Macross

In NY and NJ you better give enough to pay for your plate. I still remember hearing that. Golden rule of some weddings. I went to a wedding where they pinned money on the bride for a dance. She was covered in money.

I would see if they have a wedding registry. If not a gift card to a nice department store in France would be fine.

StCirq

Wo, maybe you'd like to attend a wedding here in St-Cirq, where cash gifts are the norm. It's a tiny community, 112 peope (us included), and more often than not the wedding is of two people in the community or at least one of them comes from here. The couple is married in the chapel that's on the Route du Compostelle, an ancient romanesque ruin but beautiful, and someone always finds a priest for the ceremony, and afterwards they typically leave in a tractor or a hired car bedecked with ribbons and envelopes full of cash from friends and neighbors to help them set up their household, take a honeymoon, whatever. And they drive around the commune blaring their horns, as does everyone else in their entourage, for an hour or so. Everyone contributes anonymously what he wants and can afford. It's peasant practicality, if you want to give a name to it, and it's very much the norm around here. There is nothing crass about it - like everything else around here it is practical. There will be no waste of the money given to the couple, whereas they might never use the crockpot or table linens or candles or whatnot. That's the way country people around here think, and I like it.

There's also a running gag around here that the night you are married, the neighborhood will break into your home and jump into bed with you. We actually had second-thoughts the night we were married here in St-Cirq and huddled in bed for awhile before we realized it was probably yet another myth.

I imagine it's very different on the Riviera.

Sassafrass

It seems brides in both England and France create registries, so it is not uncommon. As your friend to find out if her cousin has one.

Don't haul a gift around with you. Either a card with money or, IMHO, preferable, order something from their registry. The store will take care of getting it to the bride, probably have it sent to their home, along with all the other things purchased from the registry.