Adding a honeymoon fund to your Amazon wedding registry

There's a reason Amazon remains one of the most popular sites for couples looking to build a wedding registry. The company stocks hundreds of thousands of items, practically anything you'll ever need for your home, and because so many people have Amazon Prime accounts, many of your guests can enjoy free two-day shipping — great for those last-minute gifts. The company makes returning or exchanging gifts easy, and most products come in multiple colors, so you can always get the exact shade and finish you want.

But for those couples considering a honeymoon fund, then an Amazon wedding registry just can't compare. Gift cards aside, the platform cannot be used to build a cash fund or ask for honeymoon-related gifts, such as a romantic dinner for two or a spa package.

Luckily, there is a way to add a honeymoon fund to your Amazon wedding registry, thus creating a hybrid wedding registry. Sounds intriguing? Here's what to know about hybrid wedding registries and how to get started.

What is a hybrid wedding registry?

A hybrid wedding registry combines the traditional wedding registry with new types of registries, such as the honeymoon fund or cash fund. By combining the two registries, you can ask for all types of gifts, from the typical toasters and sheet sets to the honeymoon-centric city tours or snorkeling excursions.

As you probably know, a honeymoon fund helps you raise money to pay for your honeymoon. It works just like an Amazon registry, but instead of giving towels and blankets, guests can chip in to help pay for accommodations, airfare, meals, special tours or even adventure excursions. Guests love finding that unique gift that will always be remembered, and sending the happy couple to a candlelit dinner for two on their honeymoon couldn't be more exciting.

Unlike traditional registries, guests don't actually book anything or buy anything. When you add a gift, you get to set the amount. Your guests can then choose which gifts they want to give you, and they send you the money through your registry. Once you have the cash, you can use it to book flights and hotel rooms and set up that spa day.

In most cases, two different platforms host these registries, but with Hitchd, you can build one registry with everything you need on it. Hitchd allows you to add both physical and honeymoon-related gifts, so you could build just one registry and ask for items from both types of registries. That's just one way they simplify the wedding registry process.

Why adding a honeymoon fund to an Amazon wedding registry makes sense

Although Amazon carries just about any product in every size and every color, the platform does have a few drawbacks and limitations that can make you and your partner reconsider whether Amazon fits your needs.

Choosing products on Amazon can be a bit of a gamble. Because you cannot see the product in a store, you have to trust that the listing describes the product accurately and the photos are truthful. Most listings, especially those sold directly through Amazon, lay all of the information out clearly, and most people are happy with the products they eventually receive. But there's always a chance of getting a fraudulent or fake product. And of course, there's always the chance that when you see the product in person the shade is not quite right or the quality is lower than expected.

For some products on your registry, especially the more expensive ones, you might want to buy the product yourself so you can take your time doing the research needed and get just what you want. With a honeymoon registry like Hitchd, you can add physical gifts as well as honeymoon ones. Many couples like to add luggage to their Hitchd registries, but you can also add that expensive vacuum or stand mixer. Because guests send you the money with a honeymoon registry and not the actual gift, you will receive the money and then buy the product on your own.

Honeymoons also fill gaps in where a traditional registry, like one on Amazon, falters. Consider:

• Whether you and your partner need more household items. Maybe you've been living together for a while or perhaps you and your partner connected later in life. Whatever the case, you two have most of the household necessities, and you don't need to upgrade or replace them. There could be a few items you'd like for your home, but not enough to build a full registry.
• What your immediate plans are. Will the two of you buy a home? Start a family right away? Redecorate or remodel? Some of those items on your registry may not be as useful in another year or maybe you won't have room for so much extra stuff.
• That what you really need above all else is money as a wedding gift. It's the one gift that almost every couple could really use, and yet, it's always difficult to ask for it on a registry.

A honeymoon registry can fit every one of those scenarios. It can supplement a small traditional registry so that when those gifts have been bought, guests still have your honeymoon registry to support.

Because you receive the cash to pay for the gift, you can also use the money as needed. That, of course, does not mean that you should pocket the money and never spend it on your honeymoon. Your friends and relatives will feel slighted and cheated if they find out that they helped pay for a new pair of boots instead of your honeymoon, so you shouldn't add an activity or tour to your registry that you don't actually plan to do to your honeymoon registry.

What to know before building a hybrid wedding registry

You can combine an Amazon wedding registry with a honeymoon fund to create a hybrid registry that fits both your needs and the needs of your guests. Some wedding guests, especially older ones, prefer to buy the happy couple a physical gift that the guest will be able to see in the home. It gives them a sense of pride knowing that the couple will always think of the guest when they toast bread in the morning or change the sheets.

The honeymoon fund meets your needs in getting help to pay for your honeymoon. If you're worried about having to pay for a wedding and then a honeymoon on top of that, a honeymoon fund will help you feel confident as you book your accommodations and activities.

Before you start, here's what you need to know about building a hybrid wedding registry.

Don't overwhelm guests with two large lists

The point of a hybrid registry is to gently guide guests towards sending you money to pay for your honeymoon. But if you have two large registries, then you probably won't raise enough money on your honeymoon fund.

