddings, but if the couple getting married gave us a wedding gift with a higher dollar figure, we’d just match that :)

By: Maeve

Maeve — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 07:32:54 +0000

Don’t go to the wedding if you cannot afford to give a nice gift. You can just about fill your tank for $75-$100. That’s just being cheap. Times are changing. Candy bars aren’t a nickel anymore.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 26 May 2010 04:51:49 +0000

Here’s some advice from TheKnot.com (link):

It’s a bad idea to use the price-per-plate as a measure for how much you should spend on the wedding gift — you wouldn’t give your best friend a less expensive gift just because she was having a more casual affair. Spend what you think is appropriate to your relationship to the couple, and also consider what’s reasonable in your city. Here’s the ballpark you should be aiming for:

* Coworker and/or a distant family friend or relative: $50-$75
* Relative or friend: $75-$100
* Close relative or close friend: $100-$150+

I think they pretty much nail it. Basing your gift’s amount on anything other than your relationship with the couple (and your budget) is simply tacky.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:32:48 +0000

I can certainly say that the most weddings we had in a year was 5, we gave about $100 to $200 for each one, it basically depended on how well we knew the couple and what else we did to pitch in. Gave a more expensive gift and bought a lot for the bachelor party for the one I was the best man in, less so for the friend we hadn’t seen in 4 years and had to drive 6 hours to get to.

From our own wedding, average seemed to be about $100 per couple. Some more, some less. Some who couldn’t attend sent a larger gift.

When siblings get married, we seem to spend more than when it is a more distant relative.

At the end of the day, I agree with JB most brides and grooms really want you to attend and be there with them on that day. They will be glad for whatever you give them and of course no one expects nor would they want you to put yourself into hardship to give a gift.

We normally budget a certain amount for gifts in a year, then if we know that there are a lot of weddings that year, we up the amount if needed.

By: eurolauras

eurolauras — Mon, 24 May 2010 18:57:24 +0000

Well I’m a NYer and first generation European at that so $100 per person attending is the minimum rule of thumb here. A family of 4 should give between $300 – $500 depending on the venue (in the tri-state area most weddings are at catered venues so these are formal events)
I understand that it’s different outside of the tri-state area but from a European’s standpoint, you are being generous to the couple so that they can start their life with a savings which is where some people say that its a generally accepted that you should give the cost of your plate plus a little more.

By: JB

JB — Fri, 21 May 2010 06:48:38 +0000

I think $100 makes sense for you both since you are married and essentially giving a gift on behalf of 2 people. I recently attended a wedding and brought a guest and gave more than I typically would if it was just myself attending. I think I spent 90 bucks on a good friend.

That being said, I agree with those saying that a wedding gift is optional and the true gift is attendees taking the time to enjoy a special and joyous day with the newly married couple. A gift should also be what one can afford, I’m in my mid 20’s and a lot of people are getting married but most of us don’t make big bucks. No one should go broke because of a wedding.

By: Red

Red — Thu, 20 May 2010 19:38:15 +0000

I think $100 is generous. We only received $100 gifts from our closest family and friends. $50 was the norm.

And cash is an EXCELLENT gift idea. We actually tried to spread the word that we only wanted cash if people wanted to get us anything because we already had “house stuff.” We still got a few gifts, but cash was the best. :)

By: Rachael

Rachael — Thu, 20 May 2010 18:16:25 +0000

@Phanzy – you really base your gift on how good the food is? Are you forgetting the reason you were invited? Because you are important to the couple, and the fact that you base your gift on the quality of the food is just petty and SHALLOW. If I found out people were doing that at my wedding, I would never talk to them again.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Thu, 20 May 2010 15:59:12 +0000

Haha…SO MANY differing opinions here!! I love it. Even those who say I’m crazy to dish out $100 or those who think I’m cheap ;) It really is amazing how our cultures are so different across the States here and probably even broad too. $50 – $500 is such a difference!

The one thing that I will never get though is why people base their gifts off the cost of the wedding. How the heck do you know how much their spending on it? I’ve been to dozens of weddings, including my own, and I’m still surprised when I find out how little (or a lot) my friends have spent on the whole shabang. Plus, I really don’t see how it has to do with anything. Your friends or your friends, and your family is your family, so why would you give them less or more based on how much the dinners cost? They’re not as worthy of X amount of dollars if they feed you peanut butter & jelly sandwiches? ;)

Regardless, it’s been really fun reading through these so far…As long as you’re happy with your amounts and you’ve budgeted them in, I say keep on rockin!