Cash Gifts Only?

View quoted message That’s a very good point, I keep forgetting that a shower is part of this whole thing. It’s smart to have gift receipts included because there will also be people who buy you the same thing!

We had our wedding about an hour outside the city so we didn't end up running into people bringing physical gifts. Buuuuut, we also still had a wedding registry and a wedding shower. Although I can't prove anything, I would think that if you do have a registry AND a shower, that people are more inclined to buy physical things for the shower and NOT for the wedding itself.

Fair warning - even with the wedding registry we got multiples... (3 sets of bowls, 2 sets of plates, 2 baking racks, 2 clothing irons, etc.) Luckily we got the gift receipts for most of them and were lucky enough that if one out of the two didn't then we knew which one to keep!

Our plan if we didn't have the receipts would have just been to try and either re-gift or sell on a FB market place or something.

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I created my website within wedding wire. There should be a link to creating one on your main page. My home page of the website has information listed on all things guests need to know for the wedding. I just wrote a small paragraph asking if people could provide cash gifts over physical items since we have everything we need already. I think most people will understand that if you already live with your other half.

I put just a small message on the registry page of my wedding website. I figured if people are going there to check what I want then it’s not rude to very politely say that we would prefer money (nicely). I think ours says something along the lines of “your presence at our wedding is the best gift we could ask for. However, if you wish to give a gift, we would graciously accept a monetary contribution towards our future together. We currently live in a small apartment with no storage space, and are saving up for a home of our own.”

View quoted message I like the idea of a poem thank you vanessa 😊

View quoted message That’s a great idea thank you !!!

View quoted message I was thinking of it, but I actually do have a zola site already how did you include it? Because I want to use wedding wire to send out my online save the dates.

We created a wedding website that had all the info the guests need to know on it. We politely asked that since we already live together, we would really appreciate money to go towards buying our own home (we currently rent). We also mentioned that if you prefer not to give money we will have a small registry as a last resort.

You can go two ways about this message for guests to get the message of giving cash

1. Indirect - couples choose to write poems or messages that hint boxed gifts are not needed to give. For the most part, Indian weddings never give boxed gifts anymore if it may not be useful and being bulky.

2. Direct - a simple line to give your guests a heads up to let them know you do prefer cash is your way to accept. Simple term is Monetary Gifts appreciated. It avoids beating around the bush and really has become an etiquette change.

Any time I have seen the message No Boxed Gifts as I did put it on our invitation too was easily notified to come enjoy themselves and light handed.

I used the wedding website and added a cute little poem that I borrowed from the internet:

We know it’s not traditional,
It’s not the way it’s done.
Instead of a registry.
We’d like to get some things done.
We’ve lived together quite a while,
And all our bills are paid.
We have our pots and pans,
Our plans have all been made.
So if you’d like to give us a gift
To help celebrate,
Something towards our renovations fund,
Is what would be appreciated

If people ask you can share something you're saving for like a trip, a renovation, or a down payment on a house so your guests feel like they are contributing to something.


We set up a small registry on myregistry.com and it let us put gift cards on the list and we can also link a PayPal account for cash gifts. We added a few household items that we could use for the old fashioned guests who think cash is impersonal. But as mentioned by others if you don't have a registry people get the hint.

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Are you using the wedding wire website? I'm using zola.com as my wedding website and I find it very user friendly

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Simple and to the point thanks!

Or don’t indicate anything at all, and do not include a registry. People get the hint.

Simply write
Monetary gift is appreciated

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Thanks for your input Caitlyn, I kind of just assumed if I didn’t say anything people would just buy whatever they want but now that you say I feel like I asked a stupid question. I’m so new at this wedding stuff!

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Maybe I was overthinking it, that makes perfect sense. Registries are a little old fashion to me. I agree putting it on the invite is horrendous.

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I was thinking about putting it in the website. For me the wedding website isn’t as user friendly as I would like it to be so I didn’t know what page to put it on.

Putting any registry info/gift info whether it’s for boxed gifts or cash on an invite is an etiquette no no.


We didn’t need any physical gifts so we just didn’t have a registry. We only had one person ask us for gifts ideas and we said “oh we don't need anything” and they ended up giving us money and she made us pillowcases because she just wanted to give us an “item” gift too. These days I think a lot of people give cash for the wedding even if their is a registry.
As Kelsie mentioned, if anyone asks you for gift ideas or if you have a registry just say that you don’t need any household items and they’ll likely get the message that you need/want cash.

We just didn’t put a registry. People get the hint.


I think it’s tacky to put something on the invitation personally, so we just didn’t mention gifts at all. If someone asks you, you just say we don’t have a registry and monetary gifts would be appreciated. We haven’t had anyone ask us so I think people get it.

My Fiance and I are doing the same. I put it on the FAQs page of the website.

Question: Where are you registered?

Answer: If you were thinking of giving a gift, to help us on our way. A gift of cash towards our house/honeymoon would really make our day. However, if you prefer to purchase a gift, feel free to surprise us in your own way.

I'll also put it on the physical invites that we have as well.

A friend of mine wanted cash gifts as well but also did a small registry as well to avoid getting the same gift just in case there were people who wanted to give a gift instead of cash.

Hope this helps