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Being a wedding guest can be an expensive business, particularly for 30-somethings who have been invited to multiple sets of nuptials this summer.
However, is it ever OK to rock up with a multipack of toilet rolls as a gift for the bride and groom? The UK supermarket Tesco certainly thinks so, having trumpeted the launch of its wedding gift registry last week.
The sort of thing traditionally associated with smart department stores, the Tesco version boasts a “Really Useful Stuff” gift bundle for £63, including 60 rolls of (luxury) toilet paper, bin bags, toothpaste and other essentials. Other ideas include six months’ supply of tea and biscuits for £39, and a “dine-in dates” bundle of wines and freezable ready meals for £72 (this one might be appreciated by new parents).
Tesco claims the ongoing cost of living crisis means newly-wed couples prefer practical items to extravagant gifts. With British supermarkets engaged in a price war as German discounters Lidl and Aldi eat into market share, it smacks of a clever marketing ploy to remind shoppers that Tesco stands for great value.
Kate Hardcastle, founder of brand consultancy Insight with Passion, jokingly predicts we could see a themed Tesco wedding with the bride wearing a blue-and-white striped value wedding dress.
She feels the supermarket is leaning into consumer frustration at the “eventification” of weddings. “When you look at today’s weddings, there are so many more things to spend money on,” she says. With international hen and stag dos, overseas wedding ceremonies and the US import of rehearsal dinners the night before the big day, guests might not have much left for gifts.
Turn your nose up at the loo roll and bin bag bundle all you like, but unlike some wedding presents, it’s not going to get left in a cupboard for a decade until you next move house and finally chuck it out.
Hardcastle notes the taboo of couples asking for cash gifts has gone, whether this is to fund their honeymoon, or help towards a housing deposit.
Online platforms like The Wedding Shop and Prezola, which offers the Tesco gift bundles, also give couples the ability to collect cash contributions, and set up a digital gift registry spanning multiple retailers. Things have certainly moved on from the days of crockery sets and matching towels.
“We’re seeing a move from gifting ‘stuff’ to stories — meaningful moments that guests can contribute to,” says Hamish Shephard, founder of wedding planning app Bridebook. As well as cash, he says asking for “curated experiences” like scuba diving lessons or cookery courses is highly popular.
Today’s couples are also more socially conscious, he says, and setting up a charitable gift list and asking guests to donate is a fast-growing trend. VOW for Girls, a New York-based charity campaigning to eradicate child marriage, has been the most popular choice for Bridebook couples this year. With high-profile supporters including Michelle Obama, its website encourages couples to think about donating the money they would have spent on frivolous items like wedding favours.
With British couples now spending an average of £21,000 on their big day, the temptation to save money is great. According to Bridebook data, fewer than 50 per cent of UK Gen Z couples now get married on a Saturday, which is the most expensive day in terms of hiring a venue.
For wedding guests who have already forked out for travel, hotels, outfits and gifts, attending a midweek ceremony also means using up their precious annual leave allowance. If you can’t smile through the financial pain as strut your stuff on the dance floor, there might be a loo roll going spare to dry your tears.
Claer Barrett is the FT’s consumer editor and author of the FT’s Sort Your Financial Life Out newsletter series; claer.barrett@ft.com; Instagram and TikTok @ClaerB
