Gift Alternatives
If you don't need or want anything for your nest, you can simply write “No gifts, please” on your invitation. If any guests still feel obliged to give you some kind of gift, offer them an alternative.
Charitable Donations
You can let guests know you would prefer they donate to a charity in your name instead of giving you a gift. You can select your favorite charity or you can let guests choose a cause.
The I Do Foundation lets couples set up a charity registry online for selected charities. The organization also partners with numerous popular registry sites, including Cooking.com, JCPenney, REI, and Crate and Barrel, and up to 8 percent of each purchase goes to a charity of your choice.
Alert
It might be helpful to your guests to include gift-registry information on your wedding invitation, but wedding etiquette experts advise couples not to do it. It's considered tacky and tactless.
Make It For Me?
If any of your guests are particularly skilled at making something you've always admired, don't be afraid to ask them for a handmade item you'd treasure much more than a store-bought gift.
Perhaps you have a photographer in your family. While an entire wedding package might be a bit much to ask for, perhaps you could request an engagement portrait or something similar. Chances are, your photographer family member might be flattered enough to do your entire wedding and reception. It pays to ask.
If a family member or friend is a whiz at making fancy cakes, and you feel he'd do a good job for you (no amateurs on this important day!), tell him how much you would love for him to make your cake. Even though this requires a large time investment for the baker, the ingredients are not expensive. And this would be a huge savings for you.
Essential
If your invitee is willing to make a wedding cake as a present to you, the job needn't be a daylong project. Your baker can make a simple layered, frosted cake to which you add fresh or silk flowers or a special cake topper.
Other possibilities for handmade gifts that can save your guests money — and show them how much you appreciate their handiwork — are fancy favors for the reception tables.
With all the talk of wedding registries and store-bought gifts, perhaps your guests are too shy to think about offering something they've made. Tell them their handmade gift would be very special to you, worth so much more than any expensive gift they could buy!
Honeymoon Registry
Guests can contribute to a honeymoon registry in lieu of giving you a gift. You can book a honeymoon through a travel service or your destination itself and establish a registry.
Generally, you pay for the essentials — airfare and lodging — when you book your honeymoon and register for extras for your guests to buy. Guests can donate a flat fee or purchase an experience, such as a snorkeling adventure, for you. Some sites also allow well-wishers to chip in for airfare or meals.
