Guests
How much should you give as a wedding gift in the UK?
There is no rule, only guides. Depending on your relationship, how many of you are coming and how far you’ve travelled, here are the ranges you hear most, and how to give without getting it wrong.
Key takeaways
£50 to £130what one guest costs a couple in food and drink. Many people use it as a guide: “covering your plate”.
- There is no rule: the amount depends on your relationship, your budget and how far you travelled, never on a scale.
- The guides you hear most: £50 to £90 per person for a friend, £80 to £150 for a couple of friends, more for closer friends and family.
- A guest costs the couple between £50 and £130 in food and drink, which is why some people try to “cover their plate”, without it being an obligation.
- A honeymoon fund, a cheque or cash with a handwritten card are all fine. The card matters, not the amount.
In this guide
The question comes with every invitation: how much should we give? It has no universal answer, and that is what makes it stressful. Here is what can reasonably be said, keeping apart what is a guide from what is a rule: there isn’t one.
What moves the amount
- Your relationship with the couple: the closer you are, the higher the sum, generally
- Your budget: the right amount is the one that doesn’t hurt, and there is no reason to go into the red
- How many of you are coming: a couple gives more than one person, but not necessarily double
- What you are invited to: meal and evening, or the drinks reception only
- How far you travelled: flights, a hotel, days off, childcare
The guides you hear most
These ranges come from what couples say they receive and what guests say they give. They vary by region, background, wedding size and family culture. Take them as an order of magnitude, not as a price list.
- Colleague, acquaintance: £30 to £60 per person
- Friend: £50 to £90 per person, or £80 to £150 for a couple
- Close friend, cousin: £80 to £130 per person, or £130 to £220 for a couple
- Close family (sibling, aunt, uncle, grandparent): £100 to £250 and often much more, depending on means
- Wedding party: £100 to £200 per person, and time and help with the planning count for as much
- Drinks reception only: £15 to £40
The “cover your plate” guide
Some guests try to “cover their plate”: to give at least what their attendance costs the couple. A guest costs between £50 and £130 in food and drink, depending on the level of service. It is a practical guide, and that is all. Nobody expects it to be followed, and plenty of guests, students, young professionals, big families, give less, without anyone minding.
How to give
An online fund
Handy for guests who don’t carry cash and for those who live far away. Check the platform’s fees: some take a percentage, others let the guest choose. The fund goes on the wedding page, not on the invitation.
A card with cash or a cheque
With a handwritten card. Put it in the card box or hand it to the best man rather than to the couple, who have other things to do that day. Ask a friend how the cheque should be made out if the couple have separate accounts.
A gift
If the couple have a gift list, choose from it. If not, something personal, an experience or an object that feels like them is worth more than a hurried decorative purchase. Avoid anything bulky: couples often come back from a honeymoon with two suitcases and no room.
The note, more than the sum
What couples reread months later is the note that came with the gift. Two or three sincere sentences beat an extra banknote: a memory, a quality, a wish. We’ve put examples together in our article on what to write in a wedding card.
Founder of Weddtap · author of our guides
We write from real weddings and public sources, listed at the bottom of every guide. No guide is sponsored and no link is an affiliate link.
Our editorial policyFrequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
How much should you give as a wedding gift as a friend?
Should you give more if you go as a couple?
How much if you’re only invited to the drinks reception?
How much if you travelled a long way?
Cash, cheque or gift?
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