I never thought I’d be writing an article sharing how you can actually finance your honeymoon with crowdfunding. It’s SO cool!
If you haven’t already check it out, I highly recommend reading through this article where we broke down some of the things that you should know about crowdfunding your wedding. Now, let’s talk honeymoons.
1. Choose the right platform
I like to break down the websites out there into two categories. The first is a website that’s a dedicated honeymoon or wedding registry. Three that come to mind are:
HoneyFund
HoneyFund has processed $372,405,756 in transactions and has a lot of experience in this space since first starting in 2006.
What I like about HoneyFund is their dedication to helping you generate honeymoon registry ideas, provide sample registries, and also educate about budging, planning, and the etiquette surrounding a wedding/honeymoon.
If you have your gift-givers send their money to you via cash or check, there are no fees. But, if you accept online payments, there will be transaction fees. In addition, if you’d like your registry to include functionality like design themes, gift item images, photos slideshows, and more, there is the Honeyfund Elite program that you can opt into for $39.99 at the time of writing.
Also!! I had Sarah Margulis on my podcast in episode 83, who is the founder of HoneyFund and a SharkTank entrepreneur. She discusses the best practices for crowdfunding and her new personal crowdfunding website, Plumfund.
Wanderable
Wanderable is another honeymoon registry website that you can use to help finance the cost of your honeymoon. Personally, I like the design and registry layouts that they offer. I also like how you can send personalized post cards to your donors to express your gratitude.
Similar to HoneyFund, Wanderable charges credit card processing fees, but they also have a small 2.5% fee when you withdraw the funds to your account. “Couples who choose to book with an experience provider in Wanderable’s network have no fees.”
Traveler’s Joy
Traveler’s Joy was started in 2004 and has served over 200,000 since 2014. The website lets you create a honeymoon registry and makes it easy to accept contributions from wedding guests, family, and friends.
Similar to the websites listed above, Traveler’s Joy will charge a 3% processing fee if you decide to accept online contributions. “For gifts given using a credit card, 2.95% is deducted from the gift amount. The gift giver is also charged 2.95% + $0.99 on checkout.”
Traveler’s Joy has experience in this space and they have a lot of partnerships and destinations for you to choose from!
The common theme among these three websites is that if you can, get your guests to provide their gifts via cash or check to avoid website and transaction fees.
There are a lot of other sites I could include in this list, like HoneymoonWishes, but I wanted to highlight these three. If you think I left any out, feel free to leave a comment below.
In contrast to “honeymoon registry websites,” there are also personal crowdfunding websites that you can use to raise money for your wedding or honeymoon.
Actually, I talk a lot about how to do this in my latest Amazon ebook, Crowdfunding Personal Expenses. I go over the strategy that I recommend, along with a step-by-step plan that you can use to raise money online.
I think that crowdfunding is foreign to a lot of people out there, but it’s not rocket science! Just follow my guide and you’ll be quickly brought up to speed and have the BEST practices for getting contributions online.
Also, I do want to say that this ebook focuses on personal crowdfunding as a whole, not solely on crowdfunding for weddings/honeymoons, though I do dedicate time to this niche.
If you decide to check it out, I hope you enjoy it!! Okay, let’s look into some of the websites that you can use to get funding for your honeymoon.
GoFundMe
GoFundMe is a personal crowdfunding website that you can use to raise money for a variety of causes, weddings and honeymoons included!
If you wanted a less sophisticated option, I think that websites like GoFundMe are a great idea. Instead of having contributors donate for specific items on your registry, they can just give money or opt for one of the rewards that you come up with.
There are thousands of couples who have used GoFundMe. You also don’t have to offer “rewards” or just simply take donations. You can also create wish-list items that people will help “grant.”
You should expect to pay between 6-8% in fees total. There will be a 5% platform fee and then a payment processing fee.
Generosity
The other personal crowdfunding that I’ll mention in this post is Generosity, which was created by Indiegogo. Similar to GoFundMe, Generosity is a personal cause crowdfunding websites that you can use to raise money to help finance your honeymoon or wedding.
Generosity has a 0% platform fee, but Indiegogo will ask your guests for a donation upon checkout. There is also a 3% payment processing fee for online transactions + 30 cents per donation.
I think that the functionality for Generosity is very similar to GoFundMe, though the fee structure is very different. You can also set donation levels for your fundraising campaign.
