Mrs. Bubblegum, Exeter, NH
Age and Occupation: 24, Actuarial Analyst
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Ressearch & Development
Engagement Date: February 9, 2007
Wedding Date: May 2008
Blogging Since: November 2, 2007
Venue: Dunegrass Golf Club
About Me: I can be summed up by the four things I love most: kitties, cheese, math, and Mr. Bubblegum. I am knee-deep in DIY projects to keep wedding costs low but quality high for the special day when I get to marry my bestest friend.
Registry 101
December 11th, 2007 @ 11:24 am by Mrs. Bubblegum
Our next big item on our “To Do” list is registering. To me, this is horribly daunting task, as:
- I was not born with the registry gene.
- I knew nothing about how many, where, when, what, why, etc.
- We have been living together for about 2 ½ years now, so we already own the “must-haves.”
I figured there’s not much I can do about #1 (aside from altering time and biology, but I don’t like to show off), so I’d just have to suck it up and get it done.
For #2, I did some research. Here is what I found out about some of my big questions:
a) How Many? I think the general idea here is that more is better. The more gifts you include on your registry, the more your guests will have to choose from (you don’t want to force Grandma to buy a spoon because she waited too long). The rule of thumb seems to be 2-3 gifts per invited guest. Obviously, you won’t get them all, but sometimes stores give you a discount on items that weren’t purchased after-the-fact, so why not get more discounts? Also, if you want to make the list appear smaller, split it up between stores.
b) Where? You should register at multiple stores that give your guests some variety of gifts as well as price points. Two to three stores is typical, but this is your wedding, so do what you want. To make it easier on your guests, choose stores that are in their area or that offer online buying.
c) When? Seems as though most people say about six months before the wedding. You just want to give your guests enough time to shop.
d) What? Up to you. It does NOT have to be Macy’s or Crate & Barrel (though I heart them both). You should register at stores that appeal to you.
e) Why? Ummmmmmm becaaaause you’re special and you deserve to be showered with gifts. J
For #3, I must say, I was 100% convinced that I would not be able to find anything to register for. I’ve been telling myself over and over that we will just need to look for things to upgrade our current supplies, but even still, I didn’t think it would be enough for a registry… UNTIL… I took some time (okay, a LOT of time) the other night to go online (I picked Target as an example) and go through each section of the website to make a list of things we’d need. Surprisingly, the list added up quickly. Several hours later, I was already up to 160 items (and counting… I’m not even done yet!). I feel pretty good about this technique. Even though we might not end up registering at Target, at least now I will be prepared with a comprehensive list of gifts.
How did you tackle the registry beast?
14 Responses to “Registry 101”
We registered at three stores– Macy’s, BB&B, and Crate & Barrel. We didn’t have that many items on the list, so all three registries were cleaned out really quickly. However, I did know that my mom’s side of the family (Vietnamese) would be giving cash gifts, so we didn’t need nearly as many registry items as we would have otherwise.
My advice– have a good selection of practical and relatively frivolous items on your list. Some people will want to give you pots and pans because they’ll be a good foundation for your kitchen. Other people will want to give something like crystal, or a set of sushi-shaped potholders, because they figure you’d never buy it for yourself.
We will be registering at probably three stores: Target (who doesn’t heart Target?); Bed Bath and Beyond (they have the coupons in the mail allllll the time) and Macy’s (my dream home-store). This should cover all the price points and well be uber fun to go running around with a gun for once in my life :). Thanks to your comment about timing, I now know that the Battle of Square vs. Round Plates won’t have to take place until February :D.
We went into Crate and Barrel and a sales lady told us not to register more than three months before the wedding. Do people register six months ahead?
Confession time:
We started our registry right after we got engaged… A year and a half before the wedding. Waaaaaay early, I know. 
However, I was dying to do something wedding related, and it was too early for everything else! I’ve gone back every few months and updated it if things have been discontinued or we thought of something else.
My wedding isn’t till July 2009. The nice happy people at the store advised me not to do a wedding registery till about 6 months to a year prior to the wedding or else i’d have to update the registry to go with inventory on hand.
