Standard Wedding Gift Guidelines Should Be Followed
A wedding is a special event, not just for the bride and groom, but for the people attending the wedding as well. An invitation to a wedding can be a symbol that the bride and groom consider you to be close friends of the family and as such, there are rules of etiquette that apply to the wedding, from ways to respond to the invitation to guidelines for purchasing wedding gifts.
Although the emphasis on the wedding is the love and commitment the new couple shows, it is important to follow wedding gift guidelines so that you are not being rude.
One of the most key things among wedding gift guidelines is to know when it is appropriate to give a gift and when it is not. If you receive and invitation to the wedding, the answer is yes, you should absolutely purchase a gift if you attend, and often even if you do not attend. The only situations where it is polite to not send a gift is if you cannot attend and you either live too far away from the couple to be able to attend, or if you have been out of touch with the couple for several years.
There are events related to the wedding that have gift guidelines as well. For instance, if you merely receive an announcement of the wedding after the fact, you should not feel obligated to send a gift; a congratulatory card will suffice. If you are invited to the engagement party, you should not feel obligated to bring a gift then, since there will be a time at the wedding for giving gifts. However, if you are invited to the wedding shower, it is polite to bring a gift, though in this case if you do not attend, you do not have to purchase a gift.
What to Buy The Couple Can Be Tricky
A tricky area in wedding gift guidelines is knowing what you should purchase for the new couple. Though some will try to convince you that there are formulas for such, there is not. The only thing that should really determine the gift that you give the new couple is your feelings of closeness you have for them as well as your own budget. Of course, with the advent of wedding registries, its easy to pick out a gift, but if you are more comfortable picking out a gift without consulting the bridal registry, feel free to do so.
If you do purchase a gift, the final lesson in wedding gift guidelines is when and where to give the gift. Wedding gifts may be given as soon as the marriage is announced and sent to the brides home if you send it prior to the wedding itself. It may also be permissible to hold onto the gift and bring it to the reception. If you give your gift after the wedding, the custom is to send it to the new couples home. Beyond this, there are no hard rules in the wedding gift guidelines, so dont let the responsibility of purchasing a wedding gift detract from the true purpose of the day, celebrating the love of the new couple for each other. |