To Follow or Not to Follow (The Registry) - Part II

Based on your advice, I ended up deciding on the honeymoon themed gift for A's shower!

However, I did not consider the complexity that came with such a specific gift, so I thought I'd share the steps with you all...in case you decide to give a similar gift!

Warning - I get a little cheeky here!



Step 1: Locate Hotel
Now, if the couple overshares on facebook or Twitter, you might already know the size room (deluxe King!) they've selected at their honeymoon resort. However, for those who choose to keep some details to themselves, you may only be aware of the country that they are visiting.

I was in the latter boat here, friends, and let me tell you...knowing that the couple plans to visit Bora Bora and Moorea is great and all, but doesn't help if you want to get them a gift certificate. Didn't really have time to call each and every hotel.

Now perhaps some of you have better powers of persuasion than I, but it seemed impossible to secure the information from the bride without seeming obvious.

A: "R, how are your wedding plans coming?"
R: "Where are you staying on Bora Bora? And for how many nights?"
A: "ummmm"

Eventually I broke down and asked the groom and his mother for the information...swearing them to eternal secrecy (or until April 29).

Step 2: Communicate!
There are multiple ways to get in touch with a hotel - email, phone, contact forms - but when you have an extensive time difference, email might be the way to go!

I sent a simple email off to (what I thought was) the concierge at the 2 hotels the couple had chosen requesting information on gift certificates / resort credits. I would quickly realize that there was nothing about this process that was simple. Below is the first email I received back from the Sofitel Moorea...after about 6 days.

Ummm..."they are one tee shirt"??

I have no idea why, but for some reason it didn't occur to me that English might not be the first language (naive, I know). Communication via email with the Sofitel just did not seem plausible based on the first response (and its timing), so I hoped that the second resort would serve me better.

The InterContinental Bora Bora resort was a bit more prompt in its response (4 days), but the first message was to transfer me to the concierge, which took another day. Guess I sent it to the wrong place first!

There was a lot of back and forth...including some delays near the end, which meant I was cutting it a litttttttle close for comfort.

Um, hi...the shower is in 3 days so if this isn't going to happen, I'm going to need to hit up Pottery Barn

Step 3: Determine Amount
File this in the naive Turkey file, but I hadn't thought about exchange rates for the gift either (geez...what had I thought about?).

So, when the concierge told me that the gift needed to be in Pacific Francs, I took to the internet to do some simple math. I like when exchange rates are way "off" - you know, 80 X to 1 USD - because you seem super generous...until they figure you out.

Oh, and keep in mind that the exchange rate you find on the internet may not match the rate at the hotel! This was a bit surprising / disappointing - is this common, Bees?

Step 4: Give the Gift
Because of the exchange rate snafu mentioned above, I chose to "up" the monetary gift instead of going crazy with the accompanying items (see also: I had 2 days before the shower).

Unfortunately the hotel did not have anything I could print or give to the bride, so PowerPoint it was!

Mocked up certificate - images from InterContinental Bora Bora

With the certificate, I decided to put together a quick goodie bag that would come in useful on their trip. This didn't take a ton of time (or money), but made the gift a lot more fun for A to open!

Sunscreen with a toiletry bag plus some iTunes cards to buy movies / music / apps!

Step 5: Relax

I am happy to say that that the gift was a hit and am SO glad I was able to pull it off! Totally worth it.

In the future, I might assess the location first for complexity in a gift like this (e.g. Hawaii > Dubai) or perhaps just start sooner...like months in advance instead of weeks. 

Have you given a gift that was extra complex? Was it worth it to you?