Also the Fiance will be out of country for all of 2008 making the joy of store registry a bit tricky to say the least. We love the idea of being able to run around a store and scan things but well can’t do it if he’s not around.
We also have no idea where will be living till around the time of the wedding since he’s in the service and will be up for a location change by that time.
We have decided that we are going to make a website with a list of things we want in the generic form ie blender. and if there are qualities in an item we want will add that ie a vacum that can withstand long hair and thread.
Granted 2009 is still a bet far off so all this can change by then lol.
Don’t forget to update your registry at least once.
After you’ve done a day of scanning, sometimes things can end up on there that you thought were awesome at the time, but realize didn’t really want/need in hindsight.
We spent and two entire days registering and I wish I would have gone back and edited some of those finds. I didn’t really need shams when bath towels were more important. I mean, I never use shams but I was going crazy-matchy with the scanner and somehow they ended up on there.
Not many people think about it, but put some board games or lawn games on your registry too! From the viewpoint of a guest to 5 weddings this past year, we love getting the fun things from registries and it’s really hard to get excited about buying a present for a really good friend when all they’re asking for are towels and plates (that’s pretty much what one of them was…)
Anyway, just some food for thought. 
As far as the when, you certainly do not have to wait until 6 months before the registry. Shortly after we were engaged, a lot of our family members wanted to purchase engagement gifts for us, and were nagging my mother about when we were going to register. We registered 14 months before the wedding, and within 2 weeks of setting up the registries, engagement gifts started pouring in. I realize this is family specific, but if people want to give you gifts to celebrate your engagement, register early!
Also, as far as price points, I’ve been told to put a few really big ticket items on the registry… things like that $1500 couch you’ve been coveting from Crate and Barrel, etc. Groups of people may want to go in together and buy you something (as in, your 10 cousins or high school friends), or even if you don’t get it, then at the end when you get the registry completion coupon, you can save a bundle.
Oh #1 - thats me! I love love love to shop, but for some reason we’ve been avoiding registering like the plague. Im very intimidated! This was a very helpful post. Maybe I’ll get some courage and we’ll get started this week. Maybe. Maybe next week would be better…haha
(in my book, our first shower isnt until March, so why register before then? the wedding is in May)
We registered a few months after we got engaged. After I built our wedding website, people asked about the registry. I see it as a work in progress so there’s about 70 items on the list. Before my first shower in April, I’ll add more items.
FI and I lived together over 4 years before getting engaged, so we definitely had a lot of household items already too. What I registered for was a lot of better quality versions of items we already had but were old/falling apart/or we just wanted shiny new ones- ie. bakeware, utensils, everyday dinnerware, pots. We also registered for splurges that we would have never bought for ourselves like luxury towels and 400+ count sheets. Plus we registered for 12 place settings of china so that made up a good portion of the registry right there. I found that people tended to buy the china as wedding gifts more and people gave me other items on the registry at my shower.
Oh, and FI registered for camping gear at REI too
Do we absolutely HAVE to register? I get all queasy and my limbs go to sleep whenever I think about it. I need some encouragement, here. Or at least someone to tell me I’m being ridiculous.
Of course you don’t have to register! We also did not want to register (we already live together, have everything we need and really didn’t want to accumulate stuff) but we were constantly being asked about it. Finally, we gave in since it seemed like our guests really wanted the option. I picked one store with the best holding policy and registered for only a few items (mainly glassware). Don’t feel pressured to regsiter at too many places if you feel uncertain. Start with one and build up if you need to.
Miss Gummibear, I am exact opposite of you. I am not even engaged and I already have some things in mind that I want to register for ( granted, I’ve been with my bf for close to 7yrs, living together for 5.5, so I had plenty of time to think about this, lol).
My #1 item is the red counter-top KitchenAid mixer. I love to bake ( for him and others, I rarely eat desserts) and this seems like a perfect gadget. I know I can buy one myself, I know I could ask for one for Christmas or birthday, but it just seems like one of those things that should be on the registry I admire it every time I go to Williams-Sonoma ( which is a lot since there is one right by my gym), I keep thinking about it every time I watch Brefoot Contessa whip up one of her scrumptious desserts on weekend mornings, I dare to say I am in love with it I can’t wait until it’s mine.
Have fun registering !
