The Easiest Way to Fund Your Honeymoon – Interview with Sara Margulis of Honeyfund on Ellwed Talks Podcast
You’re planning your destination wedding, but you are not sure how to handle your gift registry or what to do about your honeymoon? If this is you, then you must listen to this episode of Ellwed Talks! Because handling your gift registry and to fund Your Honeymoon, using Honeyfund must be the Easiest Way!
And so, we are super excited about this new episode of Ellwed Talks podcast, where we talk with Sara Margulis, CEO and co-founder of Honeyfund!
About Sara Margulis of Honeyfund
Sara drew from her background in digital marketing to launch Honeyfund, the original honeymoon gift registry app & platform, in 2006. As CEO, she is leading the company into its next phase as a life-long funding site where couples can receive the support of friends and family for all of life’s milestones and setbacks.
Sara’s winning appearance on Shark Tank in 2014 and partnership with Kevin O’Leary (‘Mr. Wonderful’) propelled her into regional, national and international media stardom. She’s sought as an expert on a variety of topics including weddings and honeymoons, crowdfunding, personal finance, entrepreneurship, and women in business.
I had the privilege to chat with Sarah all about Honeyfund and how it can help you get the honeymoons of your dreams! As well as all the latest news and tips when it comes to designing your Honeymoon in Greece!
We are super excited about this interview with Sarah here on Ellwed Talks, so let’s dive in!
1. Tell us a bit about your story, what led you to start Honeyfund?
As a bride-to-be in 2005, my fiance and I already had everything we needed for our home, but we didn’t have the budget to take the dream honeymoon. We loved to travel and fantasized about a far-off destination like Fiji to take us away from the stress of working two full-time jobs and planning a wedding. So we asked our friends and family to contribute to a wishlist of costs and experiences that would make our dream honeymoon happen. And they surprised us with more than $5,000 in contributions!
But even more than that they raved about the idea and asked us if we would make something like that for other couples. We were aspiring entrepreneurs with backgrounds in marketing and software engineering, so we put our heads together and created Honeyfund. It was live within a year of our wedding date.
The site gained traction by the viral nature of the product. Everyone who signed up invited 150 of their closest friends and family to view their page. In 2011-12 Honeyfund was featured by MarthaStewartWeddings.com and chosen as one of TIME’s 50 Best Websites of 2012. In 2014, Honeyfund appeared on Shark Tank and gained a partnership with Kevin O’Leary (aka “Mr. Wonderful”).
Honeyfund is now the most trusted cash and honeymoon registry in the wedding space to Fund Your Honeymoon. Nearly 1.2 million couples have created Honeyfund registries nearly $1 b gifted.
2. Now, before we dive deeper into our topic, you must tell us more about your experience on Shark Tank! How did it all change for you and how is it working with Mr. Wonderful?
Honeyfund’s partnership with Kevin O’Leary (‘Mr. Wonderful’) of Shark Tank has been a boost not just to our site traffic, but to our brand credibility, PR, and our ability to engage partners and advertisers.
3. Tell us a bit more about how Honeyfund works and how can it help couples Fund their Honeymoon with Honeyfund?
Honeyfund is the gift registry that makes your dream honeymoon happen and powers your happily ever after with the help of friends and family. Our mission is to make the honeymoon happen for all couples, because we know that couples who honeymoon together, stay together.
According to data found from a recent survey Honeyfund completed with 1,000 Americans, couples that honeymoon are more likely to be happily married 11+ years later. And that’s what we want for them, happily ever after! It’s really simple. Couples sign up, create a wishlist of experiences (or anything they’re saving for) and share the page with their friends and family. Guest contributions get loaded to the couple’s Honeyfund Wallet. And from there they can use the funds to purchase partner gift cards or pay out to their Paypal or Venmo. It’s completely fee-free!
4. What are some of your honeymoon budgeting tips?
Honeymoon budgeting is the most fun! First, start with a vision of how you see yourself enjoying your honeymoon days. Are you in the sunshine? On a beach or near a lake? In the mountains or adventuring through a city? Then, start researching flight costs, weather, etc at a few destinations that fit your vision. Be sure to check for different seasons as weather and costs can vary. Then look at your personal finances. Will you have any money left over after the wedding? If not, a Honeyfund is a great option to help get the funds you need.
Use your Honeyfund as your wedding gift registry to allow guests to contribute cash funds for your trip. Guests can chip in on anything from hotels to flights, and even contribute towards specific activities or excursions! You can also start racking up miles from your favorite airline with frequent flyer programs and/or mileage credit cards.
5. What destination in Greece would you suggest to couples to consider for their Honeymoon?
I’ve actually never been to Greece! But if I was planning a destination wedding there in say
Santorini or Mykonos, I would want my honeymoon to take me to other islands like Milos, Crete and Rhodes.
6. What Honeymoon travel destination trends do you see picking up?
Europe has picked up a lot, especially Italy, compared to the old standbys of Mexico and Hawaii.
7. Which would be your favorite most romantic honeymoon adventure?
I think any destination with natural beauty is so important for couples to feel like they are connected to life, love, and romance. I also love the experience of traveling with the one you love, discovering your partnership in a new way. Doing something new like taking a dance class, cooking class, or seeing some live music you wouldn’t normally see – these are all the adventures of my dream honeymoon.
8. Tell us a bit more about what you are currently working on?
Honeyfund is working to expand the way we serve couples – from the honeymoon into the “happily ever after.” Part of that work is adding life-long funding capability to the page, where couples can receive the support of friends and family for all of life’s milestones and mishaps, again disrupting the gifting space (a $130b industry) with a solution for cash strapped couples to support their marriage and family when in need. We also just became the first and only completely fee-free, integrated cash gifting registry – again furthering our mission to make the honeymoon happen for all couples and not just those who can afford to pay the fees typical of cash registries and crowdfunding sites.
9. And for the last question, what advice would you give to all couples who are currently planning a destination wedding?
According to our research, the #1 reason couples travel is to spend quality time together. The correlation between marital satisfaction and travel is evident, and Honeyfund is here to help couples to prioritize the honeymoon and continue to plan romantic getaways throughout their marriage. According to a survey of 1,000 married Americans, of those who rated their marital satisfaction as “Excellent,” 84% of them also travel together regularly. In fact, upwards of 90% of couples who have taken 3 or more romantic trips since their honeymoon rated their relationship as “Good” or “Excellent.” So my advice is to make the honeymoon happen and continue to travel.
If you’re looking to Fund Your Honeymoon with Honeyfund you can check them out here:
Website: honeyfund.com
Instagram: @honeyfund Twitter: honeyfund Tik Tok: @honeyfund_official
