Are wedding registries tacky, and other wedding registry etiquette questions answered

You’ve made the choice to have a wedding registry! Hurrah. It’s a great decision, we must admit. Hello totally smooth wedding gift admin, presents you’ll cherish forever and a blissful start to married life. But whilst tacky might work for epic diva, Bette Midler, it’s a definite ‘no-no’ when it comes to wedding gift lists. Gift registries should make all that ‘wedmin’ easier, not more complicated.

So, if you’re looking to avoid a ‘you’re tacky and I hate you’ moment (a la School of Rock), be sure to follow these top tips on wedding registry etiquette. We’ll steer you away from any gift list-related mistakes and help you build a list that truly works for you. We’re here to make communication with your guests totally seamless and ensure they have the best possible experience too. Oh, and teach you how not to do a ‘Bette Midler’.

No idea who Bette Midler is? Let’s move on…

“I wouldn't say I invented tacky, but I definitely brought it to its present high popularity.”

- Bette Midler

First thing’s first. A wedding registry is most certainly not tacky. In fact, a wedding registry (aka a wedding gift list) is a great tool to help both the lead up to, and your wedding day run as smoothly as possible. Feeling a little embarrassed, guilty or awkward asking for presents? Save your energy!

What may feel a little presumptuous to you, is actually a huge relief for your guests. Your friends and family want to help you start married life with ease. Creating a gift wishlist means your guests can be confident they’ve given you something you really love and want, and alleviates any potential headaches deliberating over what to buy you.

No idea what a wedding registry is? No worries, check out our ultimate wedding registry guide to find out more.

Now we’ve settled the whole, ‘is a wedding registry tacky’ question, it’s time to start building. Think less about what you ‘need’ and more about what you’d ‘love’. Remember, wedding gifts should be a luxury that you wouldn’t necessarily buy yourself.

Already living together? Don’t feel you need to include traditional gifts if you already have them. Instead opt for items that celebrate your unique style and fit your needs as a couple.

Need a little style inspo? Browse our collections by style, trend and explore what other couples are adding to their list.

Timing is everything. Creating a wedding gift list is great fun, but with so much choice on Prezola, you need to leave yourself plenty of time. Register and begin browsing as early as you like but we’d recommend making your list visible before you send your wedding invitations out, which is usually 10-12 weeks before the wedding date.

For those friends that like to leave everything until the 11th hour, we suggest keeping your list open a week or so after the wedding too. Of course, you can add to your list or remove unpurchased items at any time, even after the list has been made public.

As a basic rule, we think at least one gift per guest is good wedding registry etiquette. It’s important to include lots of different priced gifts to cater for everyone's budget and give your guests plenty of choice. Once registered with Prezola, you can utilise our handy gift list calculator located in your dashboard. The calculator suggests the ideal number of gifts to include on your wishlist, as well as useful links to our most popular gifts in each price category.

Don’t forget that Prezola allows your friends and family to group gift too. This means guests can club together to contribute to something really special (and you can get the gifts you really want). It's like crowdfunding, but for a sofa or coffee machine instead. You can enable group gifting on any product and once the gift reaches its total, it will be marked as purchased on your list. Hurrah!

100% yes. You’ve decided to have a gift registry so tell your guests! Only telling immediate family and the wedding party is cause for confusion. Spread the word! It’s perfectly acceptable wedding registry etiquette to include gift list information on your invites and wedding website.

Remember this is a joint gift list. However tempting it can be to get a little ‘click happy’ and start adding things without your partner’s approval, we’d suggest trying to avoid that (we know it’s hard!) By filling out your wedding registry together, you can guarantee you’ve added items you both will love and cherish for years to come.

Q: is it rude to ask for cash contributions?

It’s definitely not rude (or tacky) to ask friends and family to contribute cash. If saving for an epic adventure, house deposit or home renovation is at the top of your list, then using your registry is a more tactful way to do so!

Prezola’s cash funds allow guests to make contributions quickly and easily with our secure online checkout. Meanwhile, you can keep track of all transactions in the Cash Gifts section and decide when to transfer them to your own bank account. Simple!

Don’t forget to personalise your list and make it yours. Add your favourite picture of the two of you as a profile picture. Change your background to match your wedding vibe. Write a welcome message to your guests. You can even integrate your gift list to your gettingmarried.co.uk wedding website! These personalised touches can really help guests feel excited to give you something extra special and contribute towards your big day.

Prezola makes it super straightforward to track and manage your list. Every time a guest purchases a gift, you will be notified by email. You can also sign in to your account and easily check the ‘View My Gifts’ tab in your dashboard. This way you can quickly see the status of all your gifts and purchases meaning you can amend, add and swap items as you wish.

