The Gifts For A Wedding

Wedding gifts are confusing. How much should be spent? Who should buy a gift for the couple? What should be done when the couple already has what they need to start their lives?

There are plenty of things to wonder about, but wedding etiquette dictates what you should and should not do when it comes to wedding gifts.

Whether you are on the receiving side or the giving side, it is essential that this touchy situation gets handled appropriately.

When Gifts Are Given

Wedding gifts are given at various times during the course of the wedding planning and ceremonies. If you are giving the gift, you should know when it is appropriate to give a gift to the bride and groom at each of these times.

- The engagement party- if there is an engagement party, small tokens can be given to the bride and the groom. Certainly a card is encouraged, but it is not necessary to go overboard with gifts here. Since this party is reserved for just the most intimate of guests, this can be handled individually as well.

- The wedding shower- The most common time to give a gift is at the wedding shower. We will get more into details about the wedding shower in just a minute. For the most part, you should only attend the shower if you are bringing a gift or something sentimental for the couple.

- The wedding- If you attend the wedding shower, you do not need to provide another gift for the wedding. But, it is customary to provide a monetary gift to the bride and groom at the wedding, to help them to pay for the wedding and to start off their life together.

The wedding gift, if given should be something of personalized or sentimental value for this special occasion.

Sometimes, the bride's family or close friends may give the bride or the groom something during odd times during the wedding preparations. For example, the maid of honor, a sister of the bride or the mother of the bride, may purchase a keepsake book for them to record their planning adventures.

This is not something that is necessarily required, but can provide sentimental value that can be used throughout the planning of the wedding itself.

To read about engagement etiquette and wedding invitation etiquette, visit the Etiquette Lessons site.

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