<p>IDK, am I the last to learn of this website?
Nephew and his fiance set up their wedding gift registry there and after I browsed around a bit I’ve decided I kinda like it.</p>
<p>They listed all kinds of activities at their honeymoon destination that you could select as a gift. I liked that there was all price points, not just big ticket items.
We vacillated between a balloon ride and zip lining.</p>
<p>So much more interesting than coffee makers and china patterns!</p>
<p>My apologies, meant to post this in the cafe!</p>
<p>I dislike gift registries of any kind, and would rather just give money. It’s impersonal, true, but selecting something off a list is just as impersonal to me. It turns a gift into a business transaction. I don’t care what kind of espresso maker the couple has decided on or whether they’d like to take a balloon ride–I really don’t. Looking at someone’s list of “wants” and figuring out which ones fit in my price range is not how I want to spend my time. Much easier to write a check.</p>
<p>Well, I was unaware this site existed. For some irrational reason, it bothers me to see couples soliciting gifts for their honeymoon. I happily give baby, shower, wedding, graduation, birthday, and …… gifts. But a honeymoon gift – I don’t think so.</p>
<p>Especially for couples that already have all the bedding, silverware, toasters,etc that anyone could ever need or want, I think offering registry ideas for the honeymoon is nice. I like the idea that we could offer them an opportunity to make a special memory that might not otherwise occur. </p>
<p>With so many second and third marriages I can see this being more personal than plain old cash.</p>
<p>I wasn’t aware of the site, but I know that a lot of young couples now make their own website and link their gift registry as well as indicate some kind of trip or other fund that people can contribute to if they wish.<br>
I don’t mind gift registries at all. In fact, I like them and almost always find something on them I’d like to purchase. I’d always rather give people something they can use. The addition of a trip fund is just an extension of that, imo, and seems to be popular today because so many more couples are living together before marriage and often have all of the practical items in their household.</p>
<p>I think a lot of people who generally give cash would find something like a trip fund appealing. It’s just another option, not a demand.</p>
<p>TutuTaxi- this particular couple suggested this site for people invited to their wedding to consider. So, this would BE our wedding gift to them, not a ‘honeymoon gift’.</p>
<p>In our case, we are unable to attend the wedding and are buying them an activity for their honeymoon trip, instead of sending a check. Their website had pictures of nephew’s fiance, who we haven’t met, and shots of them doing outdoor stuff they enjoy. I liked it.</p>
<p>I have to admit to being happy I’m not alone as far as this current social stuff goes.</p>
<p>My boyfriend’s sister just used this (in addition to a traditional registry at macy’s for those who were so inclined), and we were going to buy a gift from it until we realized that we still had to give them cash or check in person anyway… the only thing the site does is keep track of what you said you wanted the money to be used for. That seemed less interesting to me, so they got the water glasses they registered for instead.</p>
<p>I was really, really glad they registered-- even if it had just been honeyfund. It was a second marriage and they’re well into their thirties and have a home already, I’d have had no idea what they needed or what they liked and we really DIDN’T want to just write a check. For someone we don’t know that well, sure, but for immediate family that would have been a last resort for us.</p>
<p>What’s the difference between giving cash vs a gift from gift registry? No thought is given in either case. I always give cash, people can do what they will with it, unless I really like them (or family), then I spend the time to get them something personal.</p>
<p>I’m kind of “meh” on the honeyfund. My niece had one, and initially I thought it was a great idea. But it was set up way before the wedding, so the couple could plan their honeymoon, and I felt that I should donate right away. Then of course, I still felt I needed to give a gift for the wedding, so I did that too. $100 to the honeyfund and $200 for the wedding check. I would not have given them that extra $100 if not for the honeyfund, so really it seems like you’re asking for presents twice, not either/or. It was okay since it was a dear niece, but otherwise I wouldn’t have cared for it much.</p>
<p>After awhile, they ended up cancelling the honeyfund because apparently the people who set it up took too large a share of the proceeds when people donated. I don’t know how much they took. At least a gift registry doesn’t charge a commission, and really people far prefer cash anyways.</p>
<p>I liked it when people got us things from our wedding registry. 25 years later, I’m still using some of them, and I often think of the givers. I don’t really remember the folks who gave us cash.</p>
<p>I write a check. It’s easy and the couple can use it anyway they choose. Seems like the honey fund is just a way of suggesting that guests give cash.</p>
<p>It isn’t necessarily a lavish honeymoon. My bf’s sister’s wasn’t at all, and the things she registered for were regular, normal honeymoon things they were already planning on doing. We just had the opportunity to say, “Here’s some money to go out to eat,” or it gave the option for a few of us to pool together for their airfare if we were comfortable with that. I don’t really see the issue with that. It isn’t as though they were begging like they weren’t going to go if we didn’t pay for these things, the trip was already bought and paid for, these were just gifts-- and optional, like any gift.</p>
<p>It just seems to me this is another one of those things where people look for reasons to be offended.</p>
<p>^ Expressing my opinion does not mean that I am looking for a reason to be offended.</p>
<p>FWIW, 32 years ago my H and I were on a very tight budget and we took the only honeymoon that we could afford which was 2 nights in Chicago ( 90 miles from where we grew up/where the wedding was). If someone had offered us money for a nice dinner out, we would have graciously accepted, but we would not have dreamed of asking.</p>
<p>My Ss friend and newish bride (they’d lived together for a long while) had a registry of this sort for a trip to Asia. They’re teachers, and took off for a month long backpacking honeymoon post wedding. I was very glad to provide for a trip to look at orangutangs in Borneo, especially as S was the guide for part of the trip, and we all loved his photos of that experience the year before.</p>
<p>My complaint against this honeyfund really has to do with if people start it early, before the gift registries are available and well before the wedding. It puts you in a position where you feel obligated to give twice, and I think that sometimes might be the intention. Maybe okay with close friends and family who can afford to give two presents, but for general purposes it doesn’t seem appropriate to ask people for donations for the honeymoon (of any sort) far ahead of the wedding.</p>
<p>We personally couldn’t deal with anything that even resembled asking for presents, so no registries, no suggestions…people gave inexpensive gifts, some were useful and we still have them, others not so much. I was rather surprised anyone brought a gift at all, as none was expected, especially from people who had traveled far, what a large expense in itself for them. The present thing seems to be the norm now.</p>