Thursday, February 3, 2011

Ideas for the Perfect Registry

Royal Crown Derbey "Darley Abbey" dinnerware from Neiman Marcus

One thing that can be super exciting (and super stressful!) is figuring out what to put on your bridal registry list. We hope to help you out with a few tips for a smooth and stress-free registry.

Try and register at least one month before your showers or engagement parties. Guests will want to buy you gifts and those who are out of town will be shipping items in advance. Although you could get by with registering completely online, be sure you visit the stores in person to ensure that you really love it! Keep an eye on seasonal or sale items, they could be here one day and gone the next. Register for more than you think you need, you’ll be surprised at how generous your friends and family are! People just love to go out of their way to make this time special for you.

As a rule of thumb, stick to two to four stores you simply love. A great suggestion is to pick one or two national chains and one or two local boutiques. Most stores will maintain your registry for up to a year, and offer a discount on any remaining items you may have left after the wedding.

These days, couples might have everything they could possibly need already. Consider registering at a local sporting goods store or home improvement store. It’s still taboo to ask for money, but there are websites out there that makes asking for cash less awkward: http://www.giftsofstock.com/, http://www.thehoneymoon.com/, (this one lets people donate to your post-wedding getaway), or register with your favorite charity at http://www.idofoundation.org/. Proceed with caution: your grandparents or more traditional folks might still prefer to give you an actual gift!

Emily Post will tell you that it's never acceptable to include where you've registered on the wedding invitation. Rely on word of mouth through friends and family, and it's always okay to list the stores of your choice on the shower invitations.

Do you need more inspiration to get you started? Don't know the difference between a saute pan and a gratin dish? We LOVE Martha Stewart's bridal registry checklist. Download this wonderful tool here: http://tinyurl.com/4kq8u79

P.S. Don't forget to say thank you! For help on writing the perfect thank you note, visit our blog post on that very topic here

1 comment:

Unknown said...

We'd love to throw our name into the mix as well, we're a centralized registry. We allow you to add items from any online store, but also connect with several major retailers to make it easy to manage in one place. Perhaps the best part is we help guests save by finding the best price and in turn the couple gets more. Check us out at: http://www.registrystop.com