Couple Buys Gifts They Anticipate Will Be Returned

A man and woman were debating which gifts to buy off a wedding registry in a department store yesterday. The man read over the list and suggested that it seemed like a lot of useless garbage to him, exactly the sort of stuff their friends were never likely to use. The woman said that was how the registry worked, that more than picking things you really had to have, you tried to give a range of items at various price points so guests could pick something off the list that fit their budget. The man wondered how, if what she said was true, they were supposed to determine which things the couple really wanted and which they'd used to simply fill out their list. The woman said there was no way.
The man said that if that was the case the should just give them a gift card for the amount they were planning to spend and let them sort out what they really wanted themselves. Or better yet, just give them cash and let them spend it anywhere. The woman said the couldn't just give cash. The man asked why, if all they were doing was buying a bunch of crap that was just going to be returned anyway. What was the difference? Wouldn't just giving them the money up front be more practical?
It's a wedding, she said, it's not supposed to be practical.