I recently received an invitation to my brother’s wedding. Included in the information about travel, hotel arrangements, dress, etc. was this statement:
Only your presence is requested.According to my brother, this is a fairly standard way of saying ‘We’re not asking for any gifts’. A common alternative, eschewed by my brother and his fiancée as a bit hokey, is:
Your presence is the present.It seems a shame, though, not to take advantage of the homophony of presence and present. When said out loud, the following is nicely ambiguous:
We request only your presence.But I suppose that’s a bit risky if one’s goal is actually to end up with guests, not gifts.
The first Edelfamily wedding is going to be particular. In an awesome way.
