My fiance and I have lived in our house for the past 2 years. We're having a small destination wedding this May, and a party to celebrate back home mid-summer. I know the tradition and point of gifts is to help a couple establish their new home- we've already done this, and I feel almost dishonest registery for gifts.
I know proper etiquette is not to mention gifts in announcements/invitations. However, I feel compelled to offer an alternative to gifts by suggesting a donation to specific non-profit organizations for disease research to honor our grandparents who've all passed away. Is this a completely bizarre thing to do? I don't want to come across as bleeding heart or better than all our married friends, I just think this is an alternative we could suggest that would be a better way to spend money and still show they care. I wanted to slip a seperate card into the announcements with the information and something like "In place of gifts, we would also be honored if you chose to help us remember all our grandparents who are no longer with us, by donating to one of the following organizations:..."
We may still register at a single place for friends who are insistent on giving us gifts, but I just don't want to offend people.
(This post was
edited by TWQadmin on Nov 16, 2005, 3:56 PM)
Etiquette Now
WEDDING ETIQUETTE EXPERT
Nov 16, 2005, 4:43 PM
Post #2 of 2
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Re: [marnold] Donations instead of wedding gifts?
[In reply to]
Dear Donating,
I appreciate your generosity. It is refreshing.
Actually an announcement is just a note announcing your marriage and is not a plea for gifts. It isn't considered an obligation. So, including this information would not be appropriate.
A wedding reception is also not a gift giving event. The wedding is. Not many know this, so it is a good idea to get the word out about your preferences. Because it is not proper to include this information in your invitation, it is best to spread the word. You may also create a wedding website with one entire dedicated page for your favorite charities. You can include a link to each of those websites. This is very easy and quick to do.
The wedding website is also good because you can include all of your wedding pictures for those who will not be attending the ceremony.
Donations instead of wedding gifts?
