Gift for Bride and Groom

[Chef P]

Hi Everyone, I need your opinion from both Brides /Grooms and Guests

 

Is a gift expected by the Bride and Groom who choose a cruise as a destination wedding? If you are a guest may I ask what you have given the newly married couple,

thoughts and suggestions are welcomed....

 

 

Thanks in advance

[abbaker82]

We do not want or expect gifts from our guests. We feel like they are already committing time and resources to attend the wedding and that is all we want. We chose to not register also.

[Chef P]

Thank you for your response....

[Carnival_Brides]

It depends on whether it's a true destination wedding or if it's a hometown embarkation wedding.

 

We had our wedding during our cruise, so we were also in the no gift camp, your presence was our present. I think that's the way most modern etiquette gurus are leaning right now in regards to destination weddings. We did register for few inexpensive (<$15) items at a local department store, but weren't expecting to receive gifts.

 

Embarkation weddings in hometown ports are a different situation though and I think fall under traditional gift-giving conventions. In that case, we've given OBC and/or cabin treats to the Bride and Groom.

Edited January 15, 2014 by Carnival_Brides

[HeatherC430]

I totally agree with the other posts. I was married on embarkation day and the majority of my nonsailing guests traveled from Pittsburgh to Orlando for our wedding. Between airfare and hotel stay for 2 nights each nonsailing guest spent no less than $400-500 to make the jaunt for the weekend. Sailing guests spent at least double that to cruise with us. We didn't expect any gifts from anyone, but we did get a few.

 

I did register through traditional venue at home as well as Carnival's Wedding Registry, but that was more for the bridal shower (and not for "wedding gifts"). Most people did purchase off of our registeries for my bridal shower gifts. As a result we had a ton of onboard credit when sailing which was really nice.

 

If you are getting married on embarkation day and the port is your hometown, I think that's a different situation.

[NL2134]

All of my guests are travelling for our embarkation wedding, most about 1,000 miles. So, we certainly don't expect any gifts and have told people that their presence and/or warm wishes is plenty. But, we have had requests for registry locations so we did register for some smaller items at the typical stores. I don't expect to get much, since everyone has travel expenses to attend, but we will likely get some items. I particularly anticipate to get gifts from some of my family that isn't able to attend, because that's just the type they are. Our wedding is over 5 months out and we already have to go pick up a wedding gift that my aunt has for us at her house.

 

But, we also included strict instruction on our website to PLEASE DO NOT BRING GIFTS TO THE WEDDING! First of all, I have enough stuff to lug around on my vacation. Second of all, from what I've heard, any gifts received at the wedding, since they have gone through customs, are subject to duty taxes! I really don't want to pay taxes for my wedding gifts. So, we made it clear (mainly through family communications) that any gifts should be sent to our home prior to the wedding and we can only accept cards or cash at the actual wedding.

[beachmonkey]

We chose not to register and appreciate the effort that our guests will make to attend our wedding (regardless of how far).

 

We have still have many requests for gift ideas and to have a celebration when we return. I am not comfortable asking for gifts during birthdays and holidays so this is out of my comfort zone. If I had to suggest an idea...a cruise gift card would be appreciated!

 

Gifts are not welcome on the cruise line so we will have a box of some kind to collect cards.

[Chef P]

Thank you all for responding, I truly appreciate your thoughts on this subject