Yeah, wishing wells are touch and go. People either love 'em or hate 'em. I don't mind if I go to wedding and they have one as I expect that it's fairly normal these days.

I didn't want one at our wedding, although we did have a Myer gift registry, mostly because DH's family were strongly insisting we do so they know what to buy us. In the end his parents gave us money! We ended up with $2000 cash and $500 in gift cards, plus about most of what we put on the registry. Alot of it I put things under $50 so it would be affordable for people, but all the cheap stuff was left and everyone bought the expensive stuff!

I have set the money aside so when we do spend it, I will remember that it was so-and-so who gave us money towards that item.

If you want to buy a present, then do it. There's no rules and I'm sure your friend will love it even more than the dollar signs.