Good amount to give?????VERY LONG

Ok I have a lot of weddings coming upand am not sure what to give. The first one I am in and I have heard differnt opinions on this matter. I have heard that if you are in a wedding you are obviously close to the bride and or groom and therefore should give more money b/c it is an honor to be asked to be in the wedding party and you should give a nice gift. now the person I heard this from is in fact the bride but let me just say so you dont think my friend is nasty or anythig she said this long before she was engaged it wasnt like she was hinting to me anbout how much I should give her.
Now the other thing I have heard and I tend to agree with not to sound cheap or anythign id say that you give what you can aford basically of course within reason i am not talking $50 a couple but i mean with out being cheap give what you can afford. If you are extremely close then yes give some more if you can affford it. i mean whatever $$ i give to my friend whose wedding is coming up I wll certainly give more than let say to the wedding we have right before hers wheres its a coworkers of my FH. So any opinions are appreciated!! Sorry so long

Re: Good amount to give?????VERY LONG

I agree with giving more when you are in a bridal party, and I think something in the vicinity of 300 is a nice gift.

As a guest, I haven't given less than 200 at any of the weddings I've been to in the last 2 years.

I think you should take into consideration what type of wedding they are having before making any decision though.

Re: Good amount to give?????VERY LONG

It would depend on how close you are to the person. For a good friend I'd give $300 -- for a very close friend I'd give $500. It all depends on what you can afford too.

Re: Good amount to give?????VERY LONG

The closer the person is to me & my husband...the more we give.

Re: Good amount to give?????VERY LONG

Hi Noel,

I agree with Februarybride on this one. I tend to give more based on our relationship with the couple.

Cira

Re: Good amount to give?????VERY LONG

Of course you give what you can afford.

Assuming you are not hard up for money... i think about $500 from a bridal party member is a nice gift without being over extravagant.

As a regular guest, I would say between $200 and $300 is average for the couple.

Re: Good amount to give?????VERY LONG

My base contribution is $200 for someone closer to me it is more.

Re: Good amount to give?????VERY LONG

Yeah I was thinking along the lines of what you girls are saying I was just checking thats all. Thanks

Re: Good amount to give?????VERY LONG

i think you need to do what you think is fair and best. no one can tell you what to give or not give.

Re: Good amount to give?????VERY LONG

I know with my friends, when we were in eachother's weddings we gave less when we were in the wedding because we were spending so much to be in the wedding already- AND we usually gave GIFTS to each other- not $$$. Probably about $200 I would say.

but that's us- we are close friends and were all getting married within the year of eachother.

Re: Good amount to give?????VERY LONG

I think you should obviously give what you can afford, be it $75 or $500. Don't go broke trying to do what the socially correct thing is. My opinion for what is standard may be very different from someone elses. So definately base it on what you can afford and how close you are to them. When I was in grad school and had weddings to go to and had no money I would purchase them a nice gift off of their registry. I felt better about doing that then giving a monetary gift. Now, I can afford more. Everyone is at different stages financially so as I mentioned, what is best for one may not be for all. Also, I don't agree with taking into consideration what kind of wedding they are having. If it is a $20 a head BBQ or a $200 a head bash...it shouldn't matter..JMO....

Re: Good amount to give?????VERY LONG

thanks