Written by Andrea. Published on Nov 24th 2009.
As most couples these days tend to live together prior to getting married chances are most bride and grooms will have everything they might need for their homes therefore the old tradition of getting kitchen appliances and dinner sets are probably over. That being said who wouldn't love a new Denby set to use on special occasions?
Many cultures around the world give money to the new bride and groom as a symbol of their new life together, some have money pinned onto the brides dress, some are given it in red envelopes which is meant to bring luck. There are no right and wrong answers when it comes to giving a wedding gift but it definitely seems to be a delicate area when asking for gifts.
Some couples struggle with the idea of creating a gift list thinking that older guests will be offended or more recently the idea of asking for a monetary contribution towards a specific item can also cause friction. I can understand both sides of this with perhaps some people feeling it's a little cheeky presuming that there will be gifts and then asking for what they would like. On the other hand practically everyone who attends your wedding will want to celebrate your marriage by giving you a gift and for me I'd rather give something that will be of use to the newlyweds rather than have to guess what they do or don't have. I suppose everyone is different and it will be up to the individual couple whether they feel their guests would be open to some such wedding registry.
This being said there are loads of ideas these days when it comes to creating a wedding registry of gifts. It seems that the UK are slightly behind when it comes to this as it's common in the US to ask where the couple are registered in the months leading up to the wedding. However the UK are catching up with places like Debenhams and John Lewis offering a great wedding list service, even Amazon offer a wedding gift list with everything imaginable on offer for your list most with free postage.
If like us you have a house filled with everything a house needs there are other options. Places like Trailfinders can create a wedding list where your guests can contribute to your wedding account where you can use the proceeds towards a honeymoon of your choice. If you wanted to break it down further and have you guests contribute to your honeymoon by buying you specific parts, say a night accommodation or a day trip there are companies that can do this for you such as The Bottom Drawer who specialise in alternative gifts or Buy Our Honeymoon where you can create your own page and detailed list.
Another alternative to the wedding list is to ask for contributions toward something else. Regardless of whether you have a list at Debenhams or no list at all chances are a lot of your guests will give the gift of money but to ask simply for money is a tricky area. Like I said earlier in some cultures it's traditional to give money but if it isn't customary in your country you could always put a nice card with a nice poem in with the invitations requesting if they wish to you would be more than happy with a donation towards X. You yourself will know your guests best and know what would be suitable. Whatever you choose just be sure to know that your guests want to celebrate your marriage and get you a meaningful gift to wish you well in your future together so don't be too worried about offending anyone.
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