Honeymoon Fund Registry: How It Works and What It Costs

By the Modern Weddings editors

Updated October 20, 2026: we checked every site’s fees, payout times and policies.

A honeymoon fund registry is a cash fund on your wedding registry: guests pick an amount (or a specific piece of the trip, like a sunset sail or a night at the beach hotel), pay online, and the money lands in your bank account, your Venmo or a travel gift card balance. Setting one up is free on every site we checked. What it costs is a fee on each gift, from $0 on the fee-free routes to about $6.50 on a $100 gift, and whether you or your guests pay it depends on the site.

Our editors read the fee, payout and help-center pages at Zola, The Knot, Honeyfund, MyRegistry and Amazon on October 20, 2026. Below: how the money moves, what each site charges, how fast you get paid, the etiquette, and wording you can copy onto your wedding website. Our pick for most couples is Zola’s cash funds.

How does a honeymoon fund registry work?

You create the funds. One big “honeymoon” fund works, but most sites let you split it into pieces with a price on each: airfare, two nights at the hotel, a cooking class, dinner on the last night.
Guests give from your registry page. They choose a fund, enter an amount (or buy a fixed piece), and check out with a card, PayPal or Venmo, depending on the site.
The site holds the money until you move it. Zola and The Knot keep a running total and you transfer to your bank when you want. Honeyfund keeps gifts in a wallet you spend through its prepaid card or gift cards, or cash out for a fee.
You thank each guest and, ideally, tell them what their gift paid for.

How much do honeymoon funds cost?

Here’s what a $100 gift costs on each site, and who pays the fee, as each site’s own pages described it on October 20, 2026.

Site and payment	Fee on a $100 gift	Who pays
Zola, card	$2.50	Guests, or you if you choose
Zola, Venmo*	$0	Nobody
The Knot, card	$2.50	Guests
The Knot, Venmo*	$0	Nobody
Honeyfund, spent as gift cards or on its prepaid card	$0	Nobody
Honeyfund, to PayPal or Venmo	$2.20	You
Honeyfund, to a bank	$4.09	You
MyRegistry	$2.50 plus a $3.95 handling fee	You pay the $2.50; the handling fee is charged when the guest sends the gift
Amazon gift card fund	$0	Nobody (Amazon credit only)

*Venmo gifts are free when the guest pays from a bank account, debit card or Venmo balance; Venmo charges 3% on credit cards.

Zola and The Knot both say the 2.5% goes to card processors, not to them, and Honeyfund says its payout fees come from the outside companies that move the money.

What’s the best site for a honeymoon fund?

Zola: best for most couples

Zola Cash and Honeymoon Funds

Zola lets you decide who pays the 2.5% card fee: guests by default, or you, taken when you transfer. You can let guests give any amount or set fixed amounts, hide your goal, and add photos and notes to each fund. Guests can also give through Venmo with no fee from a bank account, debit card or Venmo balance (they have to come back to Zola afterward to log the amount, so mention it on your website). There’s no deadline to transfer to your bank, and if you’d rather shop, converting a gift to Zola store credit adds a 5% bonus. Your first bank transfer can take up to 10 business days, so link a U.S. checking account before the wedding; Zola asks for your name, address and date of birth, and sometimes a Social Security number or ID, to verify you.

Set up a honeymoon fund at Zola

Honeyfund: best if you’ll spend it on the trip

Honeyfund

Honeyfund charges no platform or transaction fee on gifts, and you keep 100% if you spend the money through its Prepaid Mastercard (up to $2,500 per card, and you can load several) or as gift cards from more than 200 brands, including Airbnb and Delta. That makes it the cheapest option for couples who’ll put the money straight toward flights and hotels. Cashing out costs 2.2% to PayPal or Venmo and 3.5% plus $0.59 to a bank account, and the bank option has to be set up before your first gift arrives. Guests may see an optional tip to Honeyfund at checkout; you can turn it off in settings.

Set up a fund at Honeyfund

The Knot’s cash fund is a fine choice if the rest of your planning already lives there: no cut for The Knot, no fee on Venmo gifts from a bank or balance, and card gifts usually reach your bank within five business days after you cash out. The difference from Zola is that guests always pay the 2.5% card fee. We’d skip MyRegistry for cash (two fees per gift) and use Amazon’s gift card fund only for money you’d spend at Amazon anyway. Our full comparison of the best wedding registry sites covers the gift side of each one.

How long does it take to get honeymoon fund money?

Zola: up to 10 business days for your first bank transfer, then two to four business days. Transfers aren’t automatic; you start each one.
The Knot: Venmo gifts usually arrive right away (some bank-funded ones take up to five days); card gifts typically reach your bank within five business days after you cash out.
Honeyfund: instant to the prepaid card or gift cards, one to three business days to PayPal or Venmo, two to five to a bank.
MyRegistry: gifts are held five business days before they move to your PayPal account.

If you’re leaving the morning after the wedding, transfer what’s come in a week or two before, and cash out the rest when you’re home.

Is it rude to ask for money for your honeymoon?

