Honeymoon Registries

Contents

• What is a honeymoon registry?

• Choosing a honeymoon registry, plus six honeymoon registries compared

• Do-it-yourself honeymoon registry

Do-it-yourself honeymoon registry

We like to look for ways that couples can cut down on their honeymoon expenses while still having a great trip—after all, starting a new life together can be expensive enough as it is. If you'd rather spare yourself and your guests the expense of a commercial honeymoon registry service, you could always try creating your own honeymoon registry:

• Find a friend or relative who is willing to be your "honeymoon coordinator." Your honeymoon coordinator is the contact person for wedding guests who want to make a contribution toward your honeymoon. She or he acts much like the friend who organizes a bridal shower—just as you wouldn't mention gifts directly to your guests, you don't want to be in the position of dealing directly with guests who want to contribute toward your honeymoon.

• Break your honeymoon down into parts—airfare, a night's stay at a particular hotel, dinner, breakfast in bed, horseback riding, scuba diving lessons/rental, and so on. Estimate the cost of each item.

• Alert wedding guests of your registry in the same way you would alert them to a wedding registry. Normally, that would be through word of mouth (spread by parents or members of the wedding party), although some online wedding registries suggest including a card with the invitation.

• Guests who wish to contribute to the honeymoon contact the coordinator to make a selection. The honeymoon coordinator crosses their selection off the list and sends them a nice card with a description of their gift; the guests can either send money to the coordinator or enclose a check with the card, which is given to you as a wedding gift.

We should note that we don't know anyone who has ever actually done this—but hey, we're an ideas site, and this seems like a good idea. (If you try creating your own honeymoon registry, let us know how it goes so we can pass your experience on to others.) But if creating your own honeymoon registry seems like too much trouble, you can always search the web for a commercial honeymoon registry or check out our comparison of five popular honeymoon registries.

Last updated: June 29. 2005