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Engaged couples are now more likely to ask for hard cash from friends and family than they are to ask for gifts from a wedding list, according to new research from First Direct.
In a survey of 1,924 people the online bank found that 35% of prospective newlyweds would ask for money or vouchers as a wedding gift, while only 22% would ask for presents from a gift list or registry service.
Nineteen per cent of people would ask for a gift of their guests’ own choosing, and another 19% said they would ask for nothing for their wedding.
And while royal happy couple Will and Kate have asked for donations to charity in preference to gifts, only 3% of those surveyed would follow suit.
However, while most couples would like to receive cash, their guests are less keen on giving it. Thirty-nine per cent of people said they felt money was an impersonal gift, while 34% would prefer the couple not to know how much they have spent on their gift. Twenty-two per cent dislike being told what to give as a gift, feeling it is rude.
Reflecting the difficulties young couples face in getting on the housing ladder, though, 18% think that giving money towards a mortgage is a good idea as a wedding gift.
The research also found that London has the highest proportion of people using a gift service (27%) while the north east has the highest percentage who think that asking for money to pay off the mortgage is a good idea (24%).
