How much are wedding guests really required to spend in order to attend a wedding? Is a cash gift a must, or it okay to give something more creative and personalized?

In this story, a woman preparing for a close family member’s destination wedding spent over $2,000 on travel, lodging, and pre-wedding events.

Wanting to give something meaningful, she gifted a framed digital art piece of the couple with their pets, but the bride wasn’t exactly thrilled with the present.

Now the wedding guest is wondering if she really hasn’t done enough.

Let’s read the whole story.

AITA for gifting a digital art photo of a couple and their pets for a destination wedding instead of giving money?

I have my first destination wedding coming up of a close family member who has been there for me a lot throughout the years.

I gave the gift (a digital art photo of the couple and their pets I got off Etsy) ahead of the wedding since it made sense not to travel with it.

Today I got a phone call that my family member felt the gift was more of a house warming present/afterthought and that she felt I wasn’t as involved as her bridesmaids were during the whole wedding process (the Bach and bridal shower).

She has already spent a lot on this wedding.

I did not offer my services to help set up for either event given I am not in the wedding party and in my experience, that is typically wedding party duties.

At this point, between the flight, accommodations, and bach party I have spent over $2K. The framed gift itself costs nearly $100.

I also lost my job back in May and have been living off my savings for the last 4 months and my family member knows this.

She mentioned that I still go out drinking with friends and that she feels I value going out and getting drinks instead of staying in and saving that money for a cash gift to cover my plate.

Should I give a cash gift on top of the photo gift even though I wasn’t planning on it?

Her family member offered an opinion.

My family member made the point that the wedding is very small and I am one of very few family members attending, so although I am not in the wedding party, it was almost expected that I would contribute my services more to the events alongside the bridesmaids.

She also expressed frustration that people feel they don’t need to give a cash gift since the wedding is technically a vacation for them if they chose to attend.

I apologized for making her feel bad during this process as that was never my intention.

I’m just conflicted on what to do. AITA?

Are a personalized gift and travel expenses enough? Is skipping cash at a wedding always a faux pas? Reddit weighs in…

This person says not to DARE spend another cent.

This person says this gift was more than enough.

And this person says this is grounds to pull out of the wedding entirely.

When the price of admission is sky-high, maybe the gift shouldn’t have to be.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.