One of the most enjoyable things your get to do in planning a wedding is registering on gift registries. This gives you the opportunity to pick out exactly what you need, which will help your guests with gift suggestions, and ensures that you won’t end up with 3 blenders and 6 coffee pots.
There are no “rules” for how to do this, but here are some tips to consider if you really want to maximize your gift opportunities, while still being fair to your guests.
First, don’t go registering at the most expensive stores in town, unless all of your friends are super wealthy. Chances are not all of your guests will be able to buy you an expensive gift. Register gifts in several different price ranges; if a guest really wants to “spoil” you, they can buy a few small gifts.
Second, try to be as specific as possible. Several options will leave your guests with too many decisions on what to get, fewer choices will make their gift giving task a little less difficult. Most stores with gift registries have similar products in different colors and styles; if you’re specific, you’ll get the color and brand you want.
Third, try to choose gifts based on their function and your need, as opposed to expensive items that can wait. Newlyweds often need a lot of things to make a house into a home, so it’s best to get everything you need as opposed to a few things that you want. A half-complete kitchen full of designer dishes and expensive appliances will only cost thousands to complete.
Fourth, the most important thing; get the word out. It’s bad etiquette to send information on the gift registry with your invitations. There are two ways you can possibly get this information out, one an old school way, the other a new school way.
The old school way is to tell a few people, including family members, then wait for the word to spread. Invariably, the word will spread, though it may not get to all that many people if you happen to have friends who keep quiet.
The new school way is to create a simple wedding website or blog where you can put all of your wedding details, you can also register on social wedding websites, like www.ChatterBrides.com, where you can create a profile, connect with other brides, plan your wedding and share your wedding with family and friends.
If you put a link in your invitations to your online wedding resource, your guests will find your registry information and wedding event details online. This will come across as convenient and informational and not like an appeal for gifts!
List of Places to Register for Wedding Gifts
Club Wedd – Target.com
Wedding Registry – Walmart.com
Wedding Registry – JCPenny.com
Gift Registry – PotteryBarn.com
Wedding Registry – Amazon.com
Nice post. I suggest to try Wishpot.com universal wedding registry, so you can have products from all the websites you mentioned all in one list. Plus, you can also add things offline. Sounds like a winner, huh?
Fabio – thanks for the suggestion
I got so many gifts when my husband and I got married. I wish I could do it all over again!