There are two distinct traditions regarding gifts at weddings; those given to the couple from friends and family and those given by the couple to the attendants; best man, bridesmaids, ushers and others.
Gifts for the Couple
The tradition of giving gifts comes from a time, not so long ago where a young couple would get married after having spent their lives living in their parental home. They would be setting up home together from scratch and the older, better off among their friends and family would contribute gifts of kitchenware, textiles and even furniture to help them start their new home.
Today, however few couples start married life from scratch. Most newlyweds already have at least one set of cutlery between them and to stop the same gift being given by 8 different people the wedding gift list developed.
It makes all round sense for the couple to draw up a list of things which they want or need and for everyone who is going to give gifts to use this list. This saves people wasting money and time by giving a gift which is either unwanted or unnecessary.
There are a number of different ways of organising the gift list. For smaller occasions the mother of the bride or groom may be asked to take charge of co-ordinating who gives which gift. In this case everyone should be informed by word of mouth to contact the person holding the list to find out which gifts still remain to be bought.
Where a large list has been drawn up couple might find it easier to use ...
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