Registry

Happy to help! Hope you're doing well! Let us know if you need anything else!

Sorry for the lack in replies, been dealing with some heavy personal stuff lately.

We definitely wont ask for Money, but it's definitely the most likely thing we will want. Lots of great ideas and I appreciate it!!

I love the date night idea for a shower! That's a great way to incorporate both groom and bride!!

Well I would never ask for money EVER! It's super tackly, in my opinion. But if you let your close friends, sister, MOH, know, when they are talking to family, they can drop the bug about what you want! Or you just don't register at all, and it should be assume that you want monetary gifts, and then you can get whatever you want, wherever you want.

I've heard that you can start registering essentially as soon as you're engaged because some people like to bring a gift to an engagement party. We waited until we had moved into our own place (we were living with my fam at the time we got engaged) and it was perfect timing because then we really knew what we needed. If you want to wait, you should at least do it before your bridal shower. (If you're having one. Though my sister did a theme for my shower so people didn't buy stuff off the registry. She did "date night" so we got some awesome stuff like giftcards to the movies and restaurants and a massage class and games and cook books. We really enjoyed it!)

If you can, I would recommend going to a "Sip and Scan" event. We did a registry at Macy's and they hosted one. It was great because there was food and mocktails and even a DJ! They had reps there from the different major brands so you could ask them questions about the products. They also gave us coupons to use on other things like the jewelry dept so you could purchase accessories for the wedding or whatever you want. They also give you 20% to use unlimitedly for 6 months after your wedding to complete your registry which was awesome! (I had a friend recommend registering at a couple different places even if it's not your main registry so then you can get the discount and use it for whatever you want. It will still work even on items that aren't on your registry.)

When you go, scan everything you might want and then log in online and pair down afterwards. And like the other brides said, make sure to check back to see when things are discontinued. I've heard of some websites like Blueprint that let you register for anything from any site and it will group it all together for you according to type. (Like kitchen stuff, bathroom stuff.)

Yes, I agree with this! Definitely be aware and check back incase things get discontinued. I registered at the Bay, chose my items in November and by January my dream toaster was discontinued Also, keep an eye out on kate Spade products at the Bay, a lot of them are seasonal and get discontinued really quickly!

We aren't doing a registry mainly because I don't need anything. Like REALLY don't need anything. If people want to then money to help with the wedding is great and if people just want to show up and celebrate with us that is great too! I would love to do a reverse registry! I have a long list of things I am moving out of my kitchen if anyone wants them Like right now I have 11 frying pans!

It is usually considered rude to directly ask for money in any way (including gift cards). I would just mention that you would like them to your wedding party and parents, that way if guests want to ask those key people what you'd like they can pass on the information by word of mouth. Otherwise, I would say, just keep with your plan of a small registry and people will just give you cash, and you can just use that at Home Depot!

Also I was in the same boat of thinking I didn't need anything because I've lived on my own for almost 10 years and FH and I have lived together for 2 and a half years. But much of my things are random mix and match things I picked up for cheap when I was in college and though they work fine, having nicer quality items (like utensils that don't have bent fork prongs from being cheap and used for years) would be very nice!

I have new plates, utensils, nice skillets, a towel warmer, new towels (going to be so nice to have quality ones!), nice sheets (I could never bring myself to pays $100 for nice sheets, and my $30 sheets are crap! haha), a nice fan (since we don't have AC), a wifi crockpot (ya... that's a thing!), a digital thermostat... next thing I knew I had a solid amount on the list (and even then FH's aunts and grandma have "complained" that our registry isn't big enough). We even added things for hobbies we share, like gaming systems and board games!

I'm using GiftSpaces for our "registry" and it's set up quite differently. I like it. You basically put in the things you want (it can be physical items, or items like "donate to this charity", or "help pay for our dinner on our honeymoon").

It allows people to pay online and the webstie will transfer us the money after (with a 2.5% cut, which isn't too bad), but it could be good for those who want to contribute to something, without buying us anything physical and worrying about wrapping or travelling with it. It is also again a "physical" thing and they won't feel like they're giving us cash.

Haha I totally understand that! Our registry will likely be small as we've lived together since we started dating and purchased our own house. Small things like, a waffle maker are what we don't have haha. We do have renovations we are constantly doing and have considered asking for things like a home depot gift card, but I'm not sure if that's okay.

It's never to early to start anything in my opinion!!! I analyse everything so I need the extra time lol. My and FH and I aren't having a registry . We've been together for 3 years, had to merge 2 houses into 1, so if I have to try to and fit one more pot in the kitchen or another set of towels in my linen closet, I will need to buy a bigger house LOL. The only downside is a really wanted to play with the registry gun! Lol

It would be awesome if you could have a registry and say that you just need a waffle maker!!! The registry Valerie mentioned sounds pretty cool too. Best of luck to you and please keep sharing your decisions and experiences

I made my registry pretty early and I check it fairly often because as Salume pointed out... items go on clearance. But I wanted to have the basics on the list while I could think of things we would like.

I registered with Bed, Bath and Beyond, Honeyfund and Myregistry. Myregistry is an awesome online registry that lets you add things from any website, which I found great for places where I'd like just an item or 2. The great thing with registries and specific stores is that most will give you a completion discount. Which means that when the wedding is over you can buy items from the registry that weren't purchased for a discount (say 20% off). So I've even added a few random small items of things I've been meaning to buy but would love to get a discount on (like a clear shower curtain liner).

That's a solid thing to note! I didn't think of discontinued even though that was an issue I hit for a wedding I attended last October!! Thank you!! We're thinking of doing an online registry with more of ideas and some specific items. So for example like, "waffle maker" so it doesn't have to be a specific one. Although giving people free reign may not benefit! I will be sure to have a large price range because one wedding I attended, the cheapest thing on the registry was a $70 kettle, and I was broke and in college at the time, so I was disappointed I couldn't get them something off the registry and reverted to cash!

The only thing to consider when you are starting a registry so early on, is that many items might move into clearance or they might be discontinued by the time you send out those invitations. One of my friends is getting married next month and she created her registry this past summer but by December when we were trying to get them a gift, almost half of the registry was unavailable. (This was Bed, bath by the way and they don't notify you when items in a registry are discontinued.)Having said all of that, we started a registry with HBC last weekend at a bridal show because we were told it would not expire and it saves us some time in the future!Bottom line, make sure you pick items that are less likely to be discontinued and check your registry frequently so there would be items of all price ranges available for your guests.Good luck!

I look forward to hearing what others suggest! I need to get a registry done soon!