How Much to Spend on Wedding Gifts

by Emily Co 1

We've gotten many questions on how much to give newlyweds, and not to mention, the preparties leading up to the big day — engagement party, bridal shower, and bachelorette party. With too many parties to account for and a never-ending list of things to spend money on, such as the cost of traveling to the wedding (and if you're in the bridal party, the dress, shoes, and accessories — gah!), you need to make sure that your spending doesn't get out of control.

The best way to figure out your expenses for the gifts is to set a budget for the whole wedding and split it up among the different events. Here's what our savvy pal LearnVest had to say about this:

For gifts, determine your gift budget per couple for the wedding season. Once you have this number, Eisinger recommends breaking down the gift budget by these percentages for the events:

50%: wedding

20%: engagement

25%: shower

5%: bachelorette

Eisinger says the most important thing is to refer again and again to your budget: “Over the course of a year, you’re not thinking about the bigger picture of what you’re spending on a wedding. You’re thinking it’s only $50 this week and $20 this week, but it is actually $100 spread out over a period of time.”

Read on for more great wedding saving tricks from LearnVest.