Nicole DePinto, left, and her husband, Anthony, look at their crowdfunding page on an iPad. Websites such as Honeyfund, GoFundMe and Honeymoon Wishes make it easy to raise cash for a post-wedding getaway. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)How to do it
Thinking of setting up a registry to raise cash for a honeymoon? You have options.GoFundMe, Honeyfund and Honeymoon Wishes are among the sites that help couples ask wedding guests for honeymoon funds. The sites charge fees, so make sure to read what each one charges before committing. The companies say the fees cover payment processing and website maintenance.Gofundme› How it works: This crowdfunding site, best known for collecting donations for medical emergencies and local causes, also has a section for weddings and honeymoons. GoFundMe campaigns are public and can be found by anyone, although family and friends you send the link to are most likely to donate.› Fees: 7.9 percent plus 30 cents per donation in the U.S. and Canada. Fees are lower in other countries.› Online: https://www.gofundme.comHoneyfund› How it works: Couples create registries that tell guests what they’ll use the money for, such as hotel rooms, airfare, dinners or tours.› Fees: 2.8 percent plus 30 cents per donation. To avoid fees, guests can send checks instead of credit cards.› Online: http://www.honeyfund.comHoneymoon Wishes› How it works: Couples can use the site directly, selecting what they’ll use the money for, such as tours, dinners, airfare or hotels. Big resorts and cruise lines, such as Sandals and Carnival, also incorporate Honeymoon Wishes into their websites, sending cash directly to the companies that newlyweds use on their honeymoons.› Fees: 9.65 percent. Couples can pay the fee or choose to have guests pay it.› Online: https://www.honeymoonwishes.com
Before they say “I do,” soon-to-be newlyweds are increasingly going online to ask, “Will you pay for our honeymoon?”
Crowdfunding websites such as Honeyfund, GoFundMe and Honeymoon Wishes make it easy to raise cash from family and friends for a post-wedding getaway. The sites charge fees for their services – as much as 10 percent of the total collected – but people are warming up to the idea, despite the cost.
As couples increasingly live together first and marry later, they already have toasters and towels, so traditional gift registries don’t make as much sense. Honeymoon registries also provide a polite way of hinting to guests to give money instead, without breaking wedding etiquette.
“I didn’t feel right saying, ‘Hey, give me cash,'” says Nicole DePinto, who raised $2,900 on GoFundMe for an Icelandic honeymoon with her husband Anthony in December.