Wedding Blog
After taking care of the kitchen gadgets, it was time to move onto other items.
While it may seems silly to register for things like towels or sheets, we only have one set of sheets that really fits our bed (the other doesn’t have pockets deep enough for our mattress), and our towels are basically what we used in college (i.e. they have oh so lovely bleach marks due to clearasil and they don’t match. I know that they still function fine without matching, but a part of me really would like them to match.)
At the recommendation of our mothers, we also decided to register for china. Mr. Dahlia and I are inheriting my great-grandmother’s china (the set is round plates with a platinum band), but it would also be nice to have a set that is dishwasher safe. I grew up in a house where china and silver were used at least once a month for special occasions, so I knew that I wanted to register for silver as well.
Since we live in Michigan but are getting married in Ohio, we also wanted to make sure that we registered at a place that was in both places. We checked out Bed, Bath and Beyond, but they don’t carry silver. Turns out many other places also do not carry silver. So we turned to the ubiquitous Macy’s, although neither of us are really big fans of the store.
(I really liked Kaufman’s and Marshall Fields better than “the new” Macy’s. There’s something about Macy’s that just rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it’s the way that they went about the conversion to a single brand. Or how they failed to do market research on the Midwest and were confused when sales were down after the conversion. Or how corporate seems to look down on those of us from the middle of the country. We’re not country bumpkins just because we live in “flyover country.”)
Figuring that the Macy’s at the Somerset Collection would have the largest selection, we made a trip out there.
We arrived at the store, and were directed to their bridal registry department, which included multiple desks with various registry…attendants? experts? helpers? set up to help out registering couples. The woman we spoke with was helpful (and I liked the feature of the registry that suggested how many items to register for based on the number of invited guests), but some things bothered me. Mr. Dahlia was originally placed as the primary registrant (we’ve gone out of our way to make it evident that he is an equal part of this) but the woman switched it so that I was the primary registrant, since the primary receives a free subscription to Modern Bride magazine. This was annoying. There was another bride and groom who had come in with a large number of returns, and greater attention was paid to them. (They looked wealthy. They were returning really expensive gifts. I’m not saying that they received better service because they had money, but it appeared that way.)
But we were given a well-made red bag (same as what Miss Bubblgum received), which was nice bonus.
We were also given a scanner gun, and were sent on our merry way.
Choosing sheets and towels was fairly easy, as was choosing our silver pattern.
Rosepoint by Wallace Silversmiths
China was another story. We didn’t see anything that really caught our eye. Over the holidays, we kept going back to Macy’s (in a whole variety of locations- both in Michigan and Ohio), and just didn’t see anything that we loved.
I also learned while visiting a store in Cleveland that no store in the area actually carries silver in stock- which was the whole reason for registering there.
Finally, their online registry, much like Williams-Sonoma, seemed to be down quite a bit of the time. And neither of us really liked that the registry was tied to weddingchannel.com.
On a whim while in Cleveland, we decided to check out another department store for china- and we ended up closing our entire Macy’s registry as a result of the china.
Anyone else register at Macy’s? What was your experience?
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we closed our macys registry too. after i kept getting almost 15 emails a day from weddingchannel.com. everything we wanted from there we found on amazon.com and its been so much nicer.
I’m from Chicago, so as soon as they put that obnoxious red Macy’s star on the flag ship Marshall Fields on State, I started my boycott. One of my BMs had a horrible experience with the Macy’s bridal shop, so she moved her registry for them.
Unfortunately, without Marshall Fields, there’s not much more in the deparatment store line-up that has a great registry program. JC Penny - not a large selection in store, Carson’s - horrible online registry that won’t even let you delete something without calling into your bridal consultant.
We ended up skipping the deparatment stores all together, and just stayed with Crate & Barrel and Bed, Bath and Beyond.
We needed to register at Macy’s for certain items that we couldn’t get anywhere else as well, and, like you, did not have the best experience. A lot of items were not priced so we had NO idea how much or how little we were registered for until we got home and checked the website. We also encountered lots of salesladies standing around with very few (read:one) offers to help us at all. Even in the china and crystal dept! I was not impressed, though we are keeping our registry there for the certain items we need. I did fill out the email survey I received afterwards and got a short follow-up quite quickly. They said they’d follow up with the store and that the individual store would also get back to me. We’ll see if that happens! All in all, C&B is SO much better and easier!
iwe closed out our bloomingdales registry because they kept running out of stock, and really bad customer service. meanwhile we had the most fantastic time at bbb.
Funny - We closed our Macy’s registry too. We had a really hard time finding everyday dishes we liked. So on a whim stopped by Macy’s. Fell in love with dishes that were sold by piece and registered for them. I was a little worried since it seemed like they had new colors, discontinued colors, and not everything in every color. I wasn’t sure how easy it would actually be for guests to buy the stuff - but I loved it. Well since it was sold by the piece - I went home and added up how much a place setting would be. I WAS SHOCKED!! I didn’t want everyday dishes that cost that much!! What if I break one? What if I want new stuff in 5 years? So I went ahead and closed it - and we just didn’t register for everyday dishes 
The woman was nice - a bit slow, and pushy - but nice The bag is great too
BBB has the registering thing down to a science. They rock, and are always so helpful!
Lowes on the other hand - doesn’t even have scan guns. You have to register online - and the site usability leaves something to be desired. I’m assuming guests who want to view your registry also have to do so online (not always convenient for everyone!). We didn’t get a single item from this registry - but we did get lots of gift cards.