No. The Emily Post Institute says cash presents are “perfectly acceptable” as long as guests are comfortable with the idea, and that a honeymoon registry is fine as one of your registries. It also recommends keeping a traditional registry, even a short one, because some guests (often older ones) would rather give something they can wrap. Two more of its rules: keep registry and gift information off the invitation and its enclosures, and share it on your wedding website and by word of mouth instead.

Where honeymoon funds go wrong is the vague, bottomless “Help us get to Bali!” pot. Emily Post suggests describing how each contribution will be used, and Zola recommends specific experiences over one big total. Guests like knowing their $75 bought the snorkel trip.

How to set up a honeymoon fund guests want to give to

Break the trip into pieces. Flights, each hotel night, a tour, a dinner, a spa morning. Specific beats generic every time.
Price for every budget. Put several pieces under $50 (coffee and pastries for the week, a ferry ride) so a college friend can give without stretching.
Add a photo and one line per fund. “The rooftop bar where we’ll watch the sunset on night two” does more than “Drinks.”
Keep a short gift registry too. Our wedding registry checklist covers the basics worth listing, and these unique wedding registry ideas sit nicely next to a fund.
Decide on the fee before you share the link. On Zola, choose whether guests or you cover the 2.5%. On Honeyfund, decide whether to keep the optional checkout tip on.

Honeymoon fund wording you can copy

Our editors wrote these for the registry page of your wedding website (never the invitation). Swap in your own details.

“Having you at our wedding is the best gift. If you’d like to give something more, we’re saving for our honeymoon in Portugal, and you’ll find the pieces of the trip below.”
“We’ve lived together for three years and have more mugs than cabinets. A few of you asked, so we set up a fund for our first big trip together.”
“Every piece of our honeymoon is listed below, from the train to Kyoto to one splurge of a dinner. Thank you for helping us get there.”
“Prefer to give something you can wrap? Our registry has a few things for the house, too.”

How do you thank guests for a cash gift?

The same way you thank them for a gift you can hold: a handwritten note. The Emily Post Institute says thank-you notes should go out within three months of receiving a gift, that mentioning the amount of a money gift is optional, and that you should mention what you plan to do with the money. Better yet, tell them what it paid for: “The snorkel trip was the best morning of the whole week, and we saw a sea turtle because of you.” A photo from that day makes it.

For the thank-you notes that show the sea turtle

Zola Kennedy Multiphoto Thank You Cards

This folded card puts two photos side by side under your monogram and a simple “Thank you,” so you can pair a wedding portrait with a shot from the trip your guests paid for. Cards start at $0.99 each (the folded size adds $0.60 a card), envelopes are free, and you can order a single proof before committing to a stack. Order in steps of 10, starting at 20 cards, and Zola sells matching invitations and programs if you want the whole suite to agree.

From $0.99 each at Zola

Honeymoon fund mistakes to avoid

Putting the fund on the invitation

Emily Post is clear that registry and gift information stays off the invitation. Put it on your wedding website and let your parents and wedding party answer the “where are you registered?” texts.

Making one giant fund

A single $8,000 goal reads like a bill. Twelve pieces with photos read like an invitation to be part of the trip.

Forgetting the fee on big gifts

On a $500 gift, 2.5% is $12.50. If you’d rather your grandparents not pay it, cover it yourself on Zola, or mention the free Venmo option on your website.

Setting up payouts the week of the wedding

Zola may ask for extra ID before your first transfer, and Honeyfund’s bank payout has to be set up before gifts arrive. Do it the day you create the fund.

Quietly spending it on rent

The money is yours, and plans change. If the trip shrinks or moves, say so in your thank-you notes. Guests who paid for “dinner in Lisbon” deserve to know it became dinner in Asheville.

Honeymoon fund FAQ

Do guests pay a fee to give to a honeymoon fund?

Sometimes. On The Knot, guests always pay the 2.5% on card gifts. On Zola they pay it by default unless you choose to cover it. Venmo gifts from a bank account, debit card or Venmo balance are free on both. On Honeyfund, any payout fee comes out of your side, not the guest’s.

Is honeymoon fund money taxable?

The Knot says it doesn’t treat registry gifts as income or issue tax forms for contributions, and suggests asking a tax professional what you might need to report. Rules vary by situation, so if you receive an unusually large gift, ask a tax professional.

Can you have a honeymoon fund and a regular registry?

Yes, and Emily Post recommends it. On Zola or The Knot both live on one page; anywhere else, link them from your wedding website.

What’s the difference between a honeymoon fund and a cash fund?

Only the label. A honeymoon fund is a cash fund for the trip; the same tools work for a down payment, new floors or a puppy. Zola says more than 75% of its couples register for and receive cash. Shopping for a couple with a fund but want to give a keepsake instead? Try our wedding gift ideas, or start a tradition with one of these paper anniversary gifts a year from now.

Still deciding where to go? Our guide to planning a honeymoon that suits you both is a good place to start, and every price you look up there can become one line in your fund.

Honeymoon Fund Registry: How Cash Funds Work and What They Cost