Honeymoon Registry. What Exactly is it?

We all know that when a bride and groom register with a Bridal Registry what they’re doing is registering for the gifts that they would like to receive. A shop, or shops, keep a list of these preferred gifts and when a guest selects one they wrap it and send it to the bridal couple’s nominated address.

But how does that work in the case of a Honeymoon, when there are no actual gifts involved? And with whom exactly does a bride and groom register? Considering that Honeymoons are mostly associated with travel, would it be a travel agent?

For a moment we need to stop thinking about the Honeymoon in connection with travel, and return to the original concept of Registry as a place where a bride and groom register a list of their preferred gifts. Even in the case of the Honeymoon, it is still a question of gifts. But now, the Honeymoon itself is the gift. And, instead of selecting a cup and saucer, or a kettle, as a guest would in the case of the traditional Bridal Registry, a guest will give the bridal couple a sliver of the Honeymoon.

To most of us, the newness of Honeymoon Registries makes the process seem a great deal more complicated than the Bridal Registries, until we realize that even Bridal Registries, familiar as they are to us, are not necessarily exactly the same. A young couple, starting almost with nothing, will have a vastly different list of preferred gifts than a couple who have everything, including their own home and half a dozen children.

One could almost say, that the Honeymoon Registry is just another facet of the Bridal Registry, trying to accomodate a need, that in the past was always considered the responsibility of the couple concerned, rather than their relatives and friends.