Want to ask your guests for cash towards your honeymoon instead of gifts? Research into the most successful and best honeymoon funds on Patchwork has highlighted some pretty interesting (although maybe not so surprising) facts. The best honeymoon funds can make giving money meaningful. So here are our tips on how to raise the most money for your honeymoon fund. While at the same time making the experience as much fun for your guests as possible.
Show everyone what you really, really want
Your guests want to get you what you really REALLY want. So the first thing you need to do is let them know what that is.
And we don’t mean just saying ‘money towards our honeymoon fund please’. That’s a good start, but the more precise you can make the request in your patchwork description the better. Tell people where you’re going, when and why. If you don’t know yet that’s fine, but say so. “We’re not sure exactly where yet, but we’ll be heading off for some winter sun. Somewhere with great food and good wine. So all recommendations welcome!”
Make the best honeymoon fund that’s unique to you
Whether you create your patchwork from scratch or customise one of our templates, it helps if you can make your honeymoon fund unique to you. Describe the individual experiences you are asking your guests to fund. Use as much detail as possible. This really helps to bring each activity to life and allows everyone to connect with you and your trip. We know that your friends and family feel strongly about knowing how their gift will be spent. This is the best way of ensuring that they feel happy, involved and valued.
Be specific – it’s all in the detail!
If you know what hotel you’re staying in, tell your guests why you’ve chosen it – what makes it so special. If you don’t know yet, that’s fine, you can still describe the type of place you’re dreaming of. For example, an Airbnb with a view over New York, a bamboo hut in Ubud or a boutique hotel on the beach in Tulum. Adding details like the what, where and why makes your patchwork more engaging for your guests. It will inspire them to treat you to more of your chosen experiences!
Let your friends get in on the action!
While you’ll probably spend most of your honeymoon eating, sleeping and enjoying time together we’ve noticed people love to fund the fun/crazy/out-of-the-ordinary stuff like bungee jumps, scuba dives, swimming with sharks. So make sure you include some action in your honeymoon fund. Even if that means taking the lift to the top of the Eiffel Tower, riding on the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto or watching the bull running (from a safe distance) in Pamplona.
Remember – people love giving gifts they’d like to receive
Your dad probably won’t want to pay for tattoos in Thailand. Although your mates might. Giving gifts is super personal and a really meaningful way for people to not only show their love for you, but say something about themselves too. Classic car enthusiasts will choose to hire you a Cadillac for a day. Dancers will fund flamenco lessons and party people will want to treat you to all the cocktails! People want you to experience the things they already enjoy. It’s a way for them to connect and means you can spend an evening comparing your experiences over dinner on your return.
Ensure there’s something for everyone
Obviously you should only include things in your patchwork that you genuinely want to experience yourself. But while you’re creating your honeymoon fund it’s worth considering the range of your guests’ interests too. If your friends are foodies, animal lovers or culture junkies including gastronomical experiences, wildlife activities and/or historical tours will make obvious choices for them. If you make gift-giving personal and joyful for your friends they’ll give more generously!
When it comes to gift options – the more the merrier!
Generally people want to give a gift that will put a smile on your face (or scare the life out of you). They want to give a gift that will create a memory that you’ll treasure forever. So don’t deprive them of the chance by limiting the number of exciting experiences you put on your list.
It really doesn’t matter if 10 people choose to treat you to a couple’s salsa lesson and you only have time for one. You can thank all ten people for the experience. You can send each one a personal message and photo of you on the dance floor. They’ll all feel good that they helped make it happen. And with the extra cash left over you can always treat yourselves to a few more tequilas in the bar. Everyone’s happy!
Think romance, logistics and don’t forget the turtles!
In general, luxury, unique and romantic experiences are funded more often than functional and everyday ones. So make sure you include plenty of special treats in your Patchwork honeymoon fund. For example, champagne breakfasts, couples massages and the ‘love upgrade’ at your hotel.
However to keep everyone happy it makes sense to include some sensible items. Therefore Nan will understand and be happy to take care of for you. You could ask for taxis from the airport, a night in a nice hotel, a travel guide or a flight upgrade.
And finally, we’ve noticed a bit of an obsession among guests with turtles. It doesn’t seem to matter how many turtle-watching patches are on a list. Or how much they cost. They are always top-funded experiences so our tip is: ‘DON’T FORGET THE TURTLES! Clearly this might be tricky if you’re off to Iceland or Canada in which case substitute turtles for other super cool animals like huskies or bears.
If you go low, guests go high
Lastly, it’s a good idea to include little treats – bottles of beers, ice-creams, or fresh coconuts on the beach. You can set the prices of gift items and experiences within your patchwork to as much as £500. But you can also set them to as low as £1 and we definitely encourage you to do so. Including lower priced treats not only means everyone can afford to buy you something. But, although it sounds counter intuitive, it also encourages people to spend more.
Setting all of your patchwork items to £50 plus because you want people to spend at least this much might not work in your favour. Not only will it exclude some people altogether but setting the bar in this way goes against the spirit of giving and makes people feel resentful. The assumption that people should spend at least a certain amount generally results in people spending this and no more. Whereas deliberately presenting lower priced gifts inspires good will and generally encourages people to spend more. With people topping up their gifts with ‘little extras’, buying multiples of one thing or a selection of different gifts.
With Patchwork guests give more
According to a recent survey by American Express the national average spent on a wedding gift in 2019 was £66. With Patchwork the average gift spend was £85. We believe this is because the experience is more personal, fun and meaningful that buying from a traditional gift list or giving cash direct. It’s also because most patchworks are priced in a way that enables everyone to contribute something and inspires those who can afford to, to give more.
You can find more ideas on how to create your honeymoon patchwork here, and browse through our gorgeous templates here.