The weddings are now coming thick and fast, there was a period due to restrictions in Ireland that barely any weddings were held and now we are seeing the backlog being cleared in 2022. I have heard of many couples having 4 weddings on back-to-back weekends.
Weddings are a very costly business for the bride and groom but also the guests. It is always a tricky situation when trying to work out what is the right amount to give as a gift when attending an Irish wedding. In this blog post, I will give you a rough guide to help you decide what is the right amount to gift.
Rule of Thumb for Wedding Gifts
As a basic rule of thumb that is often used for wedding gifts in Ireland, the gift should be enough to cover the price of your meal (if you can afford it). Depending on the venue the price per head may be anywhere from €60 to €150 per head. As you will already know the venue in advance of the wedding you can quickly check how much the bride and groom are paying to have you there on their special day.
Cash is generally king when it comes to a wedding gift – an Irish couple will rarely send out a list of items they need like in the olden days.
A few other determining factors to consider when deciding how much to gift are:
How close you are to the bride and groom – close family members are likely to give a little more than say a work colleague.
Are you invited to attend the full day? – in some cases, guests may be only invited to the afters of a wedding and in this case, maybe not be expected to gift as much as someone who has been invited to attend the full ceremony.
If you are bringing along a plus one – if you are bringing a guest along with you then you may need to consider covering their meal also, especially if they do not personally know the bride and groom.
If you have taken the time to Google this then it is likely you are not overly flush with cash that you can afford to be giving away huge amounts as a wedding present, especially in the current times where we are seeing a cost of living crisis.
Don’t feel overly pressured to gift more than what you can afford, the couple has invited you because they want you to be there to celebrate with them and not because they want you to pay for the party. They will already realise how much it will cost you just to be there on the day – with hotel costs, clothes, and hair/makeup. So don’t spend too much time worrying about how much to give.
Are you getting married soon? Then you may be interested in learning about the potential tax benefits of married couples – read more about it here.
This blog post is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice.
