Where do cash gifts go after the wedding?

Many newlyweds prefer to receive a card with cash at the wedding, rather than a blender or Precious Moments figurine they'll feel obligated to display when Nana comes to visit.
But where does that cash go — tucked away for a future house payment, or blown on fancy dinners?
In fact, most couples use wedding cash for the honeymoon, according to a new study.
Tendr, a site that lets wedding guests give cash gifts to couples, found that 55 percent of surveyed couples use their cash wedding gifts for a honeymoon.
The next most likely spot for the cash, according to the survey, showed that 34 percent planned to pay down debt.
Only 7 percent planned to invest it or start a nest egg.
Tendr founder Jeff Beil wasn't surprised by the emphasis on getting away.
"Ask anyone about their honeymoon, no one forgets it," Beil said.
But many also eyed practicality, he noted, like paying for the wedding or home renovations.
Gifts of currency, not to mention gifting websites, remain a sensitive (or controversial) topic for some, but Beil said that cash allows the couple to use it where they most need it.
"When I give cash at a wedding, I don't know what it's going to be used for, and to me, that makes the experience of giving more special," he said. "Everybody has different needs, and everybody has different dreams."
Collecting cash is easier than ever. Throughout the 10 years Honeyfund has operated — started when the co-founders got married and wanted a honeymoon in Fiji — more than $286 million has been collected by couples worldwide.
At Deposit a Gift, where people can register for cash donations, founder Dana Ostomel said couples tend to target their gift lists toward trips.
Various registries let couples get specific, asking for house payment donations, plane tickets to St. Thomas, even hiking poles to use on their road trip through Colorado.
"It's a nice compromise for the modern couple and their guests," Ostomel said. "This way, friends and family get a gratifying gifting experience and don't just feel like they are giving cold, hard cash but actually sponsoring something meaningful."
It's no surprise, though, that Robert Semrad, senior partner at DebtStoppers bankruptcy law firm, advises couples to be cash-savvy, and start their lives together as debt-free as possible.
Spending wedding cash on a mix of things is OK, Semrad said, but ideally, paying down debt should be the priority.
"If they could take that money they have as a gift and get rid of the debt, from a relationship standpoint and reducing stress, they're going to have such a solid foundation," he said.
Semrad admits that he and his wife used most of their wedding cash for their honeymoon, but he said that now he recommends boosting a bank account or lowering debt payments — a major stressor for brand-new marriages, he added.
Often, clients come into his office laden with debt that can date to a wedding, or expenses incurred before.
"That debt never goes away," he said.
A burgeoning marriage also brings financial stressors — starting off in a new home, for example, which might bring unexpected expenses, from needing to buy a new refrigerator or a new roof.
"All those things add up," he said. "It's the money in the bank that really takes the stress away."

And if you're considering taking out debt for a honeymoon, he offered a tip for that, too: "Probably the biggest mistake in the world."