The key here is to create a smaller Amazon wedding registry and fill out your honeymoon registry a bit more to encourage guests to contribute to your honeymoon fund. Hopefully, the Amazon registry will fill up fast, thereby pushing more guests over to the honeymoon fund. If the Amazon registry is also left with more expensive items, then guests will naturally head to the honeymoon fund to choose a gift.

Honeymoon funds also come with a fantastic benefit: They casually tell wedding guests that you and your partner would prefer cash without actually saying that you want money as a wedding gift. That's fantastic. Some guests, after seeing the Amazon registry fill up, might just opt for giving you a cheque in a card at the wedding instead of contributing to your honeymoon fund.

With Hitchd, guests can choose a gift on the honeymoon fund and then choose “cheque” in the payment options to indicate to you that the guest plans to give you a cheque with the full gift amount at your wedding. This helps you financially as you can feel confident booking your spa day or planning a romantic evening at an expensive restaurant, and it allows guests to bring a cheque in a card, if that's easiest for them.

So keep your Amazon wedding registry small, and guests will naturally gravitate towards your honeymoon fund.

Choose a honeymoon registry that fits your needs

Like any other part of the wedding planning process, choosing a honeymoon fund platform requires research before settling on one fund. Here are a few things to consider as you research your options:

• Think of the look and layout of the site: A good user-friendly experience is critical to the success of any honeymoon fund. If the site is covered in ads — or you have to pay to have an ad-free site — then it may be difficult for less savvy internet users to find your page. You also want a site that puts gratitude above all else, with a nice introduction and the freedom to write your own gift descriptions. This gives you the power to show guests how grateful you are for their generosity at every step of the process.
• May payment easy for guest:Although it's hard to believe nowadays, not everyone is comfortable using different payment platforms online. Everyone has different levels of comfort. Most people feel okay paying by credit card online, but others might prefer cash apps like PayPal and Venmo because they do not require giving other third parties a bank account number. Make sure the platform you choose has multiple ways that users can pay for gifts (Hitchd has options for cash apps, cheques and even Bitcoins.
• Get help building the registry:Let's face it, building a honeymoon fund from the ground up can be a daunting task, especially when you're already short on time planning your wedding. Although you should add your own personal touches and thank-yous, you can also choose a platform that has text generators for introductions and gift descriptions. These generators, like the ones Hitchd uses, gives you the basic text so you can tweak it as needed or leave it as is. Hitchd also has a photo library so you can easily make each gift list visually stunning.
• Pay attention to the fee structure: There's no such thing as a free honeymoon registry. Some sites that claim to be free often make you pay to remove ads from your site or use “upgraded features” such as extra photos. All sites use some kind of fee structure. Read more about these fee structures here.
• Look for added perks:Some registries go above and beyond to provide added perks that will make your life easier as your big day moves closer and closer. One major perk: Keeping track of who gave you which gift so you can thank them with an emailed thank-you and a follow-up thank-you card in the mail. This is just one of the many small perks that Hitchd offers all its users.

Finding one honeymoon fund to fit all of your needs may seem challenging, but once you start comparing and contrasting sites, you'll feel more confident that you found the right platform that fits all of your unique needs.

Remember to crosslink your registries

How will anyone know to look for your hybrid registry if they don't know both types of registries exist?

When you finish building both registries, make sure you add a link to the other site on each registry. If you're using Hitchd, for example, then you can add the Amazon registry link to your introduction. This will make it easier for guests to toggle back and forth between registries if they're unsure what to get you.

How to add a honeymoon fund to your Amazon registry

Adding a honeymoon fund to your Amazon registry could not be any easier. Here are the steps to make it happen:

• Build your Amazon registry:Remember, keep this list somewhat small so it will fill up quickly and move more guests over to your honeymoon registry. Your Amazon registry should have far fewer gifts than guests invited to your wedding.
• Build your honeymoon fund:This is a great time to sit down with your partner and start seriously planning your honeymoon together. You can choose where you want to stay and which activities you want to do while you're on vacation. Planning while building your registry will also help you think how you'll pay for your honeymoon and how you can stop from overexerting yourself financially. As you make decisions and add gifts, be sure to include links to the hotels, museums and spas you plan to visit. This helps guests live vicariously through your gift and envision what their contribution will give you two. See our tips on building your honeymoon fund.
• Launch both registries:Once you build your registries, it's important to hit the final “launch” button. This will make both registries live so other people can see them.
• Add a link to your honeymoon fund to your Amazon wedding registry:Now that both sites are live, crosslink them by adding links to the introduction of both sites. Add the Amazon link to your honeymoon registry introduction, and add the honeymoon fund link to your Amazon introduction. It's a small step, but it's important to let guests know that there are two registries.
• Add both links to your wedding website: If you have a third-party wedding website with all the information about your big day, then don't forget to add your registry links. This will be the first place guests go, so make sure it's clear where you are registered.
• Include the wedding website on your invitations and save-the-dates: Don't add the links to your registries. That's tacky, but you can add your wedding website link and include a note saying, “For dates, times, addresses and registries, check out our site as XX.com.”

Once the invites go out, then you're all set! Now it's time to sit back, relax and be ready to answer any questions for guests.

It's easy to add a honeymoon fund to your Amazon registry. The best way to do so is to work together with your partner to plan everything out together. You'll be on the same page when it comes to what you're doing for gifts, and it gives you two an opportunity to plan out what you want to do for your honeymoon and get excited about it.