DreamBank's New Model For Gift-Giving Helps Navigate The Waters Of Wedding Season

Aug. 4, 2009 - PRLog -- With sunny skies and welcoming summer breezes, it seems almost natural to turn a corner and find a couple posing for their wedding photographs. The wedding industry is a $72 billion dollar per year industry, with $19 billion per year spent on wedding gift registries*. And yet, chances are you know at least one person who can tell you a horror story of a horrible gift they received on their wedding day. Everyone's tastes are different, and DreamBank recognizes that. As the new model for gift giving, the online alternative gift registry encourages users to post something meaningful that they would really appreciate receiving: be it a trip, a new piece of art, or the latest techno gizmo. Friends & family then contribute to this "dream gift" for all commemorative occasions, or just because. This is the perfect solution for navigating through wedding season without spending money on something that won't be appreciated, and without receiving something you don't really want.

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The New Wave Of Weddings Welcomes DreamBank’s New Model For Gift-Giving

The new model for gift giving that helps you give the perfect gift, cuts down on waste and makes a little bit for charity, too.

Vancouver, Canada – June 23, 2009 – Wedding Season is here, and June to September are the busiest months, accounting for 40.1% of the 2.5+ million weddings performed in North America each year.* With so many people getting married, chances are that at least someone you know is going to be saying their vows this year. And with an average of 175 guests invited to each wedding*, the odds are stacked against you for finding that perfect gift, before someone else beats you to it. At DreamBank.org, the ultimate gift registry, CEO and Founder Dawn Bowles explains that this common problem of choosing what to give now has a simple solution. “These days people are living together before they get married (more than 4.2 million, or 64%), or the marriage they are celebrating is not their first - so they already have all the things that would have been traditionally requested in their wedding gift registry,” comments Bowles, “Because they already have everything [material] that they need, some couples are requesting aid in financing their honeymoon, or in the down payment on their first home from friends & family as a wedding gift.” Bowles’ website, DreamBank, has seen an influx of couples posting their wedding gift requests on the site in lieu of traditional gifts. “One couple wanted to renovate their home, another wanted to use the funds to help pay for the wedding itself! Other couples want traditional gifts, but don’t want to be tied to a specific store like using a conventional registry.

Money has been given as a gift in weddings for a long time, but usually subtly in envelopes that can get lost or stolen in the bustle during the big day. "With DreamBank, all the guests can contribute as much – or as little – as they want, give anonymously, or even hide their contribution amount, with the money staying in one place until the couple chooses to use it.” DreamBank not only offers a safe way to give the perfect wedding gift, but also eliminates having to carry a bulky package to the reception, that people are often traveling from out of town to get to. As a bonus ‘feel-good’ factor, DreamBank also uses a socially responsible business model that gives a percentage of its revenue to charity partners. By encouraging wedding-goers to “Give Dreams. Not Stuff”, DreamBank embraces the collective community experience of weddings where friends & family are helping the couple save towards something special, while doing something good, too.

How it works
Uploading a dream gift to DreamBank is free and each contribution to your dream has a $2.25 transaction fee (less than the cost to wrap a gift). To withdraw your funds and purchase the dream gift, the Dreamer is charged a 2.5% fee. (Dreamers are encouraged to add 2.5% on top of the cost of their dream to cover the fee.) DreamBank has a socially responsible business model where 10% of all net transaction revenue is distributed as selected by the Dreamers to various international charities. Dreamers select one of our charity partners to associate their Dream Gift with - African Wildlife Foundation, CARE, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Global Greengrants Fund, Kiva MicroFinance and Save the Children. From this selection, we poll the results and distribute the funds proportionately to the charities. By using DreamBank, dreamers can help make life a little easier for some people on the planet.  Whether you’re tying the knot or know someone who is, check out DreamBank as a way to give and get something special. Give Dreams. Not Stuff.

Sources:
Association of Bridal Consultants
Condé Nast Bridal Group
Mediapost.com
National Bridal Service
National Association of Wedding Ministers http://www.aministry.net/wedding/statistics.htm
US Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03ff02.html
The Association for Wedding Professionals International http://www.afwpi.com/wedstats
Sellthebride.com http://www.sellthebride.com/tipsstats.htm

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DreamBank is the ultimate online gift registry that makes giving & receiving the perfect gift easy, and helps create positive change for the planet and important social causes too.