What are honeymoon registries?

Honeymoon registries are much like wedding registries. Just as a wedding registry allows you to create a list of gifts you would prefer to receive at your wedding, a honeymoon registry allows you to create a list of places you would like to go and things you would like to do on your honeymoon. The honeymoon registry enables your wedding guests to purchase portions of your honeymoon. Yes, your guests could just contribute cash toward your honeymoon, but somehow giving a particular portion of the honeymoon—dinner at a fancy restaurant, or a carriage ride through the historic district of a far-off city, for example—is more meaningful.

 

Type the phrase "honeymoon registry" into your favorite search engine, and you'll get thousands of results. There are four basic kinds of honeymoon registries:

1. Registries that are not affiliated with any travel agencies, requiring you to make travel arrangements on your own or through a travel agency of your choice.

2. Registries that allow you to book your travel either through the sponsoring travel agency (or other affiliated travel agencies) or through the travel agency of your choice or on your own. Usually these registries charge an extra fee or higher service charge if you choose not to book travel through the registry's parent travel agency.

3. Registries that require you to book your travel through the travel agency offering the registry.

4. Registries sponsored by the destination, i.e., the honeymoon registries sponsored by Disney and Marriot.

How do honeymoon registries work?

Each honeymoon registry is slightly different, but here is a general guide:

 

Creating the honeymoon registry. First, you submit some basic personal information—your names, the date of the wedding, contact information, and so on. Then you create your registry, which is an itemized list of all your honeymoon expenses. Most honeymoon registries allow you to create your registry right away over the web. Others put you in touch (by phone or e-mail) with a representative who helps you create your registry. Most registries are free to set up (although see "What do honeymoon registries typically cost?" below).

 

What can you list on your registry? If you can buy it, you can list it. Typical registries list transportation, lodging, activities, special amenities, and meals. Expensive items are usually broken down so guests can choose to pay only a portion of the item. For example, a honeymoon registry might list 10 gifts of $100 each toward your $1000 airfare expense.

 

You will be able to personalize your registry with a message to your guests, your photo, and descriptions of the different parts of your honeymoon; most registries even provide pictures to illustrate the various items on your registry.

 

Many registries advise couples that they are likely to receive more gifts if they include fun, personalized descriptions of the various items on their registry.

 

Announcing the honeymoon registry. Once your registry is set up, you need to let your wedding guests know that it exists. Many registries will provide you with printed cards announcing the registry and its web address; you can either mail them with the wedding invitation or separately. Some registries will e-mail your wedding guests if you provide their addresses.

 

The more tactful approach is to let your guests know about your registry indirectly. Let your parents, close friends, or wedding party members know that you have a honeymoon registry; they can pass the word along to guests. Or create a wedding web page with up-to-date information for guests, and include a link to your registry on that page. (Some registries provide a free wedding web page for this purpose.) You can then list the address of your wedding web page in your invitation without directly bringing up the issue of gifts.

 

Buying gifts from the honeymoon registry. Guests look up your registry by typing your last name(s) into a search box on the registry website. After reading what you want, they click on the item(s) they want to buy and pay for the items over the website. Most honeymoon registries also allow guests to purchase items by phone.

 

The gift-giver usually receives a certificate that is either sent to the wedding couple or to the giver (to hand on to the couple in person); some registries charge a fee to mail this certificate. Other registries notify the couple of the gift by e-mail. On any registry, you can track how many gifts you have received simply by logging into the registry.

 

Paying for the honeymoon. The wedding couple are ultimately responsible for paying for their honeymoon expenses. That means that any portion of the honeymoon that must be paid prior to the wedding (airfare, room deposits and so on) comes out of your pocket. Some or all of those expenses might be picked up by your guests, although most couples' honeymoon expenses are not completely covered by their registry. It's wise not to plan a more extravagant honeymoon than you can pay for yourselves.

 

Whatever money wedding guests contribute toward the honeymoon is placed in a holding account. The registry sends the couple a check (or electronically deposits the funds into their account) on a predetermined date, usually a week before the wedding. Even though the wedding guests paid for certain parts of the honeymoon, the couple is really free to use the money for anything they want.

 

Thanking guests. It's important to write thank-you notes to guests who bought part of the honeymoon (just as you would write thank-you notes for any wedding gift). It might actually be fun to thank guests for the honeymoon, though, because you can describe your experience in the note—you might even include a picture.

 

 

How much do honeymoon registries typically cost?

Most honeymoon registries cover their costs and make a profit by applying a service charge on gift purchases. This service charge typically ranges from 6 to 9 percent, and might be added to the cost of the gift (e.g., a $100 gift would cost $109 to purchase, including a 9 percent service charge) or deducted from the value of the gift (e.g., the couple would receive $91 of a $100 gift, given a 9 percent service charge).

 

In addition to the service charge, many registries also charge guests a 3 percent fee to cover the cost of the credit card transaction.

 

Some honeymoon registries charge a setup fee (typically $100-$150), usually when the registry is set up by a travel professional who consults with the couple.

 

A few registries are free; they cover expenses by advertising on their website.

 

How much can we expect to receive from our honeymoon registry?

The amounts couples receive vary widely, depending on factors such as the disposable income of friends and family, how the honeymoon is presented in the registry, and how the registry is announced to guests. Breaking the honeymoon down into separate activities and destinations and offering fun descriptions of each usually is more fun and interesting to guests than a generic request to contribute cash to the honeymoon.

 

Some couples receive thousands of dollars from their guests via a honeymoon registry, plenty to cover the cost of their honeymoon. Most couples, however, will end up paying for at least part of their honeymoon themselves.

 

Is it a violation of wedding etiquette to set up a honeymoon registry?

The same rules of etiquette that apply to wedding gift registries also apply to honeymoon registries. In a nutshell, don't be greedy. You should avoid any implication that you expect a wedding (or honeymoon) gift from the guests attending your wedding. The presence of the guest at your celebration should be sufficient.

 

On the other hand, most wedding guests appreciate some guidance in the gift-giving department. Wedding gift registries are a well-established way of providing that guidance. As with a wedding registry, the safest approach is to let guests know about your honeymoon registry indirectly; see the notes on "Announcing your registry" above.

 

For a side-by-side comparison of some of the web's most popular honeymoon registries, see our Honeymoon registry reviews page.

 

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