Friday, February 17, 2012

Giving Money as a (Wedding) Gift

I hate giving money as a gift.

I hate it even more when people insist on it.

Don't get me wrong, I totally understand the reasoning, you've been living in 'sin' you have everything thing you need and you'd rather have some cash to pay off your wedding and help you out on your honeymoon...but really? that's not my problem. I'll be in the same situation when I marry (I hope we're more established anyway) but won't ever actually ASK for money.



However, if you don't ask for it and don't have a wedding registry and I can't think of what to buy, then I may very well give it to you. That's what SJ and I will be doing this weekend.

A few reasons:
- I've met the groom (and travelled with him before) but I have never met the bride. Other than the wedding invite I haven't a clue as to her tastes/needs/desires
- There was no wedding registry (which is fine by me)
- We're coming from Melbourne so lugging something could be a pain
- We can't afford to give too 'decent' a gift right now either, since we're paying for flights up for the weekend (and I'm not really visiting my family as half of them are overseas) I figure $100 is good enough.
- Also note, there was no poem inside saying they preferred it.

Regardless, as stated in the first line of this post though, I do hate giving money as a gift.

I wrote a post last September on giving my sisters $100 each for Christmas to spend on new clothes (since their styles are forever changing), folded as collared shirts and hung in a tiny wardrobe with paper clothes (see here), they enjoyed it so much one sister still hasn't unfolded the money.

Money origami is bit in the US (from what I've gathered) where a paper $1 note is easy to fold and makes a nicer tip to leave at a table. In Australia, with out plastic notes, things are a little more difficult. In making the shirts for my sisters, I performed each fold and stuck the note in a large book for a while. When they were finished, I left them in a book for a few days before I put them on their little hangers.

I didn't have the time or patience to do that for this wedding gift, so I cheated a little. Last night I turned two $50 notes into hearts (easy to google, but I used this site for the heart and previously the shirt) and stuck them on the front of a card.

With the words "Two Hearts"
And inside "One Love"...corny I know, but I felt like it made attaching currency to a card a little more justified.

Do you approve?

17 comments:

  1. Going by what you've said then yes this is a great idea! :) Hope you guys have a blast at the wedding!

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  2. i think that is a fabulous idea!

    would totally be welcome in our stack of cards! we are not having a registry nor a wishing well poem, as FH and i dont think that we should have to say to our guests that this is what we want.

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  3. It looks lovely! I'd probably be like your sister and never unfold it :)

    Hope you have a blast at the wedding!

    xx

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    1. I need to buy some 'fake' money so I can replace the clothing for my sisters lol

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  4. Cute! I had 3 weddings last year all in October and giving $200 a pop, it gets a little expensive...

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    1. Doesn't it. All the weddings we have this year we have to fly to Brisbane for, one is a monday night (public holiday up there) so it means taking 2 days off work as well!

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  5. That is such a lovely idea for giving money as a gift! I agree that I don't like giving money in general.

    I am hosting a giveaway at my blog, I'd love you to enter :)

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  6. I prefer getting actual gifts but I'd rather receive money as a gift particularly when the person doesn't know my taste/likes too well..

    Love that you didn't just put the cash in an envelope, never heard/thought of packaging cash in this way! Will be stealing your idea :)

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    1. You're more than welcome to. Your currency probably folds easier than mine!

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  7. Oh that's so cute! Such a lovely way of dressing up the cash into a gift!

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  8. Oh this is a fabulous idea! Especially if there was so much effort to go into for folding this with plastic money!

    In Chinese cultural weddings though, money giving is the norm and plus the wishing well is counted at the reception and used to pay off the restaurant bill, so if someone had done this for us, we might never have ever gotten to see the sweetness. :(

    I received gift vouchers from people who needed to not feel like they were giving cash, and to be honest, I found that equally lovely.

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    1. I do understand that about Chinese cultural weddings (sadly wasn't able to attend one in China a few years ago...organised their Brisbane one for them instead!) and wouldn't worry about it the same. Western weddings with a gift table and wishing well are a different story.

      Gift Vouchers are a good idea too but it's hard to know where they'd prefer to shop. I'd hate to have one go unused.

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  9. This is just awesome. Thanks for a great idea. It definitely makes for a presentable way to give money. Clever clever.

    Great blog btw, I have just became a follower. Come check out my blog if you have the time. I am running a Spreets competition too, so enter it if you like for your chance to win a voucher :)

    Luc X

    http://loveluc.blogspot.com.au

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    1. Thanks for the invite, I have become a follower but am not a fan of Spreets so I'll pass on the giveaway :-) Thanks though.

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