How much to spend on a wedding gift???

[bubblensqueek]

it feels awkward asking this questions but how much money do people usually spend on a wedding gift???? where i'm from (not the uk) we spend money accordingly to how well we know the bride and/or groom. we have to go to my husbands' cousin's wedding who we see about once yearly (when my in laws are in town). i was planning on spending ?75 but hubbie heard from english collegues (hubie is not british either)that ?150 seems standard for family. i nearly fell off my chair.

[*Bob*]

?50 tops

It's not your fault they want to get married.

[Brendan]

Rule of thumb. Roughly the value of the amount of booze the two of you are going to consume at the reception.

[Mick Mac]

I have been going with ?100 recently for friends weddings. But ?75 seems absolutley fine to me. ?50 might be ok if you are young / single, ie one person attending wedding.

These days with 2 kids it costs a lot just to get to the wedding and often an overnight stay for 4 costs a lot more than the wedding gift.

I think most people are happy to have a gift and probably won't judge you.

[*Bob*]

Since did a wedding gift become a personal tax based on your means to pay?

No.

You want to get married. You want everyone to turn-up and coo over you on your special day. Dry-clean their suits. polish their shoes. Take time off work sometimes. Sit on a train to some gorforsaken little church in the middle of nowhere just outside Oxford that you've never set foot-in in your whole life, but want to get married there because it aaawww.. innit prettiiiie? Arrange babysitters, accommodation.

And on top of all that, you want cash. No less than ?150, please. Oh - or a Dualit 4-slice toaster in Cream.

Piss off!

[bubblensqueek]

bob, you're not a wedding planner then?

[daizie]

Lol! it'll only end in d.i.v.o.r.c.e

[*Bob*]

I suppose you could just spend ?75.

But you'll have to make amends in church.

As the rings are exchanged, I suggest you run to the front of the church, throw yourself to your knees in front of the altar, and scream "Father, forgive me, for I have only given a gift worth a mere ?75 even though it was made perfectly clear to me that ?150 was standard for this family"

[????]

I thought it was about the giving not the value or am I just an hopeless old romantic?

[Brendan]

If they have set up one of those personal wedding online shops things don?t buy them anything at all. We really can?t allow those fucking things to carry on.

[*Bob*]

Should I ever get married, people will be seated according to the size of the gifts they have given.

Those who have given less than the standard amount (tbc) will be forced to sit in a line on very low plastic chairs, facing the wall with fingers on lips whilst the more generous guests shout abuse and slap them round the back of the head.

[bubblensqueek]

in which case i will make something out of an empty toilet roll.

only kidding. of course its about the giving....just wanted to check what the average is in this country since partner and i are in disagreement on this one.

[Brendan]

50 bucks max. Unless you know of something specific that you would really like to get them in which case it doesn't matter if it is a fiver a 500 pounds because it is the thought that counts.

And the 500 quid I suppose.

[Mick Mac]

*Bob* Wrote:

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> Since did a wedding gift become a personal tax

> based on your means to pay?

>

> No.

Who said that?

[*Bob*]

A couple we know got married. We flew several thousand miles to their wedding.

They didn't want any gifts, because they were going to buy a VW camper van and spend a year touring in wedded bliss, probably running the car on love instead of petrol I suppose.

So on the big day - there it is, smack bang next to the cake. A homemade scale model of VDub - with SLOT on top, and into this slot we pushed our filthy lucre until it could take no more, so bursting as it was with goodwill at the thought of such a romantic dream.

Did they buy one?

Did they bo1locks!

[DaveR]

?50 is plenty, ?75 generous, unless it's one of your own kids getting married, or maybe a sibling.

A mate got invited to a wedding and was moaning to another guy about the excessive cost of stuff on the list (Selfridges, I think). The other guy, who is stinking rich, had also been invited and it emerged that he had been referred to another, even more expensive list (Harrods or some such). It turned out the happy couple had set up two lists and the card you got in your invite depended on how much they thought you would stump up.

Nice.

[bubblensqueek]

jeez bob. having an angry day?

[Mick Mac]

You will find a lot of pre wedding promises are not kept Bob.

[*Bob*]

Mick Mac Wrote:

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> You will find a lot of pre wedding promises are

> not kept Bob.

You're not going to go all 'Trisha' on us, are you MM?

[Mick Mac]

Might start new thread. Or maybe not.

[bubblensqueek]

yep we're going off topic now but had my answer so it doesnt matter.

i am now going to log onto the John Lewis gift site and choose between bed sheets and a fancy alarm clock.

[*Bob*]

Make sure you get a receipt for your gift.

Tell them that if they split up, you want it back.

[Brendan]

Don?t do it! Those things are a physical embodiment of everything that is shit about peoples? attitude to weddings.

My best friends had one for their wedding (only at the behest of a mean mother/in-law) so I made a specific point of not getting them anything.

My friend got me back as best man at my wedding a year later though. He got snotflying drunk, made inappropriate advances towards my mother-in-law, passed out in the loos and had to be frog marched home by his father. All of which are much more palatable wedding traditions than giving your card details to John bastard Lewis.

[matthew123]

Just buy an obscure gift that is difficult to value

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

?150 is ludicrous unless you are very close to the couple and very rich.

?75 is more than generous. Don't invite me to your weddings - I'll only stump up a board game.