Wonderful Wedding Story
“Chris and I met at work and he was kind enough to give me a ride home one night” recalls Manami as she recounts how her and now husband Chris began their journey towards a life partnership together. “When we arrived at my place he asked me if I had a cell phone and if he could call it sometime” she adds with a smile, and the rest is as they say history.
Like many couples they were getting married well into their mid 20’s and had already lived together for some time before getting engage and wanted a way to move forward with purchasing a home.
“We included Home for the Honeymoon http://www.homeforthehoneymoon.com as our 2nd registry to let friends and family know that we wanted the down payment on a mortgage as part of our wedding gift” says Chris.The couple had substantial savings but wedding expenses added up quickly.It looked like the dream of home ownership would have to be put off until they could recover from the expense of the big day!Enter Home for the Honeymoon.
The registry allowed the couple to cut out a few costs such as RSVP notes and return postage to include with the notes.It also created a hub that let their guests know all the details about the wedding.Manami did an exceptional job personalizing her free wedding website with custom photos of her and Chris as well as details about the big day, wedding party, and the dream home they were looking for.In her infinite creativity she even found a way to punctuate write ups with hearts.
Because a large part of Manami’s family live in Japan it was important to the couple to find a home with at least 2 bedrooms which could provide guest accommodation for out of town visitors.They also have dogs so they needed a place with a yard. The couple also listed some other features that they would love to have in a home such as a lovely kitchen for preparing delicious meals and a cozy living room to relax in at the end of the work day.They specified that gifts made on their Home for the Honeymoon registry “would be saved away until we are ready to make our big purchase someday soon”.They then thanked their guests for supporting them and helping them start a new life together.If only Chris and Manami knew that the support from friends and family would lead to $20,000 in funds that could be applied directly to the down payment on their mortgage while they personalized their down payment registry.
Fast forward to the big day when loved ones got together to celebrate their union and wish them well on their new lives together. A day loaded with fun, laughter, 110 close friends and relatives, good food and dancing. The celebration of their love that they had so careful planned was amazing and would be commemorated with the purchase of their very own house upon returning from the honeymoon.“This was huge year for me” reflects Manami, “I immigrated to Canada, got engaged and married and bought my own house here in Victoria”.
The couple used the funds raised at their wedding to purchase a better home then they had anticipated was possible. The house has the lovely kitchen for delicious meals and cozy living room to curl up in at the end of the day, just like they envisioned whilst setting up their down payment registry. Because their down payment was substantial enough they were able to afford a house with a suite which is generating over $1000 every month. They got a yard for the dogs and have an extra room for guests. Talk about having your wedding cake and eating it too!
Chris and Manami really took full advantage of the Home for the Honeymoon registry to communicate to their guests that a down payment for a home was the gift that they really wanted. “I think that because our guests knew that we wanted to do something really important with their gifts and because a large part of Manami’s family was not able to travel to Canada for the wedding that people gave so generously” says Chris. Chris and Manami used the site to stay in touch with guests and organize their wedding events and rsvps and it really paid off for this young couple who truly did register for the most valuable gift of all.