There are a lot more websites that you can use, which I’ve thoroughly investigated in my Amazon ebook. The three things that I would keep in mind when choosing a platform that’s right for you are:
- Ease of use and design
- Types of fees
- Level of dedicated functionality. Some honeymoons are more sophisticated than others.
Once you choose the platform, it’s time to tackle the most difficult part of online giving, educating your contributors!
2. Honeymoon crowdfunding étique
We live in a society where so many people think that they’re entitled with a “me, me, me!” mentality. Here’s a shocker… you’re not entitled to ANYTHING.
While yes, it’s obviously customary to give a gift when you attend a wedding, you should never expect one nor give the impression that you’re inviting people to your wedding because they’re going to give a gift. You don’t want to send the wrong message.
No matter what anyone tells you, communication is ALL about feelings. Your words affect how other people feel about you and how they feel about themselves.
To give you an example, someone I know recently attended a wedding that had a wedding registry. When they found out about this wedding/honeymoon registry, their first reaction was to the effect of “Ugh, I don’t want to figure this site out. Can’t I just give money? It’s my gift after all! They should just be happy we want to write them a check.”
The direct ask from the couple to check out their wedding/honeymoon registry resulted in feelings of:
- Annoyance
- Being taken for granted
- Frustration
Some people that you tell about your honeymoon registry will be more than happy to check it out and give you money. Others will experience feelings similar to those above. Maybe they’re not tech savvy, or they quite simply are having a bad day.
The goal is to successfully navigate these different reactions and feelings.
Here’s what I would recommend (and you can provide your thoughts in the comments). First, all communication, whether it’s via mail, email, text, or phone should not be a direct ask to give money to your honeymoon registry. The focus should be on building excitement, appreciation, and reminding people why they love you.
One way to naturally build excitement is through social media, like a Facebook page or Facebook event dedicated to the wedding. It could even be an Instagram account that’s devoted to the couple (or your own Instagram account). The best way would be to set up a simple website that has information about dates, times, and of course, the link to your honeymoon registry.
Aside from vital logistical information, the social media, website, and email communications serve to create feelings of:
- “Awww so cute.”
- “I’m so excited!”
- “This is going to be great.”
As you’re pumping positive emotions into people with social media, you’re naturally going to have the chance to answer frequently occuring questions.
“Hey guys, we’re sooo excited and blown away by all the love you’ve been showering us with. We’ve been getting a lot of questions about this honey moon registry thing that has been going around. To make things easier, we’ve explained it here (link). Can’t wait for _(something about the wedding)___!!”
This way, you’re not directly asking guests to do something. You’re simply answering a question that a lot of people have asked! Also, since other people have been asking for more information about the registry, it creates a bit of social pressure. People are naturally going to think… “wait what’s this people have been talking about? I’ll check it out.”
You also don’t have to directly ask for certain types of contributions. Instead, you could indirectly allude to the options with a gratitude-centric message by saying something like, “Oh my gosh, special thanks to ____, for helping us get to ___ after the wedding. We’re so grateful and didn’t expect anything like this. Also!! Big shoutout to ___ for helping with the ____.”
Of course your friends and family who care for you would be likely to like that type of Facebook post. It also makes them aware that other people are contributing and it subtly makes them want a shoutout as well. We all crave attention and recognition.
At the end of the day, many wedding goers receive information about a gift or honeymoon registry from word of mouth. If you have some core close friends that you KNOW are going to be interacting with other guests, you could always talk to them directly and explain the registry. That way, when they get questions, they can fully explain it and direct people to the place to contribute. It’s funny how things like that are more socially normal when they come from someone else rather than ourselves.
I hate to make this comparison, but you’re basically doing customer service. You can encourage people to give through a certain medium, with cash, or for a certain item, but at the end of the day you have to gauge their emotions and determine what they’re comfortable with. No matter what they choose to do, always approach these types of situations with gratitude and a small degree of humor.
3. You must follow through!!
You MUST continue to strengthen the relationships with your contributors after the honeymoon is finished. You want to make people feel good about having given money or the wedding in general. This means sharing photos, experiences, videos, and anything that will bring friends and family into your world.
The goal is go make people FEEL like they’re going on this journey with you and a part of the celebrating. After all, they made it possible. When someone feels appreciated and part of the party, they’re not even going to remember any negative feelings they may have felt beforehand.
There is never something for nothing. They might be giving you money, but you’re giving them good feelings.
I hope that this post has been helpful. If you’re getting married, congratulations!! Have a great honeymoon!!
