Wedding Gifts & Gift Registries

Gift Registry Wording

Asking for presents is always a tricky business, but every wedding guest will expect to bring a gift to your wedding, so there’s no reason to be too embarrassed about discussing your gift list. Actually mentioning gifts on the wedding invitation itself is considered rude, but it’s fine to include an additional card, or to add a line to any guest information you send out such as directions or accommodation details.

Here are some of the ways you could approach announcing your gift list…

…if you have registered for gifts

Usually if you have registered for gifts you will be given discreet cards to put in with your invitations showing where you have registered, and possibly giving a code and a website to log on to. If you decide to include these with the invites, there is really no need to add anything else as your guests will realise that you want something from your registry.

If the cards provided are too large or don’t work with your stationery, you could always make your own and write something like,

Many brides ask how they can politely say that they only want gifts from their registry, but that isn’t really possible. You can’t force guests to choose something from your gift list, and if you have already included your registry details, mentioning presents again will always seem rude.

…if you would rather have money or vouchers

Many couples have already set up house when they get married and have everything that they need for the home. If you would prefer money or vouchers instead of household gifts you can add a small card to your invitations with a note or poem indicating this. One popular poem is:

This poem shows that the money will go towards home improvements, and it can be helpful if you tell your guests what you will be spending gifts of money on. Many couples ask for money towards their honeymoon, and in this case you could say;

Some couples prefer gifts of money or vouchers because they live out of town and will be travelling back after the big day. In this case you could put something like

This can look cuter and be made even softer by using a picture of a gift and a picture of an envelope instead of the words.

It can be easier to ask for gifts of money if the wedding invitations come from your parents and are written in the third party. An example of this might be

…if you don’t want gifts at all

Some couples don’t want guests to buy them gifts at all, especially if the wedding location means that guests will have to travel and pay for accommodation. However, it is tricky to mention that you don’t want gifts when you send out invitations without sounding as if you do. One popular phrase is

Often just omitting gift list details from your invitation is enough. You can tell your close friends and family that you don’t want presents so that when people call up to ask whether you have registered they know what to say. It may be worth deciding on a store you’d like vouchers for, or a charity you’d like people to give donations to for those guests that really want to give a gift.