How to Set Up a Honeymoon Fund Wedding Registry
Hotels, flights, cruises and tours for a perfect honeymoon.
If you’re getting married, you’re about to get a lot of gifts. If you’ve already got everything you need, more stuff could actually be a problem. Even if you do have space for a few more things, most couples prefer cash.
Unfortunately, you can’t come right out and ask for money. But there is a classy way to register for, and receive cash for your wedding. One way is by setting up a honeymoon fund for your wedding registry.
A honeymoon fund registry is a website where you plan your honeymoon and create a list of all the items you’ll need. Your guests can view the list, choose gifts and pay for them, all online.
You’ll receive your gifts as cash that you can use to plan your honeymoon. When you’re creating your registry, you can add everything you’ll need for a perfect trip. You can add flights, hotels, meals and activities.
As a wedding guest, it’s more fun to buy a snorkeling trip than it is to put $100 in an envelope. Most guests love how easy it is to buy you exactly what you want. And they get to share a bit of the excitement of planning a trip.
As a bonus, your guests won’t need to go out shopping, worry about shipping, or carry a gift around. And you won’t need worry losing cash gifts on your wedding day.
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How To Set Up a Honeymoon Fund
Decide where you’ll honeymoon.
Set the budget for your trip.
Plan your flights and hotels.
Decide if you’ll register for food and beverages.
Choose your excursions or activities.
Sign up for an online registry.
Add the gifts to your registry.
Share your honeymoon registry with your guests.
Engagement ring at the beach in Cozumel, Mexico.
1. Decide Where You’ll Honeymoon
The perfect honeymoon will be different for every couple. Some couples want to relax, some want to explore and some want adventure. Talk about the kinds of activities you’d like to do on your honeymoon. Decide if you’re looking for a beach vacation, a city break or an adventure tour.
A classic honeymoon is a beach resort or a cruise ship. Lots of couples like the idea of relaxing at the beach, especially after a year or more of wedding planning. Since everything is included, from food and drinks to entertainment, it’s an easy way to plan a great vacation. Between walks on the beach and romantic sunsets, a resort or cruise can be the perfect honeymoon.
A city break can be anywhere from a fun city in the US to a European tour. If you’d like to stay close to home, you might plan a honeymoon anywhere from New York to Miami. If you’d like an international trip, you could travel to a European city, like Paris or London.
If you’re an adventurous couple, the sky’s the limit. You could plan a surfing trip, a hiking trip or a camping trip. If you have a hobby, your honeymoon is the perfect time to plan a special adventure for the two of you.
2. Set the Budget For Your Trip
Before you decide on your honeymoon, you’ll need to think about the overall budget. Some trips are more expensive than others. If you’ve got a small guest list, you might not receive enough gifts to cover the entire trip.
Think about the size of your guest list and do a bit of math to figure out how much you might receive in gifts. Every community is different, so it’s hard to estimate how much people will give.
If you’re comfortable talking about money, consider asking your family and friends what they think the average is. You don’t want to come off as money hungry, so it’s a delicate conversation.
You could tell them that you’re setting up your registry and you’re worried about asking for too much. You’re just wondering what they think the average might be. You’re not trying to get a bunch of money - you’re just trying to set your registry at the right size.
When you’re thinking about how much people will gift, guess low rather than high. It’s better to be surprised with a bigger amount than you expected.
Once you come up with a general number, think about the costs of different locations for your honeymoon.
What Happens If You Don’t Receive Enough Gifts?
If you’re not sure that you’ll receive enough to pay for your entire trip, you can cover the flights and hotels yourselves. Then consider any gifts you receive as extras for your honeymoon.
If you’re registered with Honeyfund, all the gifts you receive will be sent to you as cash or gift cards. Once you know what the total is, you can decide how to spend it. Some couples end up with cash left over at the end. The cash is yours to spend any way you’d like.
3. Plan Your Flights and Accommodations
The most important (and expensive) part of any trip is usually the flights and accommodations. The prices will depend on where you’re flying from, your destination and the time of year.
If you’re planning a resort or cruise honeymoon, you’ll need to choose your resort or cruise ship. You’ll also get to choose your room type. For example, most offer standard rooms, ocean view rooms, junior suites or honeymoon suites.
For a city break or adventure trip, decide if you’ll choose a central location or visit different cities. Some couples stay at one hotel for their entire honeymoon. Others like to spend a few days in different spots.
Sample Honeymoon Registries
If you’ve never planned an international trip before, a great way to start is by checking out the Honeyfund sample registries. You can see exactly how to set one up, including flights, hotel stays, activities, meals and drinks.
The samples include prices for each gift, plus a total cost for the trip. This is a great way to get started on your honeymoon budget. If there’s a sample for your destination, you can even choose to save the registry, as a starting point for your own.