Well, we couldn’t write an article on wedding registry etiquette without talking about thank you notes! With your delivery, Prezola sends a final checklist of your gifts, including details of each purchaser and their message. This makes it easy to keep track of which items have been bought, and by whom.

Now you can start the process of writing those personalised thank-yous to all your friends and family. Of course, whilst typing out an email is a lot quicker, we’d suggest sticking to a handwritten note so guests know you’ve put more time and effort into your thank you.

So, hopefully, we've managed to reassure you that a wedding registry is certainly NOT tacky, tasteless or at all presumptuous (sorry Bette). Asking for what you want is sometimes easier said than done. But by following our handy tips, you can be confident that you're making the most out of your gift list and avoiding any gift-related headaches for your friends and family.

Remember, your wedding guests want to celebrate YOU. So, sit back, relax and get adding to that list. We promise you won't regret it!

Is it rude to have a wedding gift list?

You may be asking yourself if wedding gift lists are rude or tacky. Short answer? Absolutely not!

The vast majority of your guests will WANT to buy you a wedding gift. So, when it comes to wedding gift etiquette, signing up for a Prezola wedding gift list is the very best thing you can do.

A wedding gift list makes things SO much easier for your guests.

They can browse and pick something they know you’ll love, then pay for it all on one easy, online platform. We take care of all the logistics, delivering your wedding gifts direct to your door, at a time that suits you.

What is the etiquette for wedding gifts UK?

If you’ve been invited to a wedding in the UK, it’s usually traditional to give the couple a gift to celebrate the start of their married life. But every couple is different, and when it comes to wedding gift etiquette the main thing is to respect their wishes. Some couples might provide a wedding gift list for you to choose from, while others may prefer cash contributions towards their honeymoon or another big purchase. Some might prefer not to receive gifts at all. Essentially, whatever the couple says, goes.

So, you followed our advice and figured out how to ask for money for a wedding gift, and your friends and family delivered (of course they did - they’re the best!) Now what? A simple thank you note is always the way to go. We recommend personalising the message for each guest, thanking them for coming and reminding them how you plan to use their cash gift.

Hate the sound of all that admin? Prezola’s Thank You Manager makes this part a piece of cake. We keep track of exactly how much each guest has gifted you,  which fund they pledged towards, as well as any gifts you received (if you decided to combine gifts with funds). So, when you sit down to write your thank yous, you’ll have all the info ready, and no fear of cards getting separated from gifts, or money falling out of envelopes. 'Our wedding gift delivery was the perfect way to continue the wedding celebrations.' says Prezola couple, Hannah and Tom, 'We popped open a bottle of champagne and enjoyed unwrapping each present. It was so easy to thank everyone afterwards using Prezola’s Thank You Manager!'

And that just about sums it up. If you’re one of the many couples trying to figure out how to ask for money for a wedding gift, we hope this helped! The most important thing to remember is that your guests want to help you celebrate with a gift you’ll really appreciate. If that means requesting cash, they’ll be happy to oblige – all you have to do is ask nicely.

What is proper etiquette for a wedding gift list?

Compiling the perfect wedding gift list is so much more than just picking pretty lampshades – there’s real art to it. Lucky for you, we’re the experts.

When it comes to wedding gift etiquette for couples, we’ve got three golden rules:

1. List enough gifts for all your guests
2. Cover a wide variety of price points
3. Keep regular tabs on your list once it’s live

The main thing is to make sure that everybody logging in to look for a gift finds something exciting that fits their budget. The last thing you want is to make someone feel bad because there’s nothing left in their price range.

So, you followed our advice and figured out how to ask for money for a wedding gift, and your friends and family delivered (of course they did - they’re the best!) Now what? A simple thank you note is always the way to go. Just make sure to personalise the message for each guest, thanking them for coming and reminding them how you plan to use their cash gift.

Prezola’s thank you note manager makes this part a breeze. We keep track of exactly how much each guest has gifted you and which fund they pledged towards, as well as any gifts you received if you decided to combine gifts with funds.

So, when you sit down to write your thank yous, you’ll have all the info ready and no fear of cards getting separated from gifts or money falling out of envelopes. Nice!

And that just about sums it up. If you’re one of the many couples trying to figure out how to ask for money for a wedding gift, we hope this helped! The most important thing to remember is that your guests want to help you celebrate with a gift you’ll really appreciate. If that means cash, they’ll be happy to oblige – all you have to do is ask nicely.