Nuptial News

Over the weekend, I discovered one early morning news program regularly notes the number of days until Prince William and Kate Middleton’s upcoming nuptials. (My discovery is a clear indication that I don’t watch much TV.) I understand TLC plans 89 hours of royal wedding coverage, culminating in a live broadcast of the wedding in Times Square. And yes, I’ve even heard that some people plan to skip work altogether on April 29th so that they can watch every minute of what some hail to be the latest “wedding of the Century.”

America has gone gaga over Will and Kate’s big event!

While I have yet to be seized with wedding fever, I applaud the decision Will and Kate have made to ask well-wishers to donate to charity in lieu of giving a wedding gift.

If you are planning your own nuptials OR if you have been invited to a wedding, keep in mind the following rules of wedding gift etiquette:

1. A wedding invitation is a request for others to join the happy couple in celebrating their special day. It should not serve as a solicitation of gifts. Brides or couples should not mention the existence of a gift registry on their wedding invitation. However, friends and family members should feel free to tell or e-mail others about any gift registry. Its existence may also be noted on a wedding web site

2. If you are invited to a wedding, to the extent possible, you should plan on sending a gift. There is no set rule regarding how much a guest should spend, although close friends and relatives should expect to spend more than co-workers. Guests should send gifts before or after the wedding rather than bringing them to the ceremony or reception, where gifts may easily be lost in the hubbub of the day.

3. Upon receipt of a gift, prospective brides and grooms should immediately pen a thank you note. And yes, I do mean to write: the day a wedding gift arrives a thank you note should be written. If your own nuptials took place three months ago and you still have not mailed your thank you notes, don’t let another minute pass.

4. In the case of second marriages, gifts for first time brides are considered customary even if her fiancé has been married before. They are not required for second marriages of the bride, though it’s never wrong to provide some small token that commemorates the event.

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