Tips for the Perfect Wedding Registry
Hello and happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.
I can honestly say my wedding day was far better than the best day of my life. Much planning, love, sweat, and tears went into making this day extraordinary, and you’ll be seeing Caroline’s photos (which I’m patiently waiting to see!) detailing the entire event in its stripey, preppy, golden glory.
It makes my heart happy to hear from guests weeks later, wanting to rehash all the details and hearing how much they loved it as well. Now Chris and I are working on coming down from a fabulous wedding high, and getting used to our new “husband” and “wife” titles.
I’ll be sharing my best tips with you over the next few Mondays so you can be a fabulously prepared bride yourself!
Don’t underestimate the power of a well-thought-out registry.
With every present we received, it’s purchaser would tell us how fun it was going through our registry, and how beautifully curated everything was. We even had a few people say they shopped for themselves while shopping for us! Only a handful of gifts weren’t something we’d registered for, and even those were close or related to items on our list; we’d given our guests a very good idea of our hobbies and personal style.
Follow these little guidelines for a registry everyone will love:
- Sit down with your fiance and decide on a personal style. This will guide you through the wedding-gift-choosing process. Adding things on impulse is SO easy to do, but if you already have a style to go by, you won’t end up replacing your beautiful wedding gifts down the line. And if everything goes with a style, guests will be able to stray from the registry but still have a great idea of what to get you. ( If you’re curious… our style is very West Elm meets Kate Spade; lots of color and pattern with mid-century lines. )
- If you are tempted to register at more than three stores, use something to keep it all organized, like MyRegistry.com. I came across them when searching for good places to register, and it lets you sync stores to its rather huge database. It also lets you add obscure things from places that don’t have registries (it works like Pinterest, where you can choose items online through your browser to add). I’m a hardcore West Elm fan, and they don’t have a registry program because their products go in and out so frequently, so this was perfect for them and many other smaller retailers. Also they are free to use! It’s a no-brainer! (not sponsored – just a good experience)
- Ask yourself with each item: is it useful? Will it last? All of our items checked these boxes. Each person we invited to the wedding made it such a loving, special event, and I’d love to remember that when I use their gifts years down the road.
- Remember it’s a gift, not a shopping list. We were inviting so many people that at one point I actually ran out of ideas for registry gifts. I started registering for things like ironing board covers and bulk candles in a desperate attempt to have enough to choose from! Once I stepped back and remembered that people usually like to have fun selecting a gift, not read your “stuff to buy” checklist, I took them off and got more creative.
- Offer a wide price range in your selections. Sometimes less expensive items can be grouped for a fun “themed” gift, and someone might surprise you with a splurge item. We didn’t expect people to buy exclusively off our registry, but it was a wonderful surprise to get so many things we’d personally picked out.
- Register for a mutual hobby. We love going camping but have minimal gear, and our tent really has seen better days (it’s missing a few poles!). Some of our guests were the outdoorsy type and really loved the idea of getting us some useful camping things – even some awesome gadgets we didn’t know existed! But this works for pretty much anything! If you’re both gamers, pick out some really cool mice, a gaming keyboard, or a year subscription to GameFly or an MMO. Both yoga nuts? Some lululemon gift certificates, new mats, or items to take your spare room to yoga studio status could be in order. These kinds of gifts make your guests feel like they are giving you something personal and special.
- If it matters to you, put it on the registry – or don’t. A lot of people will give you advice on what and where to register, but the reality is, you have to live with your gifts! Having china was one of the few things I really did want, and my friends didn’t really get it (I’m not a very traditional person) but I’m SO glad I put it on the registry, and I swoon every time I look at my china pattern. I can envision the fancy holiday dinners now! But if you aren’t into china, or don’t really need serveware or cookware (not everyone is a chef!) register for the things you will use. You might get a comment or two, but brush it off gracefully and no one will remember after the wedding fervor is over.
It was a long learning curve for me, and I spent a long time learning and putting together my registry one piece at a time, so these tips are the product of a year’s worth of figuring out what worked best for us. I hope you glean some nuggets of advice from me, and make the registry of your dreams!
Have a wonderful day lovelies!
xoxo- Morgan Elizabeth
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