You always give what you can, OP.

I'm not the OP but my "bonus kid" lost his mom at a young age. I am not the step parent- I'm a helper/ more like a God mother. The dad is still alive. I usually call him my God son but I'm not actually religious. So have thought about "bonus son." He calls me a bonus mom.

Wow, OP, you seem kind for asking and considering this member of your family---and the DCUM faithful skewer you!!

I will never forget my dad's wife's contribution to our wedding (she likely did not consider us "bonus" kids much less step kids) --- she would not let my dad or their DD5 (who was to be a flower girl) attend our wedding.

So, back to you. A thoughtful card and contribution toward wedding or honeymoon, perhaps a gift cert. to a really nice restaurant where they are honeymooning.

Don't let all the pps above bring you down. It's nice you want to do something.

Anonymous wrote:$36,000

In my culture, bonus children get $35,955 because that’s the lucky number for bonus children.

Anonymous wrote:$36,000

+1.
This. Jesus it is not that hard.

If by bonus son you mean step-son, then you give him the exact same gift you’d give to your other children. If this is the first child getting married so you have no frame of reference yet, then (assuming I have the money) I’d offer the same amount towards the wedding that the bride’s family has offered, or offer to pay for the rehearsal dinner or post wedding brunch or their honeymoon.

What’s your budget?

If you’re married to the kid’s parent, then whatever they’re contributing is from both of you. The best gift is cash towards wedding expenses.

It's like in This Is 40, when your father and his younger wife have kids young enough to be your kids.

Anonymous wrote:I thought a bonus kid was a late in life unplanned baby, like in Father of the Bride, part 2, where they had raised all their kids, thought they were done with that part of their lives, but then got a “bonus”.

No that's a surprise. Or a caboose.

Cash

Also, could you gift a sunset cruise or something like that on their honeymoon?

I thought a bonus kid was a late in life unplanned baby, like in Father of the Bride, part 2, where they had raised all their kids, thought they were done with that part of their lives, but then got a “bonus”.

$36,000

Anonymous wrote:I think bonus is just a cutesy way of avoiding the dreaded, stigmatizing prefix "step", because the OP thinks there's something embarrassing about having stepchildren and is trying to pretend that everything is great and nothing bad or weird happened. As a stepchild myself, I've always found this revealing.

This.
What my family member calls the step kids that they despise

Anonymous wrote:Best gift if you’re able to is to chip in for part of their wedding cost.

If you are looking to give them something beyond that, simply a check for any amount that’s reasonable for your budget to celebrate the start of their married life together is far and away what they’ll most appreciate.

I’m not a big fan of cash gifts for normal holidays but a wedding is one time where a check is 100% the best move.

+1

If you are a billionaire, give a million. If you are paycheck to paycheck, give $100.