Two decades ago, engaged couples had few options when it came to wedding registries. They chose from a few different department stores, registered for fine china and expected guests to pick and choose what they wanted to give from the list.
Today, nearly everything about the wedding registry process has changed. Many couples start online. Few are adding fine china to their registries, and some couples move away from the traditional wedding registry and opt for a honeymoon registry instead.
What exactly is a honeymoon registry? Honeymoon registries, like Hitchd, fill a much-needed hole for couples. Rather than registering for blenders and silverware, couples can build a honeymoon registry full of experiences for their honeymoon. Guests can treat the couple to dinner, a spa service or even a night at a fancy hotel or Airbnb. Sometimes called a honeymoon fund, honeymoon registries help couples plan the ultimate honeymoon experience.
Not sure whether a wedding registry or honeymoon registry is right for your wedding? We've got you covered. Read on for our easy guide to traditional and honeymoon registries and what to consider when deciding which one to use.
Traditional wedding registry: Great for physical gifts
For couples that plan to move in together after the wedding, a traditional wedding registry can be a lifesaver. As anyone who has ever bought a home or moved into an apartment, furnishing a new home can be expensive and time-consuming. Besides finding great furniture, there are a ton of odds and ends — extra silverware, storage bins, bedspreads — that couples forget about until they really need them.
Traditional wedding registries can be great for:
- Couples that have never lived together
- Couples fresh out of college
- Couples that have just purchased a bigger home
- Couples planning to start a family right away
In general, couples starting from scratch together benefit the most from traditional gift registries. Their guests often want to help them build a home, and they're excited to be part of the next chapter in the couple's life.
There are some drawbacks to the traditional wedding registry though. For one thing, most stores do not provide couples with the option to ask for cash. They can register for gift cards, but those must be spent at that store and some do expire. That's not always helpful to the couple, especially if their gift registry is already robust.
If you and your partner plan to use a traditional gift registry, keep these quick tips in mind:
Include plenty of price points.
Not all of your guests will be able to buy the $200 vacuum, so mix it up and include plenty of item under $50 that can be added on to other gifts or grouped together.Go for quality over quantity.
You don't need the cheapest sheets available. Find products that look good and will last you more than a few years.Set the delivery address.
Some people who cannot make your wedding shower or reception will send their gifts directly to you. Make sure you set a good delivery address, whether that means your home or a parent's.
You can find more tips from Hitchd for setting up a traditional wedding registry or learn more about building an eco-friendly registry.
Start building your dream honeymoon registry now. Start your registry
Honeymoon fund: Best for amazing vacations
Your honeymoon should be the vacation that you'll always remember. All of the wedding stressors fade away, and you and your partner can focus on just being with each other, revealing in the joy of finally being married.
But after all that time and money spent on the wedding, the honeymoon can feel like an afterthought. That's where honeymoon funds like Hitchd come in. Honeymoon funds help the couple build up enough money to take a truly romantic excursion that will give them time to bond as a married couple and enjoy just being together.
Like traditional registries, honeymoon registries provide guests with a list of wants from the couple, but instead of toasters and bedsheets, these wants include dinner for two at a restaurant, airfare costs and day trips. Couples can set up their own registries to reflect their tastes and what they plan to do while they're on their honeymoon. Hitchd, for example, lets couples list their airfare and hotel as gifts that can be bought as well as a ton of other cool experiences such as ziplining, snorkeling, snowboarding and skiing.
Honeymoon registries work best for couples who may be one or more of the following:
- Have been living together for some time
- Are older and have lived separately until after the wedding
- Have families of their own and plan to blend their households
- Believe in having a more sustainable, eco-friendly wedding
Couples usually choose honeymoon registries because they're more focused on having a wonderful experience on their honeymoon. They've had time to build a home together, and there are few home products that they need. Couples getting married later in life or bringing their children together would rather combine what they have then get new towels and soap dispensers.
If you think you might make a honeymoon fund on Hitchd or any other site, here are a few tips to get you started:
Provide a good description of what you plan to do.
Honeymoon funds are all about making guests feel like they're part of your honeymoon, so with each item, share what it is you'll do and provide links and photos when possible.Break up big expenses into smaller gifts.
Few guests will want to pay your entire hotel bill, but if you break it down into $100 or even $75 gifts, then several guests can join together to pay. Make sure you include a photo (or a link) of your hotel so guests can see the amazing location. At Hitchd, we pre-load all our accounts with the three most popular gifts for registries. This helps couples get started quickly and get a feel for how the registry works.Connect your bank account to your honeymoon fund.
When guests purchase a gift from your honeymoon fund, it will go straight to your bank account, which means you can use the money right away.
If you need help building your dream honeymoon registry, check out some of Hitchd's other great articles on what to write on your honeymoon registry and tacky mistakes to avoid when building your honeymoon registry.
Start building your dream honeymoon registry now. Start your registry
Which wedding registry type is best for you
Both wedding registry options provide you and your partner with great gift ideas that will surely make your guests happy. If you're split between a traditional and honeymoon registry, here are a few questions to ask yourself:
Where do you plan on going for your honeymoon?
If you plan to stay in your country, then your expenses might be more manageable than if you planned to travel elsewhere.What do you really need for your home?
Think about what you already have and what you really need. Do you really need more towels or sheets or do you not have a bedspread or bath mat at all?What are your short-term plans?
If you and your partner live together and plan to buy a home in the next year after you're married, then you might want to wait and see what your home looks like before buying furniture and accessories.
Sit down with your partner and talk these questions out. When you feel comfortable knowing what you need from your registry, you'll feel confident in your decision.
A hybrid wedding registry: How a traditional registry and honeymoon fund can complement each other
Who says you can't go with a traditional and a honeymoon registry?
What's great about Hitchd is that it allows you to combine elements of a traditional wedding registry with a honeymoon fund. You may be dedicated to doing a honeymoon fund, but there are just a few home items, like new sheets, a vacuum or a set of pots and pans, that would make life so much easier for you and your partner. With Hitchd, you can add these one-off gifts to your honeymoon fund without having to create a separate wedding registry.
All you need is a photo of the item that you want, a short description and a link to tell people where to purchase it. You can add as many physical gifts as you like.
Some couples find this feature helpful because some relatives prefer to give a physical gift than just cash. While wedding etiquette has changed over the years, some people still insist on giving physical gifts. When using Hitchd, you can provide wedding guests with plenty of options so they choose what feels right for them.
Traditional and honeymoon registries provide great options for today's evolving couples. As no two weddings are the same, why should the registries?
Whether couples choose one type of wedding registry or the other or choose a hybrid model, engaged couples now have the freedom to do what's best for themselves and set up a wedding registry that fits their lifestyles.
Start building your dream honeymoon registry now. Start your registry
Looking for the #1 way to fund your honeymoon?
Hitchd is a new type of honeymoon registry that helps fund your adventure of a lifetime. Think of us as your very own wishing well, Kickstarter, and travel planner, all rolled into one beautiful experience.