Why you should say 'I don't' to traditional wedding gifts

Getting married? You might want to tell your guests no gifts — just trips and cash.

Honeymoon.
(Image credit: iStock)

A few weeks ago, I logged on to my friend Megan's wedding website, expecting to find a link to a registry from Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn. Instead, there were two options: The first was indeed a traditional wedding registry, where I could gift a blender, or maybe a wine carafe if I was feeling feisty. The other link, though, took me to a site called Zola. There, Megan and her fiancée had created a honeymoon registry filled with experiences I could buy them instead of things — an afternoon catamaran cruise, a private beachside dinner, and so on.

Non-traditional wedding gifts like this are all the rage, spawning a ton of sites similar to Zola, where couples can essentially crowdfund everything from a cruise to a mortgage. And while foregoing the wedding china of generations past may seem odd to the older set, millennials may be onto something. Here's why:

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Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.