How much $ do you give at weddings?

[ThatsJustSick]

This subject came up a few times with my friends.

I'm vietnamese and when I go to a vietnamese wedding, it's courtesy to give $$$. It's not really mandatory, but if you can, you should. There were times when I was dirt poor and couldn't even give a penny. My friends understood and didn't say much. They were just happy that I was there to celebrate with them. Then there were times when I gave $100 for myself.

It all depends on your financial situation and how close they are to you. Family and relatives usually give a few hundred, and sometimes even thousands. If my brother or sister were to have a wedding, I'd probably give them $500 given my current financial situation, or if I made a lot more money in the future, I might even give them $1k.

If you make a decent amount of money, what do you give? I've notice that most of my fobby friends all agree that you should give $100 per person. All of my americanized friends all think it's $50. What other ethnicities give money and how much do you guys usually give?

[toml]

Iím Chinese and we also give money at weddings.

In fact, many Chinese weddings are VERY profitable!

And like you said, itís all based on your financial situation and how well you know the person.

I think my range would be from $300+ to $800+ (w/ the $800 for close family members and my best friends--luckily none of them are getting married anytime soon!).

And of course we always prefer to give an amount thatís a lucky number.

[cattygurl]

Damn- I suppose it's not good to give 4 or 9 or 49 dollars (9 is also an unlucky number in Japan).

In Japan, you're also supposed to give money too, although I don't know about the money part. I haven't attended a Japanese wedding in a long, long time. Almost all the recent weddings I attended were quite unconventional so I have no idea.

[ThatsJustSick]

9 is an unlucky number? I always thought it was lucky. Maybe it's just us viets. Maybe I've been wrong the whole. So that's why I haven't been winning the lottery! :D

[ellencho]

In all of the asian weddings I've attended, money is the norm for gifts. Wedding registries are a pretty western type thing but most couples have one anyway. If you know the bride or groom well enough you can ask if they have a wedding registry and if there's something on the list they really want, but if they say they don't care, just give them money instead.

Back when I was poor, usually I knew when I had a wedding coming up a couple months in advance, so I used to save tens and twenties for a while, and then go to the bank and exchange it for a nice crisp hundo.

[minbo]

Damn- I suppose it's not good to give 4 or 9 or 49 dollars (9 is also an unlucky number in Japan).

In Japan, you're also supposed to give money too, although I don't know about the money part. I haven't attended a Japanese wedding in a long, long time. Almost all the recent weddings I attended were quite unconventional so I have no idea.

In Japan it is also "unlucky" to give an even number of bills (though an even amount is fine). So if you give 20,000 yen, you would give one 10,000 yen bill and two 5,000 yen bills.

I give cold hard cash. Mainly because most of my friends who finally get hitched have been living on their own, either seperately or together for a while. They don't need household goods, so cash to pay for the wedding/honeymoon or even for them to help save up for a down payment on a place together is much more apreciated.

Even though it's not entirely kosher, some of them only get regestries at places that will accept an unconditional return. They are upfront about it to everyone as they register for the normal wedding gifts with the purpose of returning them for some big ticket item that no one would have/could have bought for them alone. This is for the people who feel wierd about giving cash.

[KeJia Sista]

$100 for friends more for relatives. If they are not Asians I give a gift, but somehow the gift usually costs less than giving cash. Even though its not planned that way.

Ke Jia