Hot Searches:
Mrs. Emerald's Picture
Mrs. Emerald, Chicago Age and Occupation: 26, Hospitality Administration Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Paralegal Engagement Date: October 8, 2006 Wedding Date: September 2007 Blogging Since: November 29, 2006 Venue: Hyatt Lodge, Oak Brook IL About Me: I have been dreaming about my wedding forever, and flipping through bridal magazines since high school, so I am in my element! I am calling our theme "Vintage Inspired French/Asian Fusion." Mr. Emerald is very involved in the planning process, but of course he generally defers to me cuz I have a strong opinion of how I want everything to be :-).
About Mrs. Emerald

The POST-Registry

September 28th, 2007 @ 4:43 pm by Mrs. Emerald

We have just completed Week Two of married life, and it sure is blissful! I love knowing that we are a Team for LIFE!! laughin01

Anywhoo, our major task over last weekend was tackling our wedding presents. Strangely enough, our guests bought the majority of the “miscellaneous” items off our registry such as vases, crystal, candle holders, etc., instead of the “practical” items such as our dishes, pots and pans, knives, bedding, etc. As much as we appreciated their generosity and wanted to keep all the fun and pretty stuff, we decided to return some of those items in exchange for the necessities. I really don’t want to sound ungrateful, ‘cuz that’s not it at all, but we were really trying to be practical.

First of all, here are 2 important things we found out about our Crate & Barrel and Macy’s registries:

Crate & Barrel - you only have TWO chances to redeem your 10% off completion coupon, (once in-store and once online) within 3 months post-wedding. Also, if there are any additional items that you want to get the discount on, you have to actually add them onto your registry (even if your wedding has passed).

Macy’s - You get a 10% off coupon that is valid EVERY DAY for 3 months after your wedding, on ANY home-related items, whether or not it is on your registry. Wowza, I was really surprised to hear that!

We ended up spending about an hour in the cookware department with one of the registry consultants. A while back, I really mulled over the All Clad versus Calphalon debate. Initially, we had this 7-piece All Clad set on our registry, but I still felt a bit guilty cuz it’s such a costly brand.

allclad

It includes the following pieces for $419:
- 10 inch fry pan
- 2 quart sauce pan w/lid
- 3 quart saute pan w/lid
- 6 quart stock pot w/lid

But last weekend we walked out of Macy’s with ALL THIS for about $389:

calphalon set.JPG

Calphalon Tri-ply 13-piece set including:
- 8-inch omelette pan
- 10-inch omelette pan
- 1.5 quart sauce pan w/lid
- 2.5 quart sauce pan w/lid
- 4.5 quart sauce pan w/lid
- 3 quart saute pan w/lid
- 6 quart stock pot w/lid
- 6 quart pasta insert
- BONUS - 9-inch Calphalon One open skillet
- BONUS - 10-quart Calphalon One dutch oven

The two bonus offers are available if you spend over $400 on Calphalon products. However, since we had the 10% off completion coupon, the set would only cost us $360, so we were ready to purchase something else in order to make up that $40 difference. But the lady at the counter said that we didn’t have to, the value of the set itself qualified for the offer (even though it was technically $399.99, and the bonus was valid for purchases over $400…). I thought they would call us out on that technicality, but YAY!

We happily walked out with 16 pieces of cookware, and immediately made jambalaya for dinner!! My only dismay was that after cooking and washing, the stainless steel had a rainbow-like cast on it, which I’ve heard is normal and easily removed with some Bar Keepers Friend cleaner. Must get me some of dat ASAP!

As much as I initially wanted the All Clad for its excellent name and reputation, we decided that 1) we are by no means master chefs 2) we probably wouldn’t know the difference and 3) the extra money could be better spent elsewhere. I really think this set will last us the next 20 years (*knock on wood*).

13 Responses to “The POST-Registry”

1.
Sarah says:

Reason 4 can be that All-Clad hasn’t exactly been sweeping the Cook’s Illustrated tests lately. I believe deep in my heart that the Calphalon will do you proud.

2.
Jes says:

You can pick up the Barkeeper’s friend at Wal-Mart! That stuff works wonders…

3.
princesskittyHI says:

GASP! What?! I missed the window for our C&B discount?! Oh s*%#!!!

PS - Mrs. Emerald, how did you get the C&B discount online? I examined the certificate we got in the mail closely, and it said I could only get the discount in person (there are no C&B’s here, boo) or by phone. And there were no completion instructions online either, unlike Williams-Sonoma’s site. I hate phone ordering, so I kept putting it off…shoot, looks like I waited too long. =(

4.
Moi says:

I hated those short expiration dates on the registry completions because guests’ gifts are still coming in during those weeks/months immediately following the wedding….

5.
Bee Icon
Mrs. Emerald says:

Princess Kitty… uh oh, you may be right about the phone ordering thing and not online ordering. I just skimmed the certificate and that it said online, but now I have to go home and double check!!

6.
Bee Icon
Miss Chickadee says:

I’m a Calphalon girl myself. Ok it’s definitely dinner time here, because I read your entire post and all I can think is mmmm jambalaya.

7.
aoedorothee says:

this was so incredibly helpful! thanx much!

8.
ladyjeni says:

Miss Emerald you should check this website out. I saw it posted on the knot about a month ago

http://www.calphalon.com/calphalon/consumer/bride/giftOffers.jhtml;jsessionid=PJ1LFIIXU2T2CCQHUB2CJBQKA4QGIJCK

I really like my calphalon pots and think its really great of a company to do this.

9.
PhxBride says:

i got the baking set for registering at BBB for Calphalon :)

10.
christi says:

i love bar keeps!

11.
prodam kvartiru g lyubercy says:

kvartiry m frunzenskaya kvartira snyat odnokomnatnaya ekaterinburg kvartiry kirovogradskaya 24 prodazha kvartir silikatnaya prodam kvartiru g lyubercy rynok kvartir sankt peterburg arenda kvartir g omsk gp kvartira ru pokupka kvartir g ufa

12.
nedvizhimost sdayu tomsk says:

nedvizhimost sdayu tomsk nedvizhimost sdayu tomsk nedvizhimost sdayu tomsk nedvizhimost sdayu tomsk nedvizhimost sdayu tomsk nedvizhimost sdayu tomsk


You can also just...

Copyright 2004-2008, eHarmony, Inc., Advertise

Tags on this Entry

Tags: ,
 

 

 
 
 
Mrs. Emerald Mrs. Emerald, Chicago Age and Occupation: 26, Hospitality Administration Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Paralegal Engagement Date: October 8, 2006 Wedding Date: September 2007 Blogging Since: November 29, 2006 Venue: Hyatt Lodge, Oak Brook IL About Me: I have been dreaming about my wedding forever, and flipping through bridal magazines since high school, so I am in my element! I am calling our theme "Vintage Inspired French/Asian Fusion." Mr. Emerald is very involved in the planning process, but of course he generally defers to me cuz I have a strong opinion of how I want everything to be :-).