Cash wedding registries a growing trend

Wedding season has arrived, and strolling through Target to snag another dishware set or stand mixer can become redundant and unexciting. Lucky for you, it may not even be what the couple wants or needs.

Recently, The Knot released its 2017 Wedding Registry Study, which uncovers registry trends in the United States.

The study revealed that while traditional retail registries still reign supreme — 86 percent of couples set one up — there is an increase in couples using cash registries.

In 2011, only 1 percent of couples used a cash registry, compared to 6 percent in 2017. Ivy Jacobson, senior digital editor at The Knot, says this increase is because asking for cash as a wedding gift is no longer a social faux pas.

According to the study, 49 percent of couples with cash registries used the funds to help pay for their honeymoon, while 27 percent put it toward a down payment on a home. Other uses for cash gifts includ- ed paying down student loan debt or supplement- ing adoption fees and IVF treatments.

Jacobson also noted that a couple’s location can play a role in opting for a cash registry over a traditional one.

“A lot of couples in urban areas may only choose to do a (cash registry) because living in cities like New York or Chicago, you may live in smaller apartments or condos and not have a big house with space to put all these big, new gifts.”