Daniel Gross is right. Giving money as a wedding gift makes perfect sense. In New York City, it has always been the norm (and until I was told otherwise I thought it was the norm all over the country). If you think of the scene in Goodfellas where the couple receives card after card filled with cash to put in their bag, that's how it typically goes even for non mafiosos.

 It's been that way for a while but it makes more sense now than ever given how ridiculously expensive weddings have become matched with the fact that many couples are living together before they marry anyway.

Buying things off a bridal registry to help the couple get the things they'll need in their home isn't a bad idea if they are in need of most of those things, but by giving them money, they can use that to buy what they wish anyway.

But they can also use it for their honeymoon as the couple in the article did, which is a fabulous idea because really that's going to be the main part the couple will enjoy and remember (and can help relieve them of the stress they had from planning the wedding).  

Or for the more practical couples like my aunt who recently married, they may just want to bank the cash because they spent so much on the reception to begin with. 

It wouldn't be considered tacky for someone to give cash as a graduation gift, so why as a wedding gift? Why does our culture pretend love is something completely seperate from everyday life?