What to do about gifts if having our wedding on the mainland?

starmas1313

Aloha, 

My fiancé and I live in Honolulu, but our wedding is going to be in Ohio (closer to family and friends).  Granted, we are not getting married to receive gifts and will be suggesting to our guests that gifts are not necessary, but knowing our families, they will still want to get us something, so we are planning to register for gifts at Amazon (free shipping to Hawaii) and Target (free store delivery).  I am wondering how to politely ask our guests (if they choose to get us something) to ship our gifts directly to Hawaii.  If everyone were to bring our gifts to the wedding in Ohio, it would be extremely difficult for us to get those gifts back home.  Unfortunately, it is extremely expensive to ship things to Hawaii and we will only be allowed a certain number of checked bags on the plane.  Does anyone have any ideas as to how I would word something like this on our wedding website?  Thanks for your help.

hoffse

1) It's mostly a moot point - most people who buy you physical gifts will ship them to you ahead of time

2) For those (few) that don't, it's your responsibility to get them back to Hawaii with you.  Unfortunately, this is one of those things you have to deal with when you decide to have a destination wedding.

3) Don't order your guest to ship gifts.  Most will buy online and select the auto shipping address that gets filled in anyway... but it's rude to direct people to spend additional money getting things to Hawaii for you.  That's your responsibility, not theirs.

4) And finally, if your family/friends know you live in Hawaii, presumably they will be more likely to give you cash or do the free shipping through Amazon if they prefer a physical gift.  I really don't think you're going to get a huge pile of boxes at your wedding.

5) Don't tell your guests that gifts are not required.  This is considered rude as well because you shouldn't be mentioning presents at all.

Simky906

I have a friend who got married on the east coast and moved to Arizona two weeks after the wedding. They were registered at Macys and the store allowed them to return all of their gifts and then shipped them to Arizona for them. Maybe see if Target will let you do that if you end up with items given to you in person?

photokitty

If people get you a gift then ship it home if it is from Amazon or a random gift lovingly chosen If it is from Target, take it to Target in Ohio, return it and re-buy it once you get home. Explain to Target what you are doing and they might just resell it to you right then.

GL!