While on their honeymoon in the Poconos, Josephine and Robert Wilson of Princeton, NJ paused to take a picture -- in front of an inflatable raft on the Lehigh River, smiling big.
Josephine Wilson, née Hearn, admits it was a corny photo.
But she captured the moment for her thank-you cards. Because without her godparents, the newlyweds wouldn't have been able to afford that river rafting trip. The trip was the wedding gift for which she would be writing to say "thank you."
Before their wedding on June 4, the Wilsons had lived together for more than a year. They already owned most of the traditional items found on a wedding registry. And the ones they didn't have, they didn't really want.
"We're never going to use the salad forks," Josephine Wilson said.
So the Wilsons didn't make a traditional registry. Instead, the couple turned to Honeyfund.com, a website that helps couples register for "experiences" on their honeymoon. Through the site, well-wishers can finance some aspect of a happy couple's honeymoon, big or small: Everything from airfare to peanuts during the flight, massages, candle-lit dinners and snorkeling lessons can be gifted.
The Wilsons are far from unique. Registering for honeymoons, "experience gifts" and other items more practical -- and even more fun -- than, say, a cake platter, is something more and more contemporary brides and grooms are experimenting with.
Eleven percent of marrying couples now register for honeymoons, 16 percent for movies, music and games and 20 percent for sports gear, according to the Knot Market Intelligence 2010 Bridal Registry Study, which was done by the popular wedding-planning website. A small number even registers for pet-pampering.
Why the shift? The average age of a bride is now 29; the average groom, 31. Most of these not-quite-youngsters have been living on their own, and for much longer than the engaged couples of generations past.
So, wine glasses? They've already got those, thanks.
"The trend is more of a lifestyle registry; outdoor gear, sports gear, stuff that pertains to their lifestyle, because chances are they have plates, forks and knives," said Amy Eisinger, associate editor at WeddingChannel.com. "They are not looking to fulfill (the) same needs as people who are moving out from parents' " homes.
It's not a universal movement yet. Couples' top three choices of retailers to register with continue to be Bed Bath & Beyond, Target and Macy's. Even couples who also register for honeymoons or experience gifts normally make a small traditional registry, so as not to offend guests.
And, of course, even those who already have a house or an apartment full of stuff can use wedding gifts to kick their style up a notch. "Many couples who have already lived together are using this as a chance to upgrade to cohesive sets," Eisinger said. "But registries are letting couple's personalities shine through. If a couple registers for camping equipment, and they love to camp -- most likely every time they use it they will think of you.
"If it's honeymoons, you get to help them remember their special time."
On the Honeyfund, the Wilsons registered for things such as gas for the drive, a bottle of champagne, the cost of staying at a romantic cabin, lift tickets, a wine and cheese tasting and bike equipment.
The Wilsons received most of their Honeyfund contributions from their younger friends, while the older guests tended to purchase crystal and china.
"Couples are using online a lot more while planning a wedding," Eisinger said. "Now you can have a universal registry, and I'm even hesitant to say if honeymoon registries existed 10 years ago. Only in the past five years has this stuff really surfaced."
Michael Gleeson and Andreea Vasilescu, who married on July 17, were reluctant at first to try the Honeyfund, but when their friends registered for it, they thought it was a "neat alternative."
Once the duo decided what they wanted to do -- take a honeymoon trip to Greece -- Gleeson wrote up the descriptions of what they hoped for and posted them on Honeyfund.
"Greece isn't necessarily cheap," said Gleeson, 37, who lives in West New York. "We weren't sure if people would go for it."
"But we had to add more things because they all were purchased so quickly by our guests," said Vasilescu, 30.
The couple didn't feel comfortable asking for hotel or airfare from their guests, so they asked for dinners at local restaurants, a Santorini sailing trip and a snorkeling trip in Mykonos, among other things. The newlyweds did not ask for anything they couldn't have purchased on their own, they said, but the gifts helped ease the cost of the trip.
"We are not the most traditional couple -- we have a groomsmaid," said Vasilescu. "For us to have to have something different, like a honeymoon registry, it's not a surprise to either of our parents. We tend to make things up as we go and what works for us."
Article by By Meredith Galante/The Star-Ledger
(Newsfeed, www.nj.com)
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