My fiance and I live in the Bahamas, where he's from. I'm originally from Los Angeles, CA and our wedding will be in Napa, CA. We've been living together for two years and our house is fully set up (he's been living in it for almost 10 years), so we really don't need anything that is typically requested in a registry. We'd also like to avoid the cost and hassle of having to ship everything from CA to Nassau.
I've been thinking of registry alternatives. One thought was to request our guests to make a donation in our name to a charity of our choice. Another idea was to start a honeymoon fund. However, my fiance and I are financially stable and can afford to pay for our own honeymoon, so my question is twofold:
1)What's a good alternative to a gift registry?
2)Would it be inappropriate to ask our guests to contribute to our honeymoon fund, even though we can afford to pay for it ourselves?
Any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks
Re: Good alternative to gift registry??
2)Would it be inappropriate to ask our guests to contribute to our honeymoon fund, even though we can afford to pay for it ourselves? No, but it would be inappropriate to outright ask for cash in the form of a honeymoon registry. Again, you can have a small registry and when people ask what you want for your wedding you can say "Oh, we have a registry at ** but we're also saving up for a nice honeymoon." Now the ball is in the guest's court to do as they wish and you haven't said "GIMME MOOOOONEY!!!"
[QUOTE]You can always not register. Howver, you run the risk of Aunt Sadie giving you the <strong>Melman the Girraffe Tea Cozy she made</strong>, or the chili pepper floor lamp that was on sale. Then you have to figure out how to to get THOSE to the Bahamas....OR, you might be surprised by the really nice stuff people get you. Some of my favorite wedding gifts weren't from our registry -- H's family have great taste and we got some very lovely Tiffany vases and bowls. Or youcould register for a few items that you need that are easy to mail. New sheets or hand towels are easy to pack in a suitcase or mail. People will see you have small registry and probably give you cash (though you still might get that tea cozy). Either way, you can spread the word that you have everything you need. People will likely give you cash (which you are free to donate to any charity you wish). Whatever you do, don't mention gifts on invitations, even if it's to request "no gifts please." Use word of mouth. You can even use word of mouth to request that people make a donation to a charity of THEIR choice, I suppose. No matter what you do, realize that you have no control over what (if anything) people give you as a wedding gift. No matter what your circumstances, you might get something you hate or something beautiful and unexpected. Try not to control this too much, because you can't.
Posted by Avion22[/QUOTE]
<div>Avion, I almost spit my coffee on the keyboard. Melman the Giraffe tea cozy... that was funny!</div>
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Good alternative to gift registry?? : Avion, I almost spit my coffee on the keyboard. Melman the Giraffe tea cozy... that was funny!
Posted by kmmssg[/QUOTE]
<div>Seriously, where do I register for THAT?</div>