Enlázate
English
DeutschFrançaisItalianoEspañol

Online Wedding Gifts: How to Ask for Contributions Without Making It Awkward

Two champagne glasses in a toast

Years ago the dilemma was which dinner set to put on the registry. Today almost every couple prefers monetary contributions — for the honeymoon, the deposit on a flat, or simply starting life together — and the dilemma is a different one: how to ask without it sounding like a toll booth. The short answer: naturally, with a warm phrase, and by making it easy for the guest. Let’s get specific.

First, the reassuring part: nobody is offended

Asking for a contribution instead of a physical gift is the norm today, not the exception. Guests actually prefer it: nobody wants to guess at a gift blind, and most people are glad to know their money is going towards something you’re excited about. The awkwardness lives almost entirely in the couple’s head, not the guest’s.

What does make a difference is how you ask. Three rules:

  1. Presence comes first. The message must make clear that what matters is that they come.
  2. It’s an option, not an instruction. “If you’d like to” and “there’s no need” are non-negotiable phrases.
  3. Say what it’s for. “You’ll be helping us get to Japan” turns a bank transfer into a gift with a story.

Wording that works

For the gifts section of your wedding website, three different tones:

Classic:

Your presence is the best gift we could ask for. But if you’d also like to treat us to something, you can do it here. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

With a destination:

We have everything… except the tickets to Japan. If you’d like to help with the honeymoon, any contribution will be received with enormous joy (and a postcard from Tokyo).

With humour:

We do not need another blender. If you’d like to give us a gift, we’d rather put it towards our new life together. And if not — watching you on the dance floor is payment enough.

Avoid, on the other hand, anything that reads like an invoice: suggested amounts, references to the “price per plate”, or any variation of “gifts payable in cash”. However common they are, they always grate on someone.

Start today: creating and previewing your invitation is free, no card required.

Create my invitation for free

The bare bank number has a problem (several, actually)

The traditional option — printing your account number on the invitation — works, but it has friction you’ll notice in the results:

The modern alternative is a gift fund built into the wedding website itself: the guest taps a button, chooses an amount, and pays by card on the spot — with their name and their congratulations attached. You see every contribution in your dashboard, who it’s from and how much, with no pilgrimages to the bank.

With Enlázate this feature is included: switch on the gift fund on your invitation and guests can contribute between €5 and €500, securely through Stripe, each with their own message. Creating your invitation is free; publishing costs a one-time €49.

Where to put it on the site

The gift is never the star. The natural order of a wedding website puts the essentials first — date, venue, RSVP — and leaves gifts in their own discreet section towards the end. If you’re still building the structure, our guide to wedding website ideas has the full outline.

Two more etiquette details:

In short

Ask naturally, make clear it’s optional, say what it’s for, and remove the payment friction. Do that, and the gifts section stops being an awkward moment and becomes one more part — among the most celebrated — of your invitation.

GiftsWedding website

Creating and previewing your invitation with RSVP is free — no card, no time limit. You only pay a one-time €49 when you publish.

Create my invitation for free

← Back to the blog