Honeymoon Registries
Contents
A honeymoon registry is much like a wedding
registry. 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
three basic kinds of honeymoon registries:
-
Registries that require you to book your travel
through the travel agency offering the registry.
-
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.
-
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.
In some circles, honeymoon registries are
considered tacky; others view them as a practical alternative to a
traditional wedding gift registry.
How honeymoon registries work
Here's how these registries usually work:
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. Some registries charge a setup fee,
usually between $100-$150; others charge nothing to the wedding couple,
but charge wedding guests a "service fee" when they buy part
of the honeymoon. Some honeymoon registry websites allow you to
create your registry right away over the web. Other sites put you in
touch (by phone or e-mail) with a representative who helps you create
your registry.
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.
Some honeymoon registries allow you to
personalize your registry with a message to your guests and descriptions
of the different parts of your honeymoon, perhaps even allowing you to upload
pictures to the 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. 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 web site.
Most 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.
It's important to note that most registries
require guests to pay a service charge for the privilege of contributing
to your honeymoon. The service charge is a percentage of the cost of the
gift; the registries we surveyed had service charges ranging from 3.5%
to 15%. So if a guest wants to pay $100 toward your airfare and the
honeymoon registry website imposes a 10% service charge, she will end
up spending $110.
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.
Choosing a honeymoon
registry, plus five honeymoon registries compared . . .
Last updated:
April 03, 2007 |
Cheap
Honeymoons