Wondering how to let your guests know politely about your honeymoon registry? Have you had to politely explain your registry to guests with questions? Honeymoon registry etiquette advice can be hard to find, and when you do, it can be conflicting. Here are the best pieces of advice for honeymoon registry etiquette. By following these five basic guidelines, you will be following the best etiquette practices and you’ll minimize the risk of offending anyone.
Never Advertise Your Honeymoon Registry in Your Wedding Invitations
Miss Manners says it is not polite to include your registry website information in your wedding invitations. Instead, you should rely on your bridal party and family members to help spread the word about your honeymoon registry, and you can also put the registry information in your bridal shower invitations. Most people will ask either you, someone in your bridal party, or a family member where you're registered so they can get gift ideas. Word of mouth is often a great way to get the word out about your honeymoon registry.
Also, many honeymoon registry websites will provide registry announcement cards for your bridal shower invitations, will post to your Facebook wall the gifts you've received from your honeymoon registry, and will help you send emails to people on your guest list. These simple things are enough to make sure that most of your guests are aware of your honeymoon registry, and you don't have to break any rules of etiquette to do it!
Create a Wedding Website
There are multiple online options where you can create a website with all the information about your wedding that’s hard to get into the invitation. Guests will love reading your engagement story, learning about your future plans, and getting all the details on your wedding. This is the perfect place to include a link to your honeymoon registry, since the majority of your guests will visit your site to learn more about your wedding plans.
Take Time to Explain to Guests Why You're Using a Honeymoon Registry
Let's face it; if you're doing something a little different – like using a honeymoon registry – you may get questions from friends and family members. Take the time to explain to people the reasons and the benefits of using a honeymoon registry. If you have lived on your own and have many of the house items needed to start a new home together, then explaining this to your guests will help them understand why you have decided to use a honeymoon registry.
It’s important that your guests understand that you will receive their gift funds to purchase the honeymoon gift experience they’ve purchased for you. Many guests will find that giving gift funds that they know will be used for a ‘swimming with the dolphins’ experience is more personal and rewarding than just giving cash on your wedding day.
We also recommend having a traditional registry in addition to your honeymoon registry. This will provide your wedding guests with more options. You may find that your older guests prefer to give traditional wedding gifts – and having both registries will allow you to accommodate everyone.
Gift Variety
Your guests will also appreciate having a variety of price points to choose from. Gift prices ranging from $10 to $200 are most common. You want to ensure that all your guests are comfortable based on their financial ability. Expensive items can be broken down into smaller increments. For example, a $400 honeymoon suite can be listed as 4 gifts of $100 each.
Send out Specific Thank You Notes
One of the best parts about a honeymoon registry with Honeymoon Pixie is that you are provided with a thank you list containing all your gifts and the contact information of each gift giver. This gives you the opportunity to thank guests personally and specifically for their generous gift toward your honeymoon.
My advice is to save thank you note writing for after the honeymoon. Then, you can tell the guests who helped buy your snorkeling adventure about the excitement you experienced when you saw Nemo and other tropical fish, or email the guests who helped upgrade your room a photo of the view from your honeymoon suite. Specific thank you notes make guests feel like they did something really special for the two of you, so let them know how much you appreciate them and their gift to you.
About the Author: Andrew Marino is the CEO of HoneymoonPixie.com, an industry leader in providing honeymoon gift registries for engaged couples. Couples create their free honeymoon registry website and receive honeymoon planning advice and travel tips. Andrew also serves as a contributing Senior Travel Editor.
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