Cash Wedding Gift Calculator (2024)

FAQs

How do you calculate cash for a wedding gift? ›

They suggest the following breakdown: coworkers or distant relatives should spend 50 to 75 dollars. Friends or relatives, 75 to 100 dollars. For close friends, family members, or if you're in the wedding party, you should spend 100 to 150 dollars—or more.

However, in 2024, a general guideline for wedding gift amounts, among family family members, might look like this: More distant relatives (Great aunts, uncles, distant cousins): $75 to $150. As a more distant relative, you can still find a meaningful gift without spending a specific monetary amount.

According to the experts, the average wedding gift amount hovers right around $100 to $150, though that can increase or decrease based on how close you are to the couple and whether or not you're attending with a plus one.

Bottom line: There's no hard-and-fast rule on how much cash to give as a wedding gift. Wedding experts advise starting at $100. From there, you may want to adjust up to $500 based on factors such as your relationship with the couple, your budget and the cost of your attendance at the wedding.

If you're close friends, family members, or part of the wedding party, you might decide to send a gift in the $50 to $100 range. For people who you don't know as well, like co-workers, shopping from the registry for something around the $25 mark is more than OK.

Catey Hill, resident financial expert at David's Bridal, says it's perfectly fine guests to write out a check to you. She says many brides and grooms actually prefer it. On average the typical cash gift is around $150, she says. Still, though, Hill says there are some exceptions.

Here's the tea: The average wedding gift cost varies, but it's usually around $100 to $150 per person or per couple. So, $2,000 is definitely on the high end, honey. But if you're super close to the couple and you can afford it without breaking the bank, then go for it!

While the idea of giving cash to a pair of newlyweds might make some older generations balk, etiquette experts agree that it's most certainly acceptable today. That's right: Handing over an envelope of cash is no longer considered a wedding present faux pas, which is good news for couples and guests alike.

According to Swann, $25 is a solid starting point; you'll spend more depending on your degree of closeness to the couple and your own budget. The etiquette expert uses what she calls "the onion method" when determining appropriate wedding gift spending—regardless of whether you RSVP yes or no.

Anyone who received a separate invitation from their parents to the wedding should give their own gift. Because a family gift tends to include more people, it is customary to be on the nicer end of the registry, spending in the $200 to $300 range, but, again, stick to what fits within your budget.

What is the etiquette for wedding gifts? ›

Key takeaways

The average wedding gift is $100 per wedding guest.

According to Gitnux's Metadata Report 2024, Americans, on average, spend about $120 on a wedding gift and $200 on a wedding gift for a close family member.

That said, it's highly likely that not every guest at a wedding will oblige. In fact, it's been estimated that between 7 and 10% of guests at a wedding fail to give a gift.

She offers these guidelines to wedding-goers wherever they might be: A distant relative or co-worker should give $75-$100; a friend or relative, $100-$125; a closer relative, up to $150. If you are wealthy, are you expected to inflate the gift? No, Cooper says. “If they do, it's because they're just generous people.”

A good starting point: $100 per guest, the average gift amount according to Brides.com. Then, let these other factors help you decide whether to nudge that amount up or down.

Place the money inside a card, envelope, or decorative box, and don't forget to add a handwritten note to congratulate the couple and wish them the best.

A: No! Under U.S. law, gifts aren't deductible. But they also aren't taxable to the giver except to the extent they exceed annual limits and lifetime caps. (The per-person limits for gifts that don't trigger filing requirements for 2023 and 2024 are $17,000 and $18,000, respectively. See here for more information.)