Quote:
But to make matters more embarrassing, a couple of people didn't bring a gift of any kind!

Not bringing anything at all is a tad rude.

Quote:
Many people at their work were "offended" that they would expect cash as a gift.

It used to be that cash would be classed as a tacky last minute gift because you didn't put any thought into it (not that buying something out of a registry requires much thought) but recently it appears to have become much more acceptable.

Quote:
I know we didn't recoup the cost of our wedding, in fact I can't think of many people I know that did.

I've never had a wedding myself but I know a few people who have had one and none of them have ever recouped it. I've always thought of weddings as costing a fortune.