We did this for our wedding. We had already been living together for a little while so didnt really need any of the house type things as we had them already. The only thing for our house we really needed was a sofa... so we just asked people for a small amount of money so we could by ourselves a sofa. lol!

We werent fussed with whether or not people gave us money. A few people couildnt afford a gift or money and I was fine with that. It was more about them being there on the day. I dint care how much money we recieved.

We just had a wishing well in the foyer of the reception venue. People just put their envelopes in it and there was no pressure for them to have the envelope with them at their table and we didnt make any fuss or mention over it. I wouldnt have wanted to have put anyone in an embarrassing situation by having people come up to me and put the envelope in the box infront of me. But we also made it pretty clear to people that if they felt wierd about giving money then they can get a goft instead. A few people got a gift for us as well and that was cool as well.

I'm sorry that you felt uncomfortable at this wedding. I do aggree that they could have done it a bit differently as it seems like quite a few people were uncomfortable with the way the money giving thing was done.