I've been a lurker here for a while now, but I feel I need to share my cousin's whole wedding story, as it it riddled with etiquette errors, and also just some unfortunate mishaps.
My cousin and his gf decided to elope a few years back. This alone isn't a huge deal, they were both 18-21 years old. They both, however, lived with their parents, neither one making enough money to support themselves. Also, the gf lived in Mexico and had just been visiting with my cousin. Whatever, marriage makes the immigration process easier, and they've since found jobs and she's learned the language. This is where it gets interesting, though.
The gf (now wife) is very close to her family, so after they announce they're already married, wife says she wants a "real" wedding with her family in Mexico. Her family doesn't have much money, neither did she and my cousin, but they just had to have this whole big thing in another country, so my aunt and uncle graciously offer to pay.
Cut to "the wedding," she's in a wedding gown, there's a bridal party (including myself), a full-blown wedding cake, and all the trappings of a wedding reception. They also did a reenactment of the wedding vows themselves, with some Mexican traditions thrown in, but acted as though this was their first time taking vows. The whole thing was kind of a shit show. The officiant, who needed to travel to the ceremony from OOT was late, the alcohol for the reception was supposed to have been supplied by one of bride's uncles, but on the day of he said he wouldn't be coming, and basically 3/4 of her family just didn't show.
After the wedding, my cousin proceeded to hound my mother (indirectly though other family members) for a wedding gift. Needless to say she and my dad didn't ever give them one. My mom, dad, brother, and myself were the only ones who went to the PPD of outside of his immediate family. My brother and I were 12 and 15, so my parents paid for our outfits for the wedding and our travel in addition to their own, just to support my cousin, that should have been gift enough.
To top it all off they celebrate their PPD anniversary as their actual wedding anniversary.