Registering is one of the first things you should do because people will look to your registry for engagement gifts, shower gifts, or simply to send their wedding gift to you early instead of carrying it to the wedding. It also seems like one of the most daunting tasks. I remember not even knowing where to start when I got married, and thought that giving you guys some tips might help some of you brides and grooms! Even though I’ve been married for 6 years, I still feel like a have a decent grasp on registering. I also found this article from The Knot very helpful on the subject.
Before we get to the tips, I will just say one thing – I recommend registering at multiple places and the reason being that you never know what store is closest to someone and you never know what someone’s budget is so you want to have a lot of good options. Now for the good stuff…
Wedding Registry Tips:
- Register wherever you want – I registered at the traditional places like Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, and Macys, but I wish I would’ve known that I could have registered at places like Anthropologie for neat home decor and/or kitchenware.
- Make 2 Lists – this step is important. Take note of what you both have and/or what you’ll be keeping when you get married. Additionally, make a list of the items you don’t have, but know you’ll need.
- Register for big items like furniture – some people will tell you to shy away from this because it seems greedy, but I say go for it and here’s why. Once you’re married most stores will give you a certain discount (20% or 30%) on the remainder of your items on your list and you can apply that to your big items. Travis and I did this with a bar we really wanted from Pottery Barn that was over $1,000 and rather than expecting someone to get it for us, we used our discount to get it at a more affordable price.
- Know the perks – know what the exchange policies are and what time of discount you’ll get after the wedding and for how long.
- Register for a range of items – register for items for each room of your house and register for different price points. Everyone has a different budget and you want to make sure there are items on your registry that everyone can afford or splurge on if they choose to.
- Register together – I love this tip because as a woman I feel like I think I know better what needs to be in our house. However, I was quite surprised at how opinionated Travis was about random things. You want to make sure you’re both getting what you want!
- More is better, less is not – this is a weird concept because sometimes you can feel greedy almost racking up a big registry. However, people want options and you want to get something you actually want. As a wedding guest, there’s nothing worse than going to someone’s registry only to find everything has been purchased. When this happens people start shopping off the registry and that’s just not fun for either party really.
- Check your registry often – to avoid the above.
- Keep adding to your list – you never want your list to be empty, so keep adding as you have showers and it gets depleted.
- Get extras – plates, wine glasses, cups, etc. You think you won’t need extras, but I can’t tell you how many bowls and wine glasses we’ve dropped or broken.
- Learn from the pros – seek friends that have registered before to help you out!
- Know which store’s merchandise is seasonal – this is important because seasonal items might go off your registry before you even get married. This happened to us with a bedding we chose at Pottery Barn that was only in season for a couple of weeks after we registered for it.
- Space out your registering – don’t do it all in one day because it’s a big task. Make it fun and do one place and then grab a drink after and do the next place another day!
I hope this helps and I’d love to know if you have any great tips yourself!!!
