Her cousin’s mom had her panicking over a missing wedding card worth $500 — until she opened it and found two tickets with the PINs scratched off

The best gifts are always thoughtful. However, a gift a 24-year-old bride (u/Imake289) received at her wedding was quite the opposite. A day after her wedding, her cousin's mother called, worried that she had handed the gift cards to the wrong person. The author and her mom spent 2 to 4 days searching for the gift cards. However, when she finally found them, she realized her cousin had gifted her used gift cards from Christmas. The author now plans to regift the cards to her 28-year-old cousin at her wedding. The post was shared on September 1, 2026, and it has received over 3,000 upvotes on Reddit. 

Petty cousin

Before the author's wedding, she and her cousin got into a heated argument. Her cousin wanted to hand out invitations to her February wedding at the author's reception. She told her no, but she still invited her to the wedding. The petty cousin then decided to wear a white dress with flowers on the author's special day, but the author ignored it. After the wedding, the cousin's mother called and asked them to look for the gift cards they had given them. "She didn't know who she handed it to, and it had a lot of money in there; she claims 300-500," the author said.

A not-so-generous gift

Thankfully, while the author was working on the ''Thank You'' cards, she found the gift cards. One was for Total Wine, and the other was for Pottery Barn. "I've never been to Pottery Barn, and I don't drink too much, but I was grateful nonetheless," she wrote. But then she noticed that the PIN part was already scratched off on both cards. She added, "I had a feeling I should check the balances just to see how much is on each card, especially since Pottery Barn is pricey, and I was curious how the money was split." While the cousin's mom claimed there was $300-500 on the card, the total amount was only $80. "I plan to regift the cards and not attend the wedding. I am more than happy to send the same energy back," the author added. 

Gift cards take a backseat

Couples often have a registry for wedding gifts, but a ShaneCo. survey found that 3 in every 10 wedding gifts aren't chosen from the registry. The report also found that gift cards (9.7%) are actually not as popular a wedding gift as kitchenware (34.4%), cash or honeymoon fund (29.9%), and home decor (16.4%). Similarly, a 2018 YouGov survey also found that money (39%) was the preferred wedding gift, compared to gift cards (12%). While not popular, gift cards are often acceptable. On another note, an AP-NORC poll found that 39% of respondents believed regifting an item is "somewhat acceptable," while 21% and 16% said it was "somewhat unacceptable" and "very unacceptable." Not many people were thrilled by the idea of giving gift cards as wedding gifts, but the cousin and her mom crossed the line when they gave the author used gift cards and lied about the amount.

'Return her gift'

Meanwhile, people on the internet had different explanations for why the cousin's mom insisted they find the cards. For instance, u/Emergency_Dust_478 asked, "Any chance the aunt knew her daughter’s behavior and she took the money and replaced it? Either way, used gift cards? So aunt wants proof?" Similarly, u/Odd-Prune2254 added, "Those total wine cards come free with lots of crap. Definitely gift them back."

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