--- title: 4 Etiquette Rules for Wedding Guests description: Gift-giving tips for guests, from registry tips to cash gifts, with special tips for destination weddings and wedding parties. authors: - name: Jill Schlesinger url: https://money.com/author/jill-schlesinger/ at_money_since: 2015 articles: 24 covers: - Lifestyle - Career Advice - Housing - Identity Theft - Investing - Personal Finance - Retirement - Taxes social: - https://x.com/jillonmoney former_staff: true published: '2016-06-21T15:07:32.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T02:25:20.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - wedding gifts - Weddings word_count: 376 canonical: https://money.com/etiquette-wedding-guests-gifts/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![4 Etiquette Rules for Wedding Guests](https://img.money.com/2016/06/wedding_gift_guide-00_00_14_27-still001.jpg?quality=85&w=1012&h=569&crop=1) Wedding season is upon us. While there are plenty of wedding planning resources available for brides, grooms and their families, I think it also takes finesse and courtesy to be a great wedding guest. Among my tips: **1\. Buy Something From the Registry** Yes, really. I know that you are creative and you may think you have a better idea of what your friends want than they do themselves, but please, do yourself a favor and get over it: Just buy something they've asked for. I do have one caveat to this, though: If your friends have only listed registry items that are outside your price range, then you should feel free to go elsewhere. [Should you ever give cash?](https://money.com/wedding-gift-giving-guide/) I'd keep an ear to the ground on this one, and perhaps check in with their family or close mutual friends; some couples do signal that gifts of money would be welcome. **2\. Figure Out How Much Is Appropriate** The bad news: There are no hard and fast rules about how much to spend. But you should consider things like what your relationship to the couple, whether you are bringing a guest, and what's reasonable for your circle of friends and in your area. (Hint: You may need to ask a couple of them.) If you’re in the wedding party, you’re probably already spending a bunch of money on parties and your dress or tuxedo. One idea is to chip in with the other bridesmaids and groomsmen and give one big group gift. **3\. Factor In the Cost of Wedding Travel** Heading to a destination? If you have to lay out a lot of money to attend the wedding, you are off the hook for an expensive gift -- but you should still get the couple something. While your attendance is indeed a wonderful gift in itself, a small token is appropriate. **4\. Don't be a Spoilsport** Don’t like weddings? You're not doing anyone a favor if you attend but then sit around being grumpy. Bow out politely if you'll really be miserable. (You can send a gift instead.) And if you make the effort to be there, slap a smile on your face, talk to people you don’t know and get on the dance floor! ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/etiquette-wedding-guests-gifts/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Marriage", "item": "https://money.com/marriage/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "4 Etiquette Rules for Wedding Guests" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/etiquette-wedding-guests-gifts/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/etiquette-wedding-guests-gifts/", "name": "4 Etiquette Rules for Wedding Guests", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2016-06-21T15:07:32.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/etiquette-wedding-guests-gifts/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/etiquette-wedding-guests-gifts/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-17T02:25:20.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "4 Etiquette Rules for Wedding Guests", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/06/wedding_gift_guide-00_00_14_27-still001.jpg?quality=85", "width": 1920, "height": 1080 } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jill Schlesinger", "url": "https://money.com/author/jill-schlesinger/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/jill-schlesinger/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2015/11/151119_bio_author_schlesinger.jpg?quality=85&w=640&h=640&crop=1", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/jillonmoney" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2016-06-21T15:07:32.000Z", "description": "Gift-giving tips for guests, from registry tips to cash gifts, with special tips for destination weddings and wedding parties.", "abstract": "Gift-giving tips for guests, from registry tips to cash gifts, with special tips for destination weddings and wedding parties.", "@id": "https://money.com/etiquette-wedding-guests-gifts/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-17T02:25:20.000Z", "wordCount": 376, "keywords": [ "wedding gifts", "Weddings" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lifestyle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Marriage", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage" ] } ] } ] } ```