I had a terrible thought today. As I was going over the vague budget we have (vague because we are so far out that we don’t have any vendor prices), I realized that after we spend the money on our vendors and decorations we will have no money left for the honeymoon. We are scrimping every place we can right now just to save for the wedding and there is no way to be able to save more for the honeymoon. I was naive to think our whole budget could cover both things I guess.
As a result of this mini panic attack, I began brain storming ways to be able to get money for that all important trip. I think, first of all, that we shouldn’t go after our wedding. Any trip we take in August is going to more expensive than if we took it in the winter months. Secondly, it might be best to take a cruise. With a cruise you have three big expenses to consider, boat cost, plane fare, and any added off-boat expenses. It would be easy to budget for those things rather than looking at all the factors of, say, a European tour, which is what I really wanted. It has always been my dream to wander around Europe, but it might be best to port in the Mediterranean and wander bits of Europe.
And thirdly, and most importantly, the almighty Registry. I’m sure back in the day when people weren’t living together (or on their own) before they got married an “items” registry was practical. But let’s be honest, that is just not the case our modern-day. Couples are living together more and more to save money on everyday costs, so they already have all the house-hold items anyone would need. Because my fiance lives with me, I have two food processors, two bread makers, two TVs and two beds…not to mention various other sundries boys bring along with them. So what is a tactful way of saying, “Please no gifts, just send some money.” I do have a few answers
#1 Don’t sign up for a registry. When you are asked about it, say that you can’t think of anything you need. People understand that a gift should be brought, so without guidance they will most likely bring a card with cash or a check. You can even set up a little display to show you will use their generous gifts for your honeymoon
You can also put a collection jar near the cake or the cash bar, so if people do have cash on them, they might stash some in the jar.
#2 This is quite interesting. I did some digging around to find a polite way to ask for cash instead, and I found this wonderful web site: Deposit A Gift. This site basically allows you to open a savings account where you can post things that you want or need, and your guests can put money toward those things. For instance, I could highlight on this page that we need money for our honeymoon, and guests type in the dollar amount the want to contribute, which gets put right into your account. You can also create an “About Us” page, to tell the relatives who don’t know both of you, a little bit about your relationship. There are other pages where you can talk about your wedding details, so no one has an excuse to forget! Now for the fun catch, because there always is one, there is a service charge fee for overhead and credit cards. While setting up an account is free, whenever your guest goes to give their gift a service fee of 7.5% of the total gift. They do give you a choice, either you can pay the fee, or the gift giver can pay it…but someone has to.
You can also try:
OurWishingWell – The interest rate lowers the more money you get, but you (and only) must pay the fee when you withdraw the money
AGreatAffair – The same as Deposit A Gift but they are saying 7% interest
MyRegistry – This site offers a Cash Gift site, but here, PayPal charges a fee, and they also charge a fee when a gift is given, which slowly goes up as the dollar amount goes up
Honeyfund – A friend of mine who is getting married very soon told me about this site, which seems to be the best deal out of all the sites I’ve looked at. Right on the home page it tells you that they do not charge a transaction fee. This is true, but PayPal does charge a fee. However this is the best deal out of all the sites I’ve found, because they do not charge an additional fee on top of what PayPal charges. All the instructions on set up look pretty straight forward and the site is pretty cute. You can pay for an upgraded page with no ads, more templates, and a photo slide show, but it only costs $39 once. I give Honeyfund my stamp of approval, so far, it’s the one I would use.
I will probably shop around more for the best deal, but this does seem to be the most efficient way of receiving cash for the honeymoon. Here’s hoping we can afford to do something fun! I should probably stop worrying about money and get back to making paper flowers. Stay tuned to find out how the paper Ranunculus turns out!
Flat Broke Bride 