Honeymoon Registries - a lot of people have heard of them but to many the concept is still rather vague. Gaining in popularity over the last few years, honeymoon registries are becoming trendy and have garnered media attention from leading newspapers and television shows such as Good Morning America. But is it right for you?

Today, with many couples waiting until their late 20’s or early 30’s to marry, a traditional bridal registry may not be appropriate. Both the bride and groom-to-be probably have their own apartments complete with dishware, cutlery, coffee maker, etc.: the traditional wedding gifts a couple would register for at a department store. Here’s where the honeymoon registry fills a perfect niche. Instead of registering for traditional gifts like a gravy boat the couple would register for different parts of their honeymoon from one night at a Bed and Breakfast to a romantic sunset dinner cruise.

But what exactly is a honeymoon registry?

A honeymoon registry allows a couple to break up their honeymoon trip into portions that a wedding guest can purchase as a gift. Examples might be, Parasailing in Jamaica, $75; Moped Rentals for 2 on Grand Bahama Island, $100; 1 night stay at a bed and breakfast, $60. Guests may purchase one of these gifts and are given a gift certificate to present to you showing their purchase.

In general, most of the companies we found on the internet do not charge any fees to the couple. There is however a non-refundable fee on each gift purchase, usually a certain percentage of the purchase. A 10-15% handling fee may be charged so do ask in advance. Some companies also may charge for registry cards which you can send to your guest to let them know where you are registered. If you have one of the free wedding web pages that you build yourself, often you can include your bridal registry/honeymoon registry info there or make up your own cards telling guests where you’re registered.

(*All fees mentioned in this article are subject to change.)

Most honeymoon registries will let you register with them even if you have not booked your travel plans with them. Keep in mind the honeymoon registries are getting a percentage of each gift purchased. On the other hand, they do provide a unique service that’s a lot of fun and relatively easy for your wedding guests to use to purchase gifts.

Tips and Ideas:

We love the idea of a honeymoon registry. However, because most honeymoon registries charge a handling fee to your guests, wouldn’t you rather have the cash and manage the money yourself? Or consider another option. Book your honeymoon with a local travel agent and then get your guests to purchase gift certificates. We spoke to 4 local travel agents in Atlantic County who offer this service Beach Bum Vacations, Preferred Travel, Liberty Travel and Sojern Travel. There are two big advantages with the gift certificates. If you book with a local travel agency your guests can purchase gift certificates without the handling fees. Also, you’ll have the peace of mind of having a person locally to meet with if you have questions, concerns or problems. While gift certificates towards your honeymoon are not the same as a "true" honeymoon registry in which you register for individual parts of the trip, your grandmother would more than likely feel better about buying a gift certificate for you from a local business than over the internet. Some of the disadvantages: many travel agents will require cash or check for gift certificate purchases (vs. credit card) and out-of-town guests would have to mail in to order a gift certificate from your travel agent. Finally, ask the travel agent if gift certificates toward your honeymoon can be purchased up to the week before the wedding. Many travel agents will require that your honeymoon be paid in full 30-60 days before the trip and therefore wouldn’t accept gift certificate purchases during the 1-2 months before your wedding when most gifts are purchased.

Regardless of which honeymoon registry you choose, a good rule of thumb is not to book a honeymoon that is more than you can afford.

I don’t care how many seals of approval are on a site - this is your money so do your research. Ask for references and follow through with those references, via phone or email. Ask how long the company has been in business. Ask your friends if they know anyone who has used a honeymoon registry they found on the internet and find out what their experience was like.

There is a lot of fine print on honeymoon registry sites. Print it out and read it through a couple times later after you’re off the computer. Make sure you understand all the fine print.

Ask the unthinkable: what if your wedding plans fell apart and you had to cancel your honeymoon. Would you get a refund on the honeymoon you booked? Would the gifts already purchased be refunded to guests? Are there any penalties?

Log on to your favorite search engine and enter "honeymoon&registry" and you should get a long list. Some of the ones we found were AfterIDo.com, featured on Good Morning America, and thehoneymoon.com. We do not recommend, represent or are in any way affiliated with these registries but offer them as a starting point - they just happened to be in the top 10 in our search.  Many of the local travel agents in our services section offer a honeymoon registry service and they handle all the details.  

• Article on Honeymoon Registries at wedalert.com
  Informative article with additional info on honeymoon registries.

• Alternative Gift Registry Ideas
  The about.com site is a great resource and by running a search on honeymoon registry it linked to a page that had some other interesting ideas for gift registries for brides or other special occasions. Link is shown above.