What to do when you can't make the wedding

Sometimes you just can’t be there... whether you’re off travelling the world, have an important prior engagement, or you live in another city.  When you’re invited to a friend’s wedding it is always a sad feeling when you realise it just isn’t feasible for you to make it.

What do you do next?

We recommend being as open and honest with the engaged couple as possible. Explain how much you would truly love to be there, but that unfortunately you can’t make it for certain reasons (good, we hope!). If you can do this by phone or video call rather than just in a message, even better.

We also think it’s important to let the bride to be know you have to decline the invitation as quickly as possible. When you’re planning a wedding, budget and the invite list are at the forefront of your mind - it can be a pretty stressful time making sure the right friends and family are included. If you can’t make it, the bride might be able to quickly offer your place to another guest!

An invitation to a wedding is such an honour. We understand you might want to do something special for the bride to be in place of being able to be there in person. Sending a gift to the bride is a great way to recognise the importance of the occasion and your relationship with the bride!

Send a gift box

We have a range of curated bridal gift boxes to choose from and if they aren’t quite what you’re looking for try creating your own with Build a Box.