I think if you are not familiar with the Australian/NZ habit for 20 somethings to decamp to Europe for a few years before returning to have families, this may seem so. But most people I know who move to London/other Euro locales return to get married where their friends and families can attend the ceremony. A return flight to London can be anywhere from $1700+, adding onto that the cost of accommodation etc could make attendance a several thousand dollar layout per person - which means only a few at most would be able to attend. Much better to return and have all your loved ones to help celebrate the day - plus it’s a chance to catch up with people important to you who you may not have seen for a few years.
To the OP - hubby should just ring his sister and ask.
People keep advising me to “make sure to let them know you’ll accept cash!” Er? I mean, if we could say “no gifts” we would, but that’s rude. It’s rude to mention your registry on an invitation (although we have it on the wedsite.) It’s AMAZINGLY rude to say you’d like cash, and I’ve seen some shocking invitations. Who… who would think we wouldn’t “take cash”? Doesn’t everybody “take cash”?
“No! Take this back and buy me an ugly vase, damn it!”
Yeah, unless you had a PayPal logo on your invitations, I can’t imagine who would think, “Nahhh… they wouldn’t want money. What on Earth would they do with it?”
I realize you are joking, but the only lesson you would be teaching is that their uncle and his girlfriend are a couple of cheap jerks.
I can’t speak for the world, but the US custom for wedings is to give cash in lieu of a gift. Remember that they are shelling out anywhere up to several hundred dollars a person for you to spend 5 hours eating and drinking your face off dancing around to the Chicken Dance.
:dubious: I think this is only true in certain minority cultures in the US. More broadly, I think the custom is for the bride to drag the groom around Macy’s with a scanner, populating a registry of gifts.
The wedding was lovely…the service and reception were held in an Australian bushland setting (complete with flies of course) and we tendered our gift along with the other guests into a home-made cardboard box with a slot!
Alas, it has cost us dearly to attend the wedding. I had my very first prang (motor-vehicle accident for those not familiar with prangs or dings) on our way to the venue on Friday afternoon. My fault, so an excess of $600 applies anyway…plus the cost for two nights accomodation, petrol and the most god-awful Chinese take-away in Deniliquin…and the gift all up we’re over $1000 out of pocket for the whole shebang.
..so the reception is for the guests to pay for..?
Often, it costs the guest several hundred dollars to attend (attire, manicures, hairstyling, accommodation, transport etc aside from the gift) so I don’t actually see your point.
I vote for cash and NOT a gift card. If their taste run differently than where the gift card is valid, then they’re stuck with “what in the hell could we possibly buy at Store X?”.
