A friend has received a wedding invitation and at the bottom it says “presentation preferred” We have never heard of this and wondered if this could mean the couple are asking for money? Isn’t that considered a no-no on an invitation?
Thank you. Shawn
Donna, Wedding Queen, President; Top Wedding Sites, Inc®, a wedding planning guide, and Recent Mother of the Groom –
Hello Shawn –
Yes, presentation preferred is a sly way of wording a wedding invitation to ask for money, which is not proper. Any way you word this is not acceptable. Disregard it and do as you wish. The most proper way of handling wedding gifts is to send a gift to the home of the bride before the wedding if you will be attending. My theory – do not reward bad behavior.
See Also
- Top Wedding Invitation Websites
- Everything You Need To Know About Wedding Invitations
- Wedding Invitation Wording and Etiquette
Rebecca Black, Etiquette By Rebecca
Dear Shawn,
You are correct that inferring or down-right requesting gifts on a wedding invitation is not proper. However, I’m not sure what “presentation preferred” means or even if it relates to gifts. I have never heard of this term and it isn’t proper to list this on an invitation unless it is a form of formal attire. Could this be a reference to formal attire? Perhaps it is a British term?? Maybe??
If you find out that it is, could you let us know please. I’ll do my homework as well.
Rebecca Black, Etiquette By Rebecca
Thank you for finding this. I can’t believe it is all about cash. This is very disturbing. If I received this invitation, I would toss it. Hopefully, we can squash this part of ‘new etiquette’ like a bug. Thank you both so much for your help and the information. That website is quite an interesting read.