{"id":4017,"date":"2015-06-02T08:30:01","date_gmt":"2015-06-02T14:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/?p=4017"},"modified":"2024-01-05T08:35:02","modified_gmt":"2024-01-05T15:35:02","slug":"trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/","title":{"rendered":"TrendWatch: Down Payment Contributions as Wedding Gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019re not imagining it. American couples are waiting longer and longer to get married. These delayed \u201cI do\u2019s\u201d pose a very serious question: Just what do you get a couple that set up house\u2014either independently or together\u2014years ago?<\/p>\n<p>Some of these happy couples may still register for traditional home goods as gifts. After all, it\u2019s a great opportunity to start a new chapter of their lives with refreshed and updated d\u00e9cor. But, for those with plenty to feather their nests (or even too much, if they\u2019re in the process of merging households) it may feel frivolous to suggest gifts they don\u2019t really need. This is especially true if they\u2019re scrimping and sacrificing for a big purchase, like a new home.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Enter the down payment as a registry gift!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bride\/Groom: <em>But, isn\u2019t it rude to ask for money?<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nYes, it could be considered rude to ask for money. Luckily, a registry isn\u2019t a place to <em>ask<\/em> for anything! When you add a food processor or pillow cases or a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2015\/01\/21\/nessie-ladle_n_6518718.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nessie soup ladle<\/a> to your wedding registry, you\u2019re simply suggesting gift ideas that you and your spouse need and like. It\u2019s a convenience for your guests, who may not know your current tastes or what you already have, but gift choices are ultimately the prerogative of the giver.<\/p>\n<p>Even etiquette experts from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.emilypost.com\/weddings\/wedding-registries-gifts-and-thank-yous\/652-inside-weddings-registry-rules\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Emily Post Institute<\/a> say it\u2019s perfectly acceptable to let your friends and family know that you\u2019d appreciate contributions toward a long-term financial goal like homeownership. Who knows? You may be doing a favor for guests who\u2019d prefer to give cash, but worry that it won\u2019t be seen as a thoughtful or meaningful gesture.<\/p>\n<p><em>A few tips to safeguard everyone\u2019s feelings:<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Consider setting up a traditional registry for guests who prefer tangible gifts.<\/li>\n<li>Like any gift registry, your desire for financial gifts should be passed by word of mouth, not printed on your invitations. Depending on your relationship with your guests, it may be fine to post links to your registries via social media or a wedding blog or website. The main thing to <strong>avoid at all costs<\/strong> is the impression that you\u2019re telling guests what to buy, or even that gifts are expected.<\/li>\n<li>Make it easy for people to contribute in whatever way they\u2019d like. A crowdfunding site like HatchMyHouse.com, DownPaymentDreams.com or HoneyFund.com may be convenient for tech-savvy members of the Amazon generation, but your Great-aunt Gladys might prefer to give cash or a check\u2014a smart move that avoids PayPal fees and other surcharges!<\/li>\n<li>Wait until after the nuptials to ask big contributors for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/frequently-asked-questions-using-gift-funds-to-buy-a-home\/#giftletter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gift letter<\/a>. Unless you\u2019re closing on a home during your honeymoon, there should be plenty of time to broach the subject later.<\/li>\n<li>Unless you\u2019re donating the funds to charity, try not to say you\u2019d like cash in lieu of gifts. Expressing a strong preference could make guests feel obligated to choose a monetary gift or make tangible-gift givers feel their presents are less appreciated.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Wedding Guest: <em>But, isn\u2019t it impersonal to give money?<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nOnly you can decide whether cash is an appropriate gift, but it\u2019s probably safe to say that money is rarely an unwelcome offering. If you\u2019re concerned, there are many ways show that you\u2019ve put great thought and care into your down payment gift.<\/p>\n<p><em>Example ideas:<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Engrave a personal message on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/351210470918356693\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">keychain<\/a>, ornament, birdhouse, piggy bank, photo frame or other small home-oriented gift to commemorate their union or express your wishes for their future happiness. Include it with your check, cash or a copy of your online gift confirmation.<\/li>\n<li>If you know of several other guests who intend to contribute, consider banding together to present a keepsake, such as an album filled with personal notes and well-wishes, family recipes to try out in the new kitchen, etc. Other group memento ideas: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/351210470912996216\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wishing stones<\/a> in a decorative bowl or jar, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/351210470918356753\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">signed puzzle pieces<\/a> (perhaps forming a house) or a framed poem or proverb about home accompanied by signatures and personal messages.<\/li>\n<li>Include a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/frequently-asked-questions-using-gift-funds-to-buy-a-home\/#giftletter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gift letter<\/a> with any large contribution so the newlyweds will have it on hand when their lender asks for it. Bear in mind, you may be asked to provide a new version in the future if the lender needs it to include\u00a0additional information.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><strong>A final note:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>Before you register,\u00a0make sure that you&#8217;ll be able to use gift funds toward your home purchase. Depending on your loan type and lender, you may be limited in the amount or the source of gift funds used. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/frequently-asked-questions-using-gift-funds-to-buy-a-home\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Check out our FAQ on this topic now \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Need gift ideas for other occasions?<\/strong><\/em> See our other articles!