Search sample registry to fund a 3 week, honeymoon in Italy, including Italian food, wine and sightseeing.
Plan a honeymoon in the US: see a sample registry for sunny Southern California, including Hollywood, San Diego and L.A.
See a sample registry for an Eastern Caribbean cruise, including horseback riding, spa days and romantic dinners.
Plan a honeymoon at a luxury resort: search sample registry for St Lucia, including a stay at an all-inclusive resort, biking, sailing and scuba diving.
Have another location in mind? See all the wedding registries Amazon has to offer.
Cashew chicken at lunch time in Thailand.
4. Decide If You’ll Register For Food and Beverages
If you’re planning a resort or cruise honeymoon, most food and drinks are included. You can look for extra special experiences, like a romantic dinner on the beach. Or choose a specialty restaurant for an extra honeymoon experience.
If you’re planning a city break, you can register for generic items, like Lunch or Dinner. Then people can gift you with cash to use towards these items.
Remember, with Honeyfund, you’ll receive all your gifts as cash or gift cards. That means that it’s ok if you change your mind after you’ve registered. For example, if your guests buy you a meal at a certain restaurant and you change your mind, you’ll still receive the gift as cash. You’ll be able to spend it any way you’d like.
Rented car for a desert tour in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
5. Choose Your Excursions or Activities
If you’re planning a resort or cruise honeymoon, you can book fun excursions like snorkeling and catamaran trips. Check the website for your hotel or cruise ship to see all the options.
For a city break, you can book everything from museum tours to cooking classes. You can find sample itineraries online or in guide books for your destination. Choose one or two activities for each day of your trip.
You can add nearly anything to your honeymoon registry. If you’re planning a day at the pool, you can add a private cabana. If you’re planning an excursion, you can add bus tickets to cover your transportation. For an adventure trip, you can add everything from RV rentals to surfing lessons.
Catamaran tour - day trip excursion St. Thomas, USVI.
6. Sign Up For an Online Registry
With a Honeyfund honeymoon registry, it’s easy for your guests to view your list and choose gifts. There’s never a fee for your wedding guests. Honeyfund has an A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau, so your guest can feel safe making a purchase.
You’ll love it too. It’s easy and fun to personalize your page and register for your dream honeymoon. And you won’t need to wait for your cash. As soon as the gift is made, it can be sent to your bank account, your PayPal or a Honeyfund gift card.
As well as honeymoon funds, Honeyfund works for any type of cash gifts. You can add cash for any reason to your wedding registry. You can also register for gift cards from hundreds of travel, dining and retail options.
Waterfall Hiking Tour in Dominica.
7. Add the Gifts to Your Registry
When you’re registering for wedding gifts, it’s a good idea to have a wide price range. That way, people can choose how much they want to spend. If you’re having a bridal shower or wedding shower, most people will gift smaller items. Make sure to have a variety of lower priced, medium priced and higher priced gifts for people to choose from.
You can break up the biggest costs into smaller prices, so that more people can contribute. For example, it’s not likely to have one guest pay $3,000 for your flights. If you break it up into 30 gifts of $100, more guests will decide to help pay for your tickets.
8. Share Your Honeymoon Registry With Your Guests
Just like regular wedding registries, you don’t want to share the information on your wedding invitations. The best place to include registry information is on your shower invitations and your wedding website. You can also let your parents and bridal party know, in case wedding guests ask them.
If you’re not sure about the wording, it’s fine to keep it simple:
The couple is registered at (link to your online registry)
The Moulin Rouge in Paris, France.
What Can You Add to a Honeymoon Fund Registry?
You can add absolutely anything to a honeymoon fund registry. When you’re creating your registry, start with the most important items: your flights and your accommodations. Next, add food and beverages, including romantic dinners, or specialty restaurants you’d like to try.
After you’ve got the basics covered, start adding fun excursions and activities. If you’re going to the beach, think about snorkeling, kayaking or catamaran tours. If you’re planning a city break, you could add museum passes, show tickets or cooking classes.
Flights and Accommodations
Flights
Flight upgrades
Hotels
Resorts
AirBNB gift cards
Cabins on a cruise ship
Room upgrades
Food and Beverages
Romantic dinners for 2
Sunset dinner on the beach
Specialty restaurants
Specialty drinks
Alcoholic beverages
Champagne
Activities
Spa day
Massage for two
Snorkeling
Scuba diving
Catamaran tours
Sailing trips
Tubing
Surfing
Zip lining
Excursions and Tours
Museum passes
Cooking classes
Show tickets
Concert tickets
Walking tours
Bus tours
Transportation
Car rentals
RV rentals
Golf cart rentals
Bicycle rentals
