Those numbers seem right on target for around here but I would switch the engagement gift price and the shower price- usually its more on the shower less onhe engagement. I REALLY hate engagement parties, they are just another giant gift grab- you are already getting shower and wedding gifts so you REALLY need to suck another gift out of people for the same wedding???? Just very greedy to me.
We're both from Long Island and I'll agree with you.....We're going to a wedding at a typical catering hall and we're planning on giving $300. No physical gifts at the wedding, only cash gifts....
As for Engagement Parties: When I was engaged at 23 (still young) me and DH
did Not want an Engagement Party because even while all our friends were doing it, we still felt like we were milking everyone if we had one.
If someone wanted to give us a gift for our engagement (we received two or three) then it was acknowledged with a Thank You card.
I have to add that whenever I go to a shower and I check out the Wish List at the store the bride and groom have registered at, I have to laugh.....Is it really necessary to ask for a $100 iron? Or a $250 Toaster Oven?
What about asking for a nice $30 iron and a $15 sandwich maker or $45 coffee maker, etc.
I would actually buy two gifts. I usually spend $50 - $60 on a shower gift. Every single guest would love to come into the shower with more than one gift. If the bride and groom chose reasonably priced gifts, the bride's registry would be depleted instead of the bride receiving one pillow sham, one flat sheet and then her having to go and buy the rest of the set herself. Some brides think that people will go in on a gift together with someone else, but I know I don't have the time to go on a shopping trip with someone else with my schedule.
The whole point of a bridal shower is to set the new couple up with everything they need for a new home together. Granted that some couples already have homes together, then the gifts might go another way.
It's nice to want nice expensive things, and yes, it is the guests' choice if they want to purchase something off the registry or not, but if the couple really want or need (just about ) everything on their registry, they should be a little more prudent with the prices of the items they want/need. I refuse to buy a $100 iron for myself because I think it's wasteful, so why would I buy it for someone else? I purchased a $70 iron one time because I got tired of my $25 irons breaking every six months. My scientific study concluded that it lasted just as long as my Target special for $25.
Sorry to vent, but I just purchased a $50 electric knife for a shower I went to a few weeks ago. Does anyone really think I wanted to walk into a shower with an
Electric Knife
I wanted to purchase a nice appliance, but they were all over $100! And Yes, they did ask for the knife. But did she get any of her expensive appliances? No, she didn't. And I wasn't surprised, either. Oh, I'm sorry, she did get the vacuum from her grandmother
Sorry, but this hit a soft spot
I just read some of the above posts from fellow NY'ers and I have to tell you, I ain't cheap, and I know a lot of other people who aren't cheap either, but those big ticket appliances? At a shower? I'm middle class, and I've never seen that. I don't go into debt for myself, and I certainly won't go into debt for someone else......I'll stick with the electric knife
or perhaps some lingerie. If you take the bride out on the town everyone chips in for her expenses. 
Weddings are so expensive!
