Image: This Rad Love
This one is for all you wedding guests out there. An observation I have gained through coordinating weddings, that I feel compelled to share with anyone planning to attend a wedding….
Stop bringing wedding gifts to weddings.
Now let me explain why, but first don’t mistake my words as me saying not to get couples a gift (instead of cash money or checks). Giving gifts as wedding presents, whether from the couples’ registry or not (though please use the registry…) is totally acceptable. I completely understand that you might not feel comfortable giving cash or a check, or that you’d prefer giving the couple something they might use/need/want in a more tangible form, but PLEASE don’t truck this gift to the wedding. Here’s why:
#1. Bringing a gift to a wedding means you have to lug this gift around until you find the gift table.
Perhaps you went all out and got them the KitchenAid mixer they wanted. That’s AWESOME, but PLEASE send it to the couples’ home before, after, or heck, even DURING the wedding. Do you really want to lug an 800lb mixer to a wedding? Do you want to have to remember to wrap it, bring it with you, and then carry it with you all through the ceremony until you find the gift table? You can’t tell me that is appealing. Couples don’t open gifts at weddings, so there really is no benefit to you bringing it TO the wedding.
#2. Bringing a gift to a wedding means someone has to lug this gift home at the end of the night.
As a wedding coordinator, I ask my couples: who has a car to bring your gifts home at the end of the night? They mostly look at me incredulously. They haven’t thought of that and ask me, “Do we really need that? People really still bring gifts? We didn’t register for anything…”. And I say, “Yes. 100%. Because I guarantee you at least ONE of your guests will bring you a gift (probably more) and at least ONE of them will be ginormous.” So to you the wedding guests that are considering bringing the gift you bought TO the wedding, think of my back, as I have to lug this gift back down stairs and think of the person who has to drive to the wedding so they can safely bring the gifts back home.
Shipping wedding gifts to the couple instead of bringing them to the wedding makes YOUR life easier AND the couples’ lives easier (ok and the wedding coordinator’s life easier). So let’s just all agree to stop bringing gifts to weddings.
