Witnesses

iguana

I'm having a pretty informal wedding at the end of August. Civil ceremony, followed by drinks on the grounds and then a party at our house, which is around the corner from the castle the ceremony is in. No sit down meal, no speeches, I'm not sending out invites, people can dress however they want and we're having a charity collection instead of gifts.

Obviously we have to have witnesses, but not in the role of bridesmaid or best man. We are both asking friends who also live in London. And as most of our friends and family won't be here beforehand these are the people who we'll probably be dragging on last minute shopping trips.

So I'm wondering if anyone has an opinion on how they would feel about being asked to be the witnesses. If it was you would you be annoyed if your outfit wasn't bought for you, do we get them gifts and if so what kind?

Chinafoot

I'd be chuffed if someone asked me to be their witness and I'd see it as an honour. I wouldn't ever expect my outfit to be bought or anything like that. That's not necessary imo.

With a wedding like the one you're having (kudos on the charity collection by the way) I would suggest a small gift, something simple. Just a small token to act as a thank you and a reminder of the day.

As to what gifts...well it depends on the people. You could do something like a nicely framed photo of yourself and the groom and your witnesses. That is of course if you didn't mind not giving them something on the day.

If you'd prefer to give something to them at the event then you could go with the usual gifts like tie-pins/cuff links for the man and a necklace/ear-rings for the woman.

Go with something you think they'd actually like.

Ruu_Old

I cant remember what I gave the best man (my brother). He was overjoyed when I asked him though. I think it was something for his motorbike. My wife looked after the bridesmaid. Best of luck with the wedding and fair play for the charity collection thing, there arent too many that would do that. There are far too many people worried about if they get the x amount of money and other things off their lists.:rolleyes:

Talliesin

Since my ex and I had to have separate legal and religious ceremonies we got people that were circling with us at the religious ceremony to be witnesses for the legal one.

We just took them out for a meal as a thank you, a pretty good meal though.

RandomOne

I'd be happy to be asked and definitely not expect my outfit to be bought. I wouldn't expect a gift either, but whether a witness or not I'd want to keep some memento of the day which may be disappointing to some (witnesses included) if you're not sending out invites.