Wedding gift calculator: how much to give
Most guests give $100 to $150 for a wedding gift. Answer a few questions and get a fair number for your relationship, your budget and your travel costs, with the reasoning shown.
Your recommended gift
$125
A sensible range is $100 to $150. That is right around the $130 average Zola reports.
How we got there
Baseline for a friend
Zola suggests $100 to $150
$125
Going in on a group gift?
Zola’s advice is to put in what you would have spent alone, so pooling buys something bigger.
4 people giving $125 each comes to $500.
Rather have the cash than the blender?
RegistryBee lets you list gifts from any store and receive the money instead. It is free for couples and parents-to-be.
How the calculator works
It starts from a published baseline, then adjusts it for your situation. Every adjustment appears in the result, so you can see why you got your number and ignore any step you disagree with.
The baselines come from Zola’s guide to wedding gift spending, updated June 2026, which reports a $130 average with most guests spending $100 to $150. The calculator uses the middle of each of its ranges. The Knot’s 2024 guest study runs a little higher: a $150 average overall, about $160 from close friends, family and the wedding party, and about $140 from casual friends.
| Relationship | Zola’s range | Calculator baseline |
|---|---|---|
| Coworker, acquaintance, distant relative | $75 to $100 | $85 |
| Friend or relative | $100 to $150 | $125 |
| Close friend, immediate family, wedding party | $150 to $200 or more | $175 |
| Sibling or best friend | $250 to $350 | $275 |
Which adjustments are sourced and which are ours
Plus-ones. Zola suggests 1.5 to 2 times the usual amount. We use 1.5 for a plus-one, 1.75 for a couple and 2 for a family with kids.
Shower gifts. The Knot advises using the usual number as the total for both gifts, so we subtract what you spent. Zola puts typical shower gifts at $25 to $75.
Cost of living. The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts 2024 state price levels between 86.9 (Arkansas) and 110.7 (California), against a national 100. Our plus or minus 10 percent is roughly that spread. Choose higher for states like California, Hawaii and New Jersey, and lower for states like Arkansas, Mississippi, Iowa and Oklahoma.
Rules of thumb. The sources say you may spend less for a destination wedding, where SoFi, citing Zola, puts the cost of attending at $1,500 to $5,000, or if you cannot attend, but they do not give a percentage. The cuts of 25 percent for a destination, 10 percent for a hotel and 25 percent for not attending are RegistryBee’s judgment, as are the budget settings of 20 percent less for tight and 25 percent more for generous.
A worked example
You and your partner are going to your college roommate’s wedding in another state. She is a close friend, you need a hotel, you live somewhere expensive, and you already spent $60 on a shower gift.
- Close friend baseline: $175
- Couple, x 1.75: about $306
- Hotel needed, x 0.9: about $276
- Higher cost of living, x 1.1: about $303
- Minus the $60 shower gift: about $243
The calculator rounds that to $245. If your real limit is $200, enter it and the answer becomes $200. Your budget beats any chart, and Emily Post agrees: there is no fixed amount, and the idea that you must cover your plate is a myth.
Edge cases
You are in the wedding party. Attire, travel and pre-wedding trips add up. If they already cost you a lot, the low end of the range is fair.
You are someone’s plus-one. You normally go in on your date’s gift. The Knot found that plus-ones who do give spend about $120.
Group gifts. Zola’s advice is to contribute what you would have spent alone, so the group section starts from your own number. Enter a gift price to see each person’s share.
Cash customs. Some families care about the number itself. At Chinese weddings, even amounts and numbers like 8 are preferred and 4 is avoided, though customs vary by region. Jewish guests often give multiples of 18. The rounding option handles both.
Timing. Emily Post says to send the gift before the wedding or soon after, and no later than about three months out. If the couple has a cash registry on RegistryBee, you pick a gift from their list and the money goes to them. Guests pay a fee of 2.9% plus 30 cents, so allow for that on top.
Frequently asked questions
- How much should you give for a wedding gift?
- Most guests give $100 to $150. Zola reports a $130 average for 2026 and The Knot reports $150 from its 2024 guest study. Plan on $75 to $100 for a coworker or distant relative, $100 to $150 for a friend or relative, and $150 to $200 or more for a close friend, immediate family or a wedding party member.
- Is $100 a good wedding gift?
- Yes. $100 is at the bottom of the usual range for a friend and at the top of the usual range for a coworker or acquaintance. If money is tight, it is a perfectly good gift for almost anyone.
- Do I need to cover the cost of my plate?
- No. Emily Post calls this a myth, and Zola calls it outdated. You cannot know what the couple paid per guest, and they did not invite you to recoup it. Give what fits your budget and your relationship.
- How much should a couple give for a wedding gift?
- Zola suggests 1.5 to 2 times what one person would give. For a friend, that lands between about $150 and $300. Couples usually send one gift together, so the calculator uses a single amount rather than two separate gifts.
- Should I still give a gift if I am not going to the wedding?
- Usually yes. Zola says close friends and family should still send a gift with a personal note, while more distant guests have more flexibility. The calculator takes 25 percent off because you are not attending, which is a RegistryBee rule of thumb.
- Do I give a gift for a destination wedding?
- Yes, but you can spend less. SoFi, citing Zola, says guests spend $1,500 to $5,000 to attend one, so a smaller gift is reasonable. The calculator takes 25 percent off for a destination wedding and 10 percent off when you need a hotel.
- How much do you put in for a group wedding gift?
- Put in about what you would have spent alone. Zola’s advice is that pooling money should buy something bigger, not let everyone give less. The group section of the calculator shows the total your group would reach and what each person owes for a specific gift.
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