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/tag\/mothers-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mother\u2019s Day<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/tag\/fathers-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Father\u2019s Day<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/tag\/valentines-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Valentine\u2019s Day<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/going-away-party-ideas-for-kids-or-grown-ups\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Going-away Party<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"nopin\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019re not imagining it. American couples are waiting longer and longer to get married. These delayed \u201cI do\u2019s\u201d pose a very serious question: Just what do you get a couple that set up house\u2014either independently or together\u2014years ago? Some of these happy couples may still register for traditional home goods as gifts. After all, it\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4879,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"ub_ctt_via":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[382,112,279],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/House_In_Box_Colorchange1.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Kathryn Stallings","author_link":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/author\/kstallings\/"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>TrendWatch: Down Payment Contributions as Wedding Gifts<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s perfectly acceptable to let your friends and family know that you\u2019d appreciate down payment contributions toward a long-term goal like homeownership.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TrendWatch: Down Payment Contributions as Wedding Gifts\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s perfectly acceptable to let your friends and family know that you\u2019d appreciate down payment contributions toward a long-term goal like homeownership.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Richmond American Homes Blog\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-02T14:30:01+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-05T15:35:02+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/House_In_Box_Colorchange1.png\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kathryn Stallings\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kathryn Stallings\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/\",\"name\":\"TrendWatch: Down Payment Contributions as Wedding Gifts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/House_In_Box_Colorchange1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-02T14:30:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-05T15:35:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5917b097208e5dc79c1906d72624b27c\"},\"description\":\"It\u2019s perfectly acceptable to let your friends and family know that you\u2019d appreciate down payment contributions toward a long-term goal like homeownership.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/House_In_Box_Colorchange1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/House_In_Box_Colorchange1.png\",\"width\":620,\"height\":450,\"caption\":\"Illustration of a house inside an open gift box\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TrendWatch: Down Payment Contributions as Wedding Gifts\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Richmond American Homes Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5917b097208e5dc79c1906d72624b27c\",\"name\":\"Kathryn Stallings\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cefb383896dc7f907efa1fdc9fbebd85?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cefb383896dc7f907efa1fdc9fbebd85?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kathryn Stallings\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/author\/kstallings\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TrendWatch: Down Payment Contributions as Wedding Gifts","description":"It\u2019s perfectly acceptable to let your friends and family know that you\u2019d appreciate down payment contributions toward a long-term goal like homeownership.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TrendWatch: Down Payment Contributions as Wedding Gifts","og_description":"It\u2019s perfectly acceptable to let your friends and family know that you\u2019d appreciate down payment contributions toward a long-term goal like homeownership.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/","og_site_name":"Richmond American Homes Blog","article_published_time":"2015-06-02T14:30:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-05T15:35:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":620,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/House_In_Box_Colorchange1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Kathryn Stallings","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kathryn Stallings","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/","url":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/","name":"TrendWatch: Down Payment Contributions as Wedding Gifts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/House_In_Box_Colorchange1.png","datePublished":"2015-06-02T14:30:01+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-05T15:35:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5917b097208e5dc79c1906d72624b27c"},"description":"It\u2019s perfectly acceptable to let your friends and family know that you\u2019d appreciate down payment contributions toward a long-term goal like homeownership.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/House_In_Box_Colorchange1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/House_In_Box_Colorchange1.png","width":620,"height":450,"caption":"Illustration of a house inside an open gift box"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/trendwatch-down-payment-contributions-as-wedding-gifts\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TrendWatch: Down Payment Contributions as Wedding Gifts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/","name":"Richmond American Homes Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5917b097208e5dc79c1906d72624b27c","name":"Kathryn Stallings","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cefb383896dc7f907efa1fdc9fbebd85?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cefb383896dc7f907efa1fdc9fbebd85?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kathryn Stallings"},"url":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/author\/kstallings\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4017"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26954,"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4017\/revisions\/26954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondamerican.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}