If you’re getting married, you’ve likely tried to determine what traditional registry gifts make sense for you on your big day. In the end, registering for the stand mixer or other stuff people usually want to give a bride a groom doesn’t always add up. While wedding registries are still related to tying the knot, it seems as though times are changing and from the data. It looks as though the use of the traditional wedding registry is on the downtrend.
Physical Gift Wedding Registry vs. Digital Gift Wedding Registry
Regarding the gift giving portion, the wedding registry has two main types: physical gifts and digital registries.
Physical Gift Wedding Registry
A physical wedding registry is one where guests purchase wedding gifts from specific retail stores or websites and bring them along to your wedding. You’ll typically register a wish list of items with various price points prior to the wedding and then guests will choose a physical gift to bring along with them as proper wedding etiquette.
Digital Gifts Wedding Registry
On the other hand, a digital wedding registry is a modern way of asking for cash. When guests want to donate money to a specific cause, for example, a couple’s honeymoon, home down payment, or even contribute to a charity; these honeymoon registries are ideal.
Why Are Digital Registries Becoming More Popular
There are a few reasons why the two seem to have an inverse relationship with one another in terms of popularity rate. The traditional wedding registry is on the decrease and the modern digital way of doing things is on the up.
Giving Cash Wedding Gifts Is No Longer Taboo
In other societies, like Chinese and Italian weddings, giving cash has almost always been common ground for wedding guests. Up until recently in American culture, to ask for money or cash funds was considered tacky and something that only happened when the couple was in dire need of money.
Perhaps this was from a perceived notion that couples projected onto their guests. It’s much easier for guests to front the cash rather than trek to the store and lug the large package for the wedding.
Now, as times are changing and more people are happy to ask for cash as a gift, it seems this is the new norm. But what about the tricky guests that are set in their ways and don’t feel comfortable fronting the cash in a card?
This is why most couples are being led to create digital wedding registries, like Hitchd. This allows wedding goers to tangibly see what they will be buying for guests and takes out the ambiguity of the process. It gives them a choice to choose a gift that they would like to receive themselves, and people like to do this.
Couples Live Together Younger
Years ago, people would get married in their early 20s, then after this settle into a house and start growing their family. Living together beforehand was a complete no-no, resulting in guests having to purchase many household items for the newlywed couple as they would be moving into their new place soon after the wedding.
Couples these days are more than likely already living together, even before they are engaged. Over time society in the US has become more liberal, and living as an unmarried couple is no longer frowned upon.
In this case, lots of couples already have a foundation of furniture and other household items in their house. This effectively renders the traditional wedding registry redundant. Do you really need that second stand mixer?
Couples Get Married Later
Nowadays, the average marrying age is around 27 years old for women and 29 years old for men. The reason for this shift? Well, it seems that people are waiting longer to settle down. They want to pursue their career and other goals first before they make the huge commitment of marriage.
This newer trend gives couples more time to acquire items for their home as they will have been living in it for longer, giving them a chance to choose everything themselves. Plus their salary will be higher due to having worked for a substantial period.
The combination of these two factors effectively takes away the need for a physical wedding registry as couples can afford to buy what they want and already have plenty of household items.
Weddings Are Expensive
Why does everything go up in price tenfold if you add the word wedding to the end of it? For those of you that have been involved in the planning portion of getting married, you know exactly what we’re talking about.
According to ValuePenguin, the average US wedding cost is now $20,300. And that number is rising every year. When a new couple has finally got everything prepared, their bank accounts will likely be left bare to the bones.
With this in mind, it’s no wonder couples are now more likely to ask for cash on their wedding registry for things like a honeymoon fund or other major life events.
Hitchd Is Your Modern Wedding Registry Solution
Hitchd is the online wedding registry solution every bridal shower and wedding should be registered to. Give your friends and family the option to fund your honeymoon or shower you with gift cards without registering.
Best of all, once you save the dates are long gone and the wedding bells have quieted, Hitchd can help you organize your thank you notes for all your cash gifts.
No Hidden Costs
With Hitchd, there is just a one-off cost at the start registering for the items you genuinely want. You don’t have to pay any hidden fees, and we are one of the very few vendors who don’t take a cut of your contributions.
Best Mobile Experience
Voted the best user experience on mobile devices. Wedding planning can be stressful enough, so we’ve made it as easy and painless as possible for you and your guests to manage your wedding registry from your phone.
Personalized Wedding Registry
You can create your own custom wedding registry from a range of our elegant templates. Add photos and videos. Some fo the features you can look forward to when you choose Hitchd include:
- Extensive gift template library for popular items ready for you to take and customize
- Support for products, charities, and physical gifts
- Range of payment options for you and your guests - including Credit Card via Stripe
- Support for international guests
View a sample registry from Hitchd to get a better idea what
More Contributions
Hitchd boasts 65% more contributions than any other wedding registry. With the national average of $120 per guest, Hitchd’s average is a whopping $198 per guest. We must be doing something right.
Sign up to Hitchd today and to the stress out of wedding planning, including setting up your wedding registry.
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