Here’s the scenario. You get invited to a wedding. You’ve psyched yourself up to find that absolutely perfect wedding gift. But it seems the couple doesn’t want gifts; they want money.
Camille and Corwin Hemming asked their wedding guests for money to help with their mortgage down payment. On their wedding website on Zola, the couple did also ask for more traditional gifts on their registry page. But, they preferred cash. Although the two were married in 2021, their story has recently gone viral and has sparked a debate.
Should couples outright ask for cash to leave the decision of a gift up to the guest? After all when couples do do a registry they are directing guests to the exact gift they want down to the brand. Is asking for cash that much different?
The Hemmings’ Wedding
Roughly one-third of guests at the Hemmings’ wedding contributed to their cash fund, Financial Times reports.
The bride, a 31-year-old brand manager in Michigan, said that about one-third of their family and friends gave cash gifts. The newlyweds received $10,000 for a mortgage down payment in 2021 from their wedding guests.
They also received gifs such as an All-Clad cookware set, Hemming said.
“A wedding is one of those few times when you get a lot of gifts, and people are ready to invest in you and your future as a couple,” Camille told The Financial Times.
The couple originally got married during a socially distanced pandemic ceremony with just 12 guests in August 2020; then, they had a second ceremony in 2021 with nearly 200 people.
Cash is King
In fact, it is not unheard of for guests to give cash, but the latest trend is that couples are now requesting money. Seventy percent of couples actually registered for cash on their wedding registry in 2019. This is an increase of 10 percent over 2018, according to TheKnot.
The Knot surveys more than 300,000 brides, grooms, guests and wedding professionals annually, and found in 2019 that financial gifts to help pay for new homes or renovations were up 10 percent, making them the second-most popular cash funds after those for honeymoons.
Tell us what you think. Give us your two cents. Should couples ask guests for cash when they get married?
