A new study has revealed that anyone who spends less than €32 on a wedding gift is considered cheap.
Yikes.
The study conducted by Wedding Shop identifies that siblings receive the most valuable gifts, usually about €100 while colleagues receive the lowest, at just €25.
Director of Wedding Shop Anne Marie-Jenkins said:
“The majority of guests want to spend enough money to look generous, but don’t always have the funds readily available.
“When a couple asks for money instead of a gift it’s often perceived that this will be an easier option for guests struggling to decide what to buy, however this can make it even harder for guests as they’re then forced to divulge exactly how much they are spending.
“This is why we’ve seen the trend for honeymoon contributions experiencing a great surge of late.”
90% of the 2,000 people surveyed admitted that they judge how much to spend on the newlyweds based on their level of affection for them.
Siblings, parents, grandchildren and best friends get the best deal in terms of wedding gifts while friends of the family, the neighbours and second cousins don’t fare so well.
The survey discovered that while best friends will receive nearly the most, good friends also receive in excess of €52.
This is more than aunts, uncles, and cousins – all of whom get presents to the value of around €48.
Guests also admitted that the perceived cost of the wedding play a part in how much they chose to spend on a gift.
A third will dig a little deeper into their pockets if the wedding seems to have cost a lot, while 33 percent said they will splash the cash if the nuptials seem particularly ‘posh’.
If the bride and groom are generous enough to pay for their guest’s food, drinks and accommodation, 65 percent are likely to really splash out on the gifts in return.
And when considering what is generally acceptable to spend on a wedding gift, the average person reckons anything less than €32 is a complete insult.
And when it comes to the actual difficulty of finding a gift, 74 percent said they would prefer for the couple to simply specify what they would like.
The average price per gift is as follows:
- Your sibling – €102
- Grandchild – €102
- Your parent – €94
- Partner’s parent – €85
- Best friend – €84
- Your partner’s sibling – €82
- Good friend – €52
- An aunt – €50
- An uncle – €50
- Your cousin – €49
- Your partner’s cousin – €43
- Your partner’s friend – €40
- Friend of the family – €35
- Second cousins – €34
- The boss – €32
- Work colleague – €31
- Your neighbour – €29
