Australian weddings and cash gifts
In a Chinese wedding it is perfectly normally that the wedding couple receives “lai see” or red packets filled with cold hard cash to offset the wedding budget. Its a different case if you talk about other cultures like weddings in Australia or USA where the guests normally refer to a wedding registry (online nowadays) to determine the correct gift to buy.
Nonetheless, its looks like Cash is king and Wishing Wells, or Money Trees are now set up for guests to contribute cash. Hmmmm,,, looks like times are a changing and with imminent increase of tolls in KL and rising oil prices, its not gonna be easy having kids after the big wedding.
This has led to the advent of Wishing Wells, or Money Trees, which are usually set up in reception areas for guests to drop cash into. Couples have the option of adding an explanatory poem to the well to coax guests into giving.
But Ms Loiterton says Australian guests still seem reluctant to give cold hard cash.
“From our conversations with the hundreds of couples we deal with, guests – especially Australian guests – do not necessarily feel comfortable giving cash. It’s a cultural thing, in certain circles it’s totally acceptable.”
She says guests seem more at ease with the idea of contributing money towards something specific – such as a honeymoon register- or buying vouchers for an activity or experience – like hotair ballooning, cooking classes or sailing lessons.