Gen Z Willing to Spend More on Wedding Gifts Than Boomers

Despite being less likely to have more money, Gen Z is willing to pay the most on their friends’ wedding gifts.
In a new Empower report, Gen Z said they would spend an average of $275 on wedding gifts. That’s a substantially higher amount than baby boomers said they would spend: $98.
The younger you are, the more money you’d be willing to spend, the report found, with millennials and Gen X shelling out an average of $238 and $149, respectively. On average overall, guests said they would spend $174.95.
Drew Powers, founder of Illinois-based Powers Financial Group, said this is a typical pattern along the path of generations.
“Boomers still remember when $100 was a generous gift, while Gen Z is more present in the current inflationary pricing and understand $100 barely covers your open bar at the reception,” Powers told Newsweek.
Nearly half of guests, 45 percent, said they don’t know how much is appropriate to spend on a wedding present.
The study was based on responses from 1,160 adult Americans in June and found people have spent or plan to spend an average of $31,281 on their weddings.
Powers said part of the higher amount in wedding gifts for younger generations is because millennials and Gen Z tend to value experiences over material possessions and will spend more on trips and vacations.
“Perhaps Gen Z sees the wedding gift as a natural extension of the wedding experience, and are therefore willing to spend more,” Powers said.
Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, said weddings now are also more likely to have a “big event” feel than the baby boomer weddings of the past.
“Everything—from the ceremony to the reception to even the gifts—are more than likely being posted all over social media, and the peer pressure associated with that causes many to overspend,” Beene told Newsweek. “You have to remember this is just one event, and no matter how significant the occasion may feel, it’s not worth overspending on gifts or any other element associated with it if it leads to plenty of debt in the aftermath.”
The Gen Zers who are getting married also tend to be more affluent, and their guests are often from the same financial status, said Kevin Thompson, a finance expert and founder and CEO of 9i Capital Group.
“Gen Z is marrying later in life compared to previous generations, and those who do marry are generally more financially secure,” Thompson told Newsweek.
Generational expert Bryan Driscoll said Gen Z has also tended to prioritize human connection over material wealth, which is a sharp contrast to previous generations that fixated on accumulating homes, cars and pensions.
“Gen Z has been dealt a bad hand economically. With rising costs of living, crushing student debt and stagnating wages, they’ve had to rethink what wealth really means,” Driscoll told Newsweek.
“For them, wealth isn’t measured in material possessions but in meaningful experiences, like celebrating a friend’s big day. Weddings, gatherings and shared moments are some of the few things that can still bring joy in an otherwise broken system.”
While Driscoll said these trends could lead to financial strain down the line, it also opens the door to questions about why Gen Z is spending more on friendship experiences in general.
“Could it be a direct response to feeling left out of the so-called American dream of homeownership and financial stability that’s been out of reach for them?” Driscoll said.
“The truth is, younger generations are realizing the system isn’t working for them, and they’re choosing to invest in what makes them happy now, not in the things previous generations told them they should want.”