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With inflation on the rise and housing prices out of reach for many working Americans, some couples are opting for cash assistance with a housing down payment instead of tangible wedding gifts.
Alexa Feneque and Silvio Tellez are among the group – and their ask netted them $30,000 in cash gifts from family and friends, the Financial Times reported.
“We hope you can join us in celebrating our marriage! If you feel inclined to give a gift, we are working so hard to save for our first home and any contribution – cash preferred – towards that will always be sincerely appreciated,” the couple wrote on their wedding registry’s webpage.
A bank analyst and architect, the Tellezes said they likely wouldn’t have had space for many material gifts anyway.
“We’re in the midst of house hunting now,” Alexa said. “We didn’t really have anywhere to put all the stuff that we would have gotten if we would have done a registry.”
Camille and Corwin Hemming also adopted the rising trend. The couple had two ceremonies – one in August 2020 with 12 guests and another with almost 200 people in 2021.
Camille told Financial Times they raised almost $10,000 for a mortgage down payment from wedding guests.
“A wedding is one of those few times when you get a lot of gifts and people are ready to invest in you and your future as a couple,” Camille said. She noted one-third of their guests opted to give cash gifts.
Mortgage rates have soared to over 6 percent since last year as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to slow down inflation. Esther Lee, a deputy editor at wedding publication “The Knot” said couples are being more strategic with their registries these days.
“With everything that we’ve experienced when it comes to inflation and the housing market, people are really reflecting on how they want to use their registry,” Lee told the Times. “The savvy couples now know that they can use their registries to put down that cash for their future home.”
Twitter users were divided on the subject. Some lauded the idea as brilliant, while others balked at it as audacious.
“Honestly…materialism is dwindling down because the price of necessities is going up. So I’d put in 200 for a new couples house as opposed to buying a 200 stand mixer any day,”
@T_G_I_Ferb tweeted.
One user @soulohlove retweeted the story with the caption, “good idea.” User @MarcoWise10 chimed in, “Bout time somebody got smart.”
“So couples out here spending thousands on a wedding and asking guests for down payments on their house,” @heyitsmeshanie tweeted. “Instead of eloping and using the wedding funds to finance their house.”
“Cash has been the norm for a NYC wedding gift for decades. We had a custom card box to collect the checks in 2006,” @Fly_Sistah wrote. “I’m from Virginia & was used to physical gifts so we also had a registry. It took 10 years to use the wedding gifts since we finally gave away old household items.”
“A cash box is different I have no say on where the cash is going but to blatantly ask for money as a down payment on a house is ….. especially if the wedding is extravagant,” @rahbeeerob wrote.
“How much did the wedding cost. Scale back on that and there’s your down payment,” @wheetz responded.
“???? You bring gifts to a wedding anyway. They are simply asking for cash instead. In many cultures, this is the norm,” @thedopebohemian wrote. “Also, a lot of people don’t need more “stuff”. So money allows them to get what they really need to start their marriage off right. Why begrudge that?”
“You still have no say regardless lmaoo,” @simsimmaaz wrote in response to critics of the practice. “Whether you’re gifting someone money in cash box or on a registry that goes towards a house down payment…the money is still the same money. Once the money leaves your hand it’s none of your business lmao.”
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