What is a Honeymoon Registry?
More couples are getting
married after they have lived on their own and
are established in apartments or homes. They
have many of the household items that are traditional
wedding gifts, such as pots & pans, toasters
and dishes. Thus the nature of bridal registry
has been changing. One offspring solution to
this problem is a honeymoon registry.
Honeymoon
Registry Services offer a solution for these
couples and their friends and family wishing
to buy them meaningful wedding gifts. This is
done through a three-step process whereby it
is possible to buy parts of the honeymoon as
wedding gifts.
First, contact
your travel agent for assistance in planning
your honeymoon. Your agent can then suggest
different honeymoon destinations and put together
packages tailored to your interests. Second,
your travel agent will then put you in touch
with a honeymoon registry service, to finalize
honeymoon activities and then set up a registry
so that guests can help pay for your dream honeymoon.
The honeymoon registry service should be able
to make suggestions on possible honeymoon activities.
Third, after a couples’ honeymoon has
been planned, the honeymoon registry service
can take those plans and put them into a registry
list, just like one that you would find at a
department store. But instead of the list containing
household items, it contains pieces of a couples’
honeymoon.
Not only
do friends and family have the opportunity to
help the couple pay for airfare and resort accommodations,
but they can also buy romantic gifts, such as
a candlelit dinner. The items on honeymoon registry
lists can include activities or “extras”
that the couple would like to do on their honeymoon,
the beginning of their new life together. Selected
activities might include items such as breakfast
in bed, a champagne welcome, scuba diving, horseback
riding, ski lift tickets, casino chips, tickets
to shows and much, much more.
Honeymoon
registries are a new way of helping the couple
begin their new life together. Dishes, toasters
and china may break or get old, but a honeymoon
gift will always be a memory of a special time
in their lives. However, not all honeymoon
registry services are created equal.
Some travel
agencies advertise having a registry service,
although all their service may include is allowing
your friends and family to mail in checks towards
your trip. Those checks may have to have been
received 60 days prior to your trip. Not many
guests will purchase gifts that early. You do
need to make sure to choose the right service
that will provide you and your guests with the
best possible service and which will result
in the most successful registry.
Following
are questions that you can ask to help you determine
how your honeymoon registry will be received:
1.
Does the company provide an itemized registry
list or do friends and family simply contribute
money? Most friends and family members want
to feel like they are purchasing something meaningful
for you as a wedding gift, and if they have
a list describing what they are purchasing it
will make a better gift giving experience for
them. Simply asking for money is not considered
proper etiquette.
2.
How will your friends and family make purchases?
Does the company accept credit cards? Does the
company have a toll free 800 number? How will
they get the registry list to your friends and
family? The process needs to be as accessible
as possible, especially for out of town friends.
A registry service should put your registry
list on the Internet, where out-of-town friends
and family can easily access it.
3.
Will your friends and family receive anything
to show for their purchase? They should receive
a gift certificate and a receipt. Without proper
documentation, how will you know who has purchased
what gift?
4.
Will there be an opportunity later for family
and friends to see what items they have purchased
as a wedding gift? Many couples take pictures
during their honeymoon and have them posted
on the company’s web site for everyone
to view.
5.
Does the company specialize in honeymoon registry?
Will the people answering the phone know who
you are and help make the purchase as easy as
possible for your friends and family?
6.
How long has the company been offering honeymoon
registry? The company’s experience in
offering such a registry will also reflect on
the success.
7.
What certifications or memberships does the
company have? A membership in the Better Business
Bureau is always a good sign. You want to make
sure to entrust your registry to a reputable
company.
By
Liana Carlson
