Should I open and use these wedding gifts before my wedding?

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CASUALTY
Photo by Neil Girling

We received our first registry gift (yay!) and the wedding is now two months away (eep!). The gift came wrapped, so we do not know exactly what it is, and we do know that the senders will not be able to attend the wedding. Is it okay to open the gift now, so we can write a thank-you note and send it out ASAP, or do we wait until the wedding to open it and send a thank-you? If we do open the gift early, is it bad form to start using it?I have browsed the Interwebz and come up with a a few different schools of thought on this.

  • The first is that you should open gifts when you get them so a thank-you can be sent out promptly, especially if the person giving the gift is not attending, and that it is probably okay to use them (with some debate on being able to use the gift).
  • The second is that you do not open gifts, and wait until after the wedding to open the packages, use the items inside, and thank the gift-giver.
  • A third school of thought is that you can open them, and “traditionally” the opened gifts would be displayed on a table in the house, but not used until after the wedding.

From what I can tell, the “not using the item until after the wedding” issue has something to do with bad luck, the couple possibly not making it down the aisle, and having to return gifts. Now I don't know what to do!
-rhodolite

As with most etiquette issues, it's all a matter of opinion. We say:

  • YES you can open the gifts right away!
  • YES you can use the gifts right away!
  • AND YES, you should send a thank you card a immediately. Yes, before the wedding. We're obsessed with writing Thank You cards,

Oh and PS: if you need any help writing those thank you cards, be sure to check out this post:

Open it, use it, and write a card? Or wait patiently until after the wedding?

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