Is it OK to ask for cash?

Many people, particularly those creating a wedding list, often wonder if it's OK to ask their guests for cash as a gift. Our answer ... yes, we believe it is OK!

The aim of a wedding gift list is for the bride and groom to discreetly let their guests know exactly what they need to get started in their married life. This helps guests too, as it means they won't waste their money on a duplicate gift and they'll know that their gift will be truly appreciated.

So, if you're one of the couples who already have a toaster ... and a kettle ... and PLENTY of towels ... then you may wish to focus on a larger item that would be too big for any one guest to purchase on their own. It's also very popular for couples to ask for contributions either towards their honeymoon as a whole, or towards 'special features' of their honeymoon - e.g. upgrades to first class tickets, champagne on arrival, etc.

The vast majority of guests will be thrilled to help contribute towards something that they know will truly be appreciated like that! Our only advice is to let your guests know what you intend to buy with their cash - rather than just saying "Cash, please!", specify what you're planning to purchase. If you want to buy a big plasma TV, say so! If you want to put the cash towards a round-the-world-trip, just give some details of it. Guests will far prefer to contribute to something when they know what it's all about.

Now, how will your guests actually make their cash contributions? Here are your options:

1. Some gift list companies will offer to take your guests' cash and hold it for you until a date you specify, either in the company's own bank account or in a gift list card / prepaid credit card. If you're considering either of these options, be aware that either you or your guests (or sometimes both!) will be charged for the service. Companies are charged fees by banks in order to accept credit/debit card contributions and they WILL pass that charge onto you or your guests, usually along with a service charge. Some companies charge as much as 9%! To put that into perspective, say one of your guests wants to contribute £100 towards your honeymoon ... if the gift list company charges 9% to your guest, they'd have to pay £109 and you'd only see £100. Alternatively, the gift list company might charge YOU, meaning that your guest would contribute £100 but you'd only see £91 of it. Now, imagine that the total contributions from all your guests have been £5000 .... 9% of that is a whopping £450 fee, which would either by paid by you or your guests.
   
   Another point to consider if you want to go down that road is how well do you know the company who's holding the money for you? What protection do they offer to safeguard your and your guests' cash? Remember Farepak...
   
   
2. Another option is to open a savings account specially for the occasion and provide details of it with your contribution request on your gift list. Anyone will be able to pay into your account, either by online banking, telephone banking or in any high street branch. Not only is the money guaranteed up to £35,000 if the bank were to collapse, but you'll even earn interest on any cash that's been contributed. There aren't usually fees charged to pay into a savings account or to withdraw your savings, but check the terms and conditions of the savings account you plan to open beforehand - just to make sure.
   
   
3. Your final option is to ask for your guests to send a cheque. You can either ask for the cheques to be sent to you, or to the person who you'd like to be in charge of the money (if you want the final total to be a surprise until the last minute!) - perhaps a parent, best man, etc.
   

At MyPerfectGift.co.uk, we won't accept credit/debit card payments from your guests because we don't believe that you or your guests should be charged. However, we DO allow you to enter your cheque details on your gift list by clicking on the 'Request Contributions" button.

The information you enter is encrypted in our database and transmitted over a secure server (known as 'SSL'). While you're creating or editing your gift list, you'll see that you're on a secure page because you'll see a small padlock symbol either in the bottom right of the screen, or up next to the address bar (if you're using Internet Explorer 7) and the website address will start with https:// rather than http://.

Most importantly, of course, we don't charge any fees for this!!