How To Create Your Own Honeymoon Registry

What is it?

Monetary gift registries, also called cash registries, are a growing trend as a wedding gift alternative. They’re convenient for both you and your guests, combining the ease of a cash contribution with the thoughtfulness of a selected gift. The basic idea is an online list of items (i.e. contribution towards a home downpayment, school tuitition, and so forth) that your guests can choose from, and “buy” for you. Their cash gift is typically handled online via a credit card payment, and the proceeds are credited towards the specific item or items they select. You simply cash out the lump sum.

A honeymoon registry is just a monetary gift registry specific to your honeymoon. Thus, items might include contribution towards airfare, a hiking excursion, spa treatment, champagne brunch, or so forth. It lets guests choose specific components of your honeymoon they’d like to sponsor, and it gives you cash to help foot the bill. And when writing your thank-you cards, you can let them know how much you enjoyed their sponsored brunch or hike rather than just thanking them for the green.

There are a number of honeymoon registry services you can find on the web, but they do charge a fee, normally calculated as a percentage of your overall gift amount. A 5% – 8% fee is pretty common. Another option is to create your registry yourself, with features already available on your WedShare wedding website. Your website’s Gift Registry page is integrated with the online credit card merchant PayPal, and having everything available right on your wedding website makes it easier for your guests to find.

Want to set up yours fast and easy? Here are the steps…

Get a Free PayPal Account

PayPal is a popular, trusted service that will allow  your guests to use any major credit card to purchase your item(s) in a safe online environment. You have access to the funds right away, and PayPal’s account interface allows you to transfer the gift directly to your bank account.

To work for your honeymoon registry, your PayPal account needs to be a Premier Account or a Business Account. Both will work, and both are free to create. You select the account type when you set up the account for the first time. Go to PayPal.com to create your account, if you have not already. You can choose “Premier” when selecting the account type, as shown below.

Create a free PayPal account for your registry

Create a free PayPal account for your registry

Fill out the account creation form, and specify an email address for the new account. You’ll use this email address to identify your PayPal account when linking it to your honeymoon registry. Let’s move onto that next.

Create a WedShare Monetary Gift List

Log into your website’s control panel and edit your Online Gift Registry page by clicking its edit icon. Scroll down to the Monetary Gift Lists section and enter in a name for your registry to create it:

Create a monetary gift list on your website's Online Gift Registry page

Create a monetary gift list on your website's Online Gift Registry page

Next, edit your new registry’s preferences so you can link it with your PayPal account. Click the Preferences tab, locate the “Allow PayPal” checkbox, and check it. In the field for “Your PayPal Email Address”, enter in the email address you used to create your PayPal account:

Add your PayPal email address in the preferences of your honeymoon registry

Add your PayPal email address in the preferences of your new honeymoon registry

Click the “Save” button to save your changes. You’re almost finished…now it’s just a matter of adding the items.

Create Your Registry Items

In order for your guests to be able to sponsor your honeymoon, you’ll need to create items they can purchase. These can be anything you like: a spa treatment, candlelight dinner for two, you name it. Perhaps you’d like to split a honeymoon item so more than one guest can contribute to it–or provide an open amount contribution option. It’s your honeymoon registry, and your call.

To add an item, click the Items tab and enter in details for a new honeymoon item. When deciding what to add, you can click the “Examples” link to see some example items if you like.

Create items for your registry

Create items for your registry

You can always edit an item by selecting its Edit link from your item list. Click “Add Image” to upload any image as a graphical icon. To move an item up or down in your list, use the green arrows on the left. You can also place your items in categories if you like, such as “Travel”, “Exploration”, “Dining”, “Entertainment”, and so forth.

Edit registry items to add icon photos and other properties

Edit registry items to add icon photos and other properties

Repeat for all the items you’d like to set up. Now, when guests browse to your wedding website, they’ll be able to view and use your new honeymoon registry! Gifts will go to your PayPal account for withdrawal (see below). Here’s our sample registry, which you can see live at the WedShare online demo:

Our honeymoon registry, published and ready for use on our website

Our honeymoon registry, published and ready for use on our wedding website

Managing Purchases

To see who has purchased your items at any time, click the Purchase History tab. You can also log into your PayPal account to view your balance, withdraw money to your bank, and view your purchase history there as well.

Check your balance and withdraw at any time

Using PayPal, you can check your balance and withdraw at any time

Now you have a fully functional honeymoon registry, right on your wedding website, live and accepting gifts from your guests!

Photo Credits: PayPal screenshots from PayPal.com

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avatar About Jason

Enthusiast of traveling, writing, cinematography, all things tech, good coffee, and craft beer. Founder of Mediasoft Technologies, Inc. & WedShare.com. Author of "e-Plan Your Wedding". Follow me at @jason_melendez and check out my blog.

Comments

  1. If you’re looking for a fun, quirky idea to share with your partner, why not add a luxury LoveStars astrology report all about your relationship to your honeymoon registry. You will want the occasional lazy day in your room during your honeymoon and it’s lots of fun to read about yourself and your partner in these 35-page reports and get your marriage off to a great start, understanding each other’s personality from a fresh – but amazingly accurate – perspective. They cost $99 and include free shipping worldwide.

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