The gift idea is outdated in my books. The idea of gifts in the past was for new couples who didn't live together before marriage to get some home furnishings for a new home. The brides parents (in most cases) paid for the wedding allowing the new couple to save money for their first home. Now most couples live together and are well established well before their wedding. Most weddings now seem like the gifts are to recoup the cost of the wedding.
For my wedding, my wife and I were dead-set against gifts and mentioned this specifically in our invitations. Most people complied and even commented how they liked the idea based on our reasoning with some guests even following suit for their weddings. Some though insisted on small gifts and money to keep with the tradition. The money we donated to charity. The fact that we had a great turnout of close family and friends was the best gift of all.
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