How do you feel about getting cash as a gift for a birthday or holiday?
Frankly, at this point, I’m giving gifts rather than receiving them. That’s the way it goes as a parent. Though innocent homemade “Happy Father’s Day” cards from your kids do qualify as gifts, and mean more than anything 🙂
But yes, if I do get a gift, I’m totally cool with it being cash. I’ve written about the topic of gift cards as gifts, and frankly they make sense. After all, they’re called “gift” cards! So ultimately cash or near-cash equivalents are nice gifts for some (even if not all) people.
So while cash might work in many cases, what about for weddings? Do you think cash is an appropriate wedding gift?
This came to mind as I read a recent WSJ article on wedding gifts of cash. Apparently, there are people really putting cash gifts to good use. As in, collecting a really nice amount of money instead of traditional gifts, and saving the stash for a specific purpose.
To me, this makes sense. Let’s stop and think about it. What would you rather have:
- Wedding China you’ll rarely use, or a great start to a down payment on your first home
- New kitchen appliances, or the beginnings of a joint retirement fund
- Upgraded silverware, or an emergency fund to protect you financially as a couple
You get the idea.
Really, this brings to mind a bigger question of whether or not wedding spending in general can be more oriented toward starting a prosperous future together, instead of having a singular focus on one day. Yes, I spent a fair amount on a wedding/honeymoon too. That being said, there are people that go all out for that one day.
I suppose if the couple makes great money and/or has wealthy family footing the bill, it changes things a bit. Plus, I’ll admit, we all have the right to spend on something we truly value. If a perfect, dream wedding day is something that’s worth more than a home down payment – then everyone has the right to what they want to do.
Just to make clear, I’m not saying that obtaining cash and saving money for practical things should be a singular focus either. That makes life no fun, right? I’m just thinking that maybe there should be a balance between living for today and planning for the future.
And keeping that balance might mean thinking about weddings a bit differently, in terms of traditional vs. cash gifts, and lavish versus tastefully budget-conscious celebrations.
My Questions for You
What do you think of cash gifts versus more traditional gifts?
Do you think that weddings in general should involve dreams first and practical considerations later, or should priorities be reversed?
In this day and age, tradition can really be thrown to the wind! It is no longer considered “unclassy” to give cash – and I think that’s a good thing! Plus, most people are living together when they get married, or have at least lived on their own, so they have a lot of things they need to make a home. The traditional wedding gifts came from a time when the new couple needed many things just to get their home up and running. I, for one, am totally for cash gifts!
That makes sense. Another vote for cash!
I am all for cash as a gift as opposed to gifts. When my wife and I were married, we both owned our own houses and they were fully furnished. In many cases, if I didn’t have a certain thing, she did and vice versa. When it came time to create a registry, we didn’t need anything. We had everything already. We put a few things down that we needed and that was it. The woman at the registry desk tried to walk us around the store to add things, like fine china, etc. In the end, we mainly received cash, which is what we wanted.
Tried to get your guests to shop for expensive things, that’s what it sounds like she did! In today’s lifestyle, I think fine china almost seems to be out of place – or at least less important or meaningful than in days past.
I’ve never thought anything was wrong with cash gifts. It many ways, it makes more sense. Give the couple (or person) cash, and let them use it for whatever they think is best for them. My niece is having her first baby and she registered at a popular store. After reviewing the items, I just couldn’t pick one that I thought she “really needed.” So, instead I gave her cash to use for the necessities that she’ll definitely need – diapers, etc. She was very appreciative.
You know, with a newborn, there are so many things that people need. And yes, diapers can be so expensive. Cash helps!
When we got married and were getting gifts, we loved cash. We put everything toward something special, not just to be spent on everyday stuff. In fact a great deal of it went toward furnishing our home.
That’s cool that you set it aside for non-typical expenditures. Furnishing a home just seems a bit more special.
Cash is always welcome. In years past when the man and woman still lived at home before marriage, they needed gifts to set up their new household. But today, many couples already had their own apartment, whether individually or together, and don’t need as many gifts to start out with. Cash is never tacky.
That’s so true, things were different in the past. Living with parents, people didn’t have things set up. This might sound corny, but the old days sound really quaint, simple, and structured!
I think there’s nothing wrong with a cash gift. We received mostly cash gifts at our wedding, which was great. We had already lived together for over 7 years so I’m not sure what we would have done if we received a lot of actual gifts!
Yes, after 7 years you have clearly already set up a home. No need for silverware or the like by that point!
Personally. I think cash is more practical and seems to be more generally acceptable. Many couples who marry have already lived together and set up house, so the need for material things is less important.
That’s probably true in this day and age.
For our wedding, we did the dollar dance, but instead of us receiving the money, we had a donation jar for our local animal rescue.