Best pandemic-era wedding gift might be cash 

After the first year of the pandemic put many nuptials on ice, Americans started getting married with a vengeance when summer arrived. At any other time, this matrimonial flood would have family and friends scrambling to buy gifts. But not now: Newlyweds want cash.

COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of cash gifts, which were already gaining popularity as people became more comfortable asking for money. After all, millennials and Generation Z came of age in the GoFundMe era, and are less likely than their elders to see crowdfunding as unseemly.

Moreover, Americans in their 20s and 30s are grappling with ever-larger student loans as salaries fail to keep pace with skyrocketing tuition.

About 80% of couples on wedding registry website Zola receive money. Meanwhile, roughly 30% more cash gifts were created and given via the online wedding information platform The Knot between January and July, compared to the same period two years ago. Honeymoon funds are the most popular ask, but virus-weary couples also request money to pay for romantic dinners, massages and even fertility treatments.

Wedding guests are receptive to cash registries because gift-givers want to ensure their presents will be put to good use. That isn’t always the case for silver tea sets or Margarita makers, as any couple married for decades can attest.

"As we see couples think about their financial goals and think about their future together, they see cash as a more enticing, pragmatic option," said Kristen Maxwell Cooper, vice president at The Knot. "They may not need wedding China. They may not need new sheets. But they have student loan debt."