What To Do If You Can’t Afford Anything on the Wedding Registry…

If you think you can’t afford anything on a wedding gift registry, please be reassured that you actually do have a host of choices and ideas to fit any budget.

If you’re attending a wedding of a couple with expensive tastes and all of the registry items are out of your budget, know that you definitely have options to stay within your parameters. Many couples’ wedding registries have cash or funding alternatives (in any amount) in addition to traditional gifts, such as: 

• contributing toward the couple’s honeymoon or future trip; 
• donating toward specific activities for their honeymoon or ensuing trip;
• helping to fund a garden in their new home; 
• or taking a weekend wine and food pairing class together.

Be assured that a group gift with other guests is always acceptable; here you each can contribute within your means for a special high-end item for the wonderful couple.

Waited until the last minute and the only remaining registry items are out of your limit? If you and/or a group know the pair well, take a few moments and think about what they like to do together. 

• What are their common interests? 
• Do they like to hike or camp? 
• Will they be renovating their home? 
• Are they foodies always looking for a new cuisine experience?

In any of these scenarios a gift card for a sport adventure store, home improvement emporium, or a new restaurant would be thoughtful and appropriate. 

If you don’t know them well, spend some time on their wedding website – you may find nuggets of information beyond accommodations, logistics and local activities – in that many couples share personal photos and their love story. Perhaps therein an idea can be sparked for a personal gift not on their registry, a special themed gift card like pet sitting services or pottery classes, or a monetary donation toward a cause close to their hearts.