WrapIt
The announcement was made earlier today that the wedding gift list firm WrapIt has now officially gone into administration. Along with everyone else, we were very disheartened to learn of the full extent of the company’s financial difficulties when news of the crisis broke just over a week ago.
It’s awful news for everyone involved. Refunds for gifts will need to be claimed by the wedding guests who originally bought them, which leaves hundreds of couples in the difficult situation of having to explain the whole affair to their friends and family, with the very real possibility that many gifts will be lost altogether. What should be a joyful part of the wedding experience will now have been entirely ruined, and we feel very badly for all the couples affected.
Information and support can be found on Facebook, and at a new, independent WrapIt Customers web site.
As for us, we’ve never thought of ourselves as actually being in direct competition with WrapIt, or indeed any other traditional wedding list service. Couples setting up home together need plates, kitchen appliances and bedlinen, and so a honeymoon gift list just wouldn’t be an appropriate choice. Instead, it’s a distinct alternative for couples who would actively prefer a different type of wedding gift. We were confident enough of this that we booked our stand for the forthcoming National Wedding Show directly opposite Wrapit’s. (Only time will tell who occupies that space come the end of September.)
In fact, we came close to using WrapIt for our own wedding list back in 2005. We ordered the sales brochure, and looked through their inventory. There were some lovely things, but it was our realisation that we didn’t want things at all that took us down the path we’re on now.
Of course, we very much want to reassure our customers that their gifts are safe. Buy Our Honeymoon acts purely as a wedding list creation and gift reservation service — we don’t collect any money whatsoever from your guests, so your gifts are yours from the moment they’re given.
If you decide to integrate your honeymoon gift list with your own PayPal account (and you don’t have to do so), your guests will send the value of their gifts directly into that account. At no time do we handle this transfer of funds, although we’ll do everything we can to make the process as straightforward and seamless as possible for your guests.
However, for those affected by the collapse of WrapIt, we sincerely hope that everything can be resolved as fully, quickly and painlessly as possible.