Is It Still Customary to Bring Wedding Gifts to the Reception?

There are a number of hurdles guests need to navigate between receiving a wedding invitation and arriving at the party, from decoding the dress code to booking a room in the room block to making sure they're on-time for the ceremony. Another question guests have to answer? Whether to ship the wedding gift directly to the couple or to bring it with them to the reception.

While bringing gifts with you to the reception has been common practice for decades, the rise in online registries has caused the trend to shift. Instead of browsing a department store or choosing between items on the couple's registry, guests are taking to the web to place online orders that are shipped directly to the couple's doorstep—and instantly marked as "completed" on the registry listing.

Sending gifts directly to the couple is even more common for destination weddings. After all, who wants to take up valuable carry-on space with a delicately-wrapped decanter or a boxed frame? (And how will the bride and groom get it home?)

The exception tends to be with cash or cheques and gift cards. These small envelopes are easy to slip into a purse and quickly collected at the end of the night, not to mention the peace of mind knowing that the $100 bill didn't get lost in the mail!