How to Set Up a Honeymoon Fund: The Ultimate Guide for Newlyweds
Weddings can be an expensive and therefore sometimes stressful time for couples – despite all the excitement about married life. Moreover, many people choose to head off on a honeymoon afterwards and this can also be of large additional expense.
That is exactly why many couples now choose to ask for contributions towards this special trip instead. At GoFundMe, you can set up a crowdfunding page so that all your donations are in one place is an easy way to facilitate this. This quick guide will explain how you can do this.
Understanding Honeymoon Funds
What is a Honeymoon fund?
Whether it’s a staycation, that backpacking adventure you always dreamed of, or a luxury hotel, all honeymoons come at costs. Some couples choose to ask for contributions to their honeymoon fund instead of physical gifts – this might be a contribution to the logistical costs like flights and accommodation, or maybe for some spending money when they are there. Starting a GoFundMe means that the link can be easily circulated amongst friends and family and they can donate at their leisure without the awkward conversation of asking for money. This is a great alternative to trying to collect money physically on the day, only adding to an extremely busy day already!
Benefits of a Honeymoon Fund
Traditionally, weddings would be a time where gifts could be given to help the new couple set up a life together. The need for this has waned over years as more people live together before marriage. By having a honeymoon fund, it means you take pressure off people attending your wedding trying to choose a physical gift that you might like – and it also means you don’t get duplicates, all of this just allowing the people attending your wedding to relax, knowing that what they are donating is going to something that you want exactly. People know that their gift will go towards a brilliant experience in an incredible place. Setting up a GoFundMe for the fund also means that you have an easy link which people can follow and donate to at their convenience.
Honeymoon Fund Etiquette
If you do choose to start a honeymoon fund, there are things you can do to show people you appreciate their contribution. Make sure to thank your donors through GoFundMe but also send them a text, email or thank you card when you see that they’ve contributed. Send cards after the wedding and update the fund page with how the trip is going or what you’ve used their contribution on. You can also use pictures and even videos to keep telling the story here, keeping everyone in the loop with what you are getting up to!
Choosing the Right Platform for Your Honeymoon Fund
Popular Honeymoon Fund Platforms
So, you’ve decided to set up a fund to get that dream romantic trip off the ground. So what platform should you use?
Criteria for Selecting a Platform
When choosing the platform you want for your honeymoon fund, there’s a range of things to consider. It’s important to look at the user experience and how easy it is to manage the fund once you’ve set it up – does the website and app seem intuitive to you? Can you easily post updates, thank yous and share the links to social media? All of these things are easily ingrained in the process at GoFundMe and you can easily explore your options on the app or on the browser version of the site. It’s also easy to donate anonymously – no names have to appear publicly.
Another thing which we pride ourselves on at GoFundMe is our clear and transparent platform charge, meaning that more of your loved ones’ donations actually go to helping you go on your dream trip! Take some time to explore your options before choosing which you’d like to go with.
Setting Up Your Honeymoon Fund
After you’ve chosen your honeymoon fund platform, it’s time to get it set up. If you choose GoFundMe, it couldn’t be easier to start your fundraiser. Think about what you’d like your fundraiser title to be – something that is snappy and easily conveys what this fund is for. You can upload an engaging picture or even video to your page as well to help tell the story – one of you and your spouse-to-be might be appropriate. Once that’s all ready, start your fundraiser and get sharing!
Personalising Your Honeymoon Fund
An important part of any crowdfunding success is to really personalise the page and tell a story. You are always likely to raise more money if the people reading your fundraiser can properly connect with the idea. Include some detail in your fundraiser story of how you and your partner met, and how you decided that this honeymoon destination was going to be the one of choice. Maybe it’s somewhere you always wanted to go, or somewhere that holds happy memories for you both. Set some clear goals in your fundraiser about where you want to go in your trip and what you want to get up to; it is also a great idea to mention what the donations will be used for. If you don’t have clear goals on what you’re going to use your honeymoon fund for then make that clear. A goal can be to decide on your adventure when those who want to contribute have. It can be a fun process which you work out as you go along, travel can sometimes be spontaneous! It is a nice touch to keep posting updates when you hit certain milestones. For example, when you hit enough for flights or a hotel, or a certain number of days before the wedding / honeymoon itself. Really try and get your own voice in there.
Tips for a Successful Honeymoon Fund
Communicating About Your Fund
It’s a fun process to share and circulate your fundraiser when you have set it up, but it is also important to make it clear that no one is under any kind of obligation or pressure to donate, and that any sized contribution is greatly appreciated. Any emails or social media posts sharing your fundraiser could make this clear so that no one feels pressure to give money. This can be a tricky message to get across right, so – to help – you can have a look at our top tips on sharing your fundraiser here.
Suggested Contribution Levels
An easy way that you can make people feel like their donations will be really appreciated is by setting up contribution levels and passing those on, too. You can start as small as you wish, letting people know that their £10 will go towards a nice drink or a meal at your destination, right up to where you feel comfortable and what it will get. These don’t have to be contributions by one person either – you could make it clear that when the fundraiser reaches £100 for example overall it will pay for your first meal together on the honeymoon or for a sunset boat tour in Venice. Once again, it is a lovely touch to thank your donors when you reach those milestones.
Saying thank you
With any kind of fundraising, thank yous are very important and perhaps even more so when you’re crowdfunding for a personal cause. There are various ways you can thank your donors after a contribution on GoFundMe. You can send thanks to them via the platform, but it also might be nice to send a personalised email or even text message to really show you’re appreciative too, a hand-written note also goes a long way if you have the time, and that’s why, after the event, sending thank you cards is always a nice touch, especially if you can tell your kind donors what you used their contributions for. Letting your donors what their money has been put towards is a great way to make them feel a part of your trip.
Leveraging Your Honeymoon Fund Contributions
Budgeting for Your Honeymoon
There are several ways you might use a honeymoon fund to budget for your honeymoon trip, and also manage your honeymoon contributions. You might want to wait and see how much you get before deciding and booking what is in your budget, or you might already have somewhere booked and in mind before you open one and are using donations to bolster the lovely experience. Whether it’s the former or the latter, think about how you want to use these funds on your honeymoon. It is important to understand how much you’ll realistically need for flights, accommodation and then spending money whilst you’re there when setting your goal if you are a couple doing the former. And for the latter, think about what special experiences you’d like to prioritise and have a ball-park figure for how much that will cost to keep everyones’ expectations at a reasonable level.
So, what are you waiting for?
Setting up a honeymoon fund is an easy and modern way for your loved ones to really give you a gift that will be well utilised and appreciated. It means that people can donate what they wish as soon as you start the fund – it doesn’t have to be at the wedding, taking stress off the big day. That is exactly why GoFundMe is the best place to start your fundraiser today and start getting excited for that dream trip.