'I'd spend $1,000 on a wedding present'
The $1,000 number jumps out at me, because it suggests a wedding gift has stopped being a token and turned into a statement. I'd want to know how many of those big spenders are covering their own plate at a venue charging $400 a head, and how many are just trying to outdo a cousin at the next table.
The rationalizations are the real story. Some say it's about proximity to the couple, others say it's about what they can afford, and a few are probably just terrified of looking cheap in front of the bride's side of the family. That fear is doing a lot of quiet work under the surface of every envelope.
I think the amount ends up being less about the couple and more about the giver's own sense of where they stand in the world. That's a small, weird mirror on how we value relationships, and I find it more interesting than the dollar figures themselves.