Weddings can be complicated things. The complication of your “garden variety” wedding can really become quite complex when one is unfamiliar with the social customs or norms. Navigating your way through the potentially rough seas of a wedding is never easy. However, don’t worry, help is on the way.

Etiquette for Wedding and Bridesmaid Gifts

1. When is a pre-engagement gift a bad idea? The answer is when you are in Malaysia, as it will be seen as a bribe.

2. When looking for a gift for a friend that is from India, you might want to skip anything made out of leather. In India, the cow is seen as a sacred animal, and this means that leather or a beef product is likely to create a very awkward moment or two.

3. If you are presenting a bridesmaid gift in the Middle East, please use your right hand. Failure to do so will be taken as an insult.

4. Pigskin footballs and alcoholic beverages might fill you full of wonderful Sunday afternoons in front of television set watching football, but if the person you are giving the gift to is Muslim, neither the pigskin football or the booze will go over well. Avoid the awkwardness and find some other gift.