Pushback from wedding guests as couples ask for cash gifts
Posted August 9, 2013 8:02 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It is wedding season and that means it’s prime time for an ongoing battle between brides, grooms and their wedding guests.
More and more couples seem to want money as a gift, but that’s not going over so well with everyone.
A wedding guest this year will spend an average of $540, and they’re not really interested in chipping in a few hundred more for the bride and groom.
Kate Lunau with Maclean’s Magazine wrote on article on this topic for the upcoming issue; she says more couples are marrying later in life and have every right to ask for money.
“Etiquette experts will tell you, ‘You know, you’re not supposed to put on a wedding invitation where your registry is,’ and in many cases, they’ll say you’re not supposed to ask for cash. But that’s sort of old fashioned. I think these days, couples are letting their friends know through word of mouth.”
She adds asking for cash is common across a lot of different cultures.
“I think in some cultures, giving money as been the norm for a long time. I spoke with a woman for this story who comes from a big Italian family and she said this is always the way it has been in her family. She’s starting to get fed up with spending so much money around weddings and I’m sure people can relate when you have five or six weddings [to attend].”
She adds the closer you are to the couple, the more money you are likely to spend on them.
“A lot of people will tell you that a rule of thumb is you should pay however much you believe it would have cost to have you at that wedding. But others guests will say, ‘You know, I can’t afford that and if they want to throw a wedding that is over-the-top and extravagant, then it’s not my job to pay for it.'”
The average wedding in Canada is said to cost over $32,000.