I actually registered at the Somerset Macy’s, too! I had Joanne as my consultant - she was awesome, especially since we made the *brilliant* decision to register the day after Christmas.
The best part about Macy’s is the sale prices - my aunt just got us four sets of our flatware, on sale, and then got the fourth set free since they were running a “buy three, get one free” promotion.
We’re buying a lot of our pricier stuff ourselves, since I covet some Williams-Sonoma exclusives and I didn’t want three registries - we decided to do Macy’s for flatware, china and crystal and Bed Bath and Beyond for OXO and more gadget-y stuff. (Plus, BBB does cash returns!)
I just wanted to say that I totally feel you on the “we’re not country bumpkins” thing. I’m from Dallas, currently residing in Houston. My fiance just went to a medical residency interview in New York where a doctor made some reference like, “If you’re from Texas and you like riding your horse to work maybe Manhattan is not the place for you.” Yeah, Houston, home of NASA and the largest medical center in the country, thanks. ARGH.
Thanks for the comment about Macy’s! I’m also from Chicago, so I also started a boycott once Macy’s replaced Marshall Field’s- how stupid of them not to do research before opening up all the stores.
kleverkira- I can’t believe someone would actually say something like that! That’s very rude.
I haven’t had any problems with the Macy’s registry. We registered there because they are all over, and my family is fairly spread out. So far, so good.
Overally, the registry process has had flaws at both Macy’s and Williams-Sonoma.
Macy’s doesn’t have a huge selection online and we weren’t able to find any everday dishes that we liked and were affordable. Same with bedding and decorative house items. But overall, they are affordable with the sales and coupons, etc.
Williams-Sonoma has much of the things I want on back-order, the web site wasn’t great before it’s recent overhaul, and many of their pieces are wildly overpriced — like some of the porcelain serving pieces. But no one can match their selection of kitchen gadgets and we found everday dishes there that we love and are — SHOCKING — very affordable.
We had no problems with the registry process. We kicked off the registry in the store for things we needed to see and touch (like linens) and then went home and added via the website. It was relatively easy to manage that way.
Since the wedding things have been annoying though. First, the presumed that I changed my name and immediately started sending mail to me with my first name, his last name. Whether or not I have changed my name, I found that rather presumptuous. Oh, and I am still getting mail with my regular name. And my husband is getting mail. So we are now getting three copies of everything. Ugh. I also get emails from them daily. Enough already!
I also deleted my Macys registry. They didn’t have enough affordable items that we wanted. I just can’t fathom asking my family to spend so much on sheets or everyday dishes! The store location we went to (in CA) did not have much selection either. Now we’re registered at Crate & Barrel, BBB, and Pottery Barn. I feel weird having three registries, but I just couldn’t find enough items in each. We’re using Crate & Barrel for dishes, glassware & some kitchen stuff; BBB for more kitchen stuff and linens; and Pottery Barn for home decor type stuff. So far, they have all been very easy to work with.
we just registered at macy’s without much issue. Although our saleslady (who was very nice) was not the most knowledgeable about the details of the program. Perhaps there is a different perception of macy’s depending on your locale? We’re in ny and the macy’s here is HUGE.
We are also getting married in the Cleveland metro area and are planning our wedding from out-of-state (Virginia). We chose to register at Bed, Bath and Beyond, Macy’s, & CB2 (registered online). My fiance and I both come from big families and we are having a big wedding (~275ish). We felt that we needed to pay attention to what was convenient for our guests (ruling out William-Sonoma and Crate & Barrel b/c they are over an hour away).
Our experience at Macy’s was very positive. We registered in FL prior to our move to VA and the Sales Associate was very helpful. Macy’s original prices may seem high but they are constantly having sales and our higher priced items (bedding, etc.) are often 50% off. One great perk is that we set up for a portion of every online registry purchase at Macy’s to go to a selected charity. I have called the store to have them add certain items that aren’t available online w/o any problems. Customer service makes the difference!
I registered at Macy’s as well, but being in Southern Indiana, frankly, there are just no other choices (I miss Lazarus and LS Ayres!).
So far, the experience has been very good, but FH and I knew before we registered that the had the dishes we wanted - Fiestaware - and the sales on those items have been great for family members.
However, the endless emails are amazingly frustrating!
I have been checking this site out occasionally due to my bridesmaid status (one of my best friends from back home is getting married), and I love it!
Just wanted to congratulate you on choosing Rosepoint as your pattern. Being the super-southern woman that she is, my mother picked out patterns for my sister and I at a very, very young age. Like, I was 2 and my sister’s was chosen at birth! Anyway, we get a piece at every major holiday, which seems strange, but I have grown to appreciate that I will already have accumulated a lot of my silver before I register one day. My pattern is Buttercup (and I am such a buttercup) and my sister (Miss Sassy Cute 14 year old) is rose point. We both will inherit pieces of our silver from relatives as well (again, my mom planned on that.)
In the hilarious book “A Southern Belle Primer: Why Princess Margaret Will Never Be a Kappa Kappa Gamma,” they have a mock zodiac featuring all of the traditional patterns (mentioning Rose Point of course). Definitely check that out:)
Anyway, sorry for the long comment, but I am kind of a nerd about silver patterns.
[...] I mentioned in an earlier post, we were less than thrilled with our Macy’s experience, and were still on the search for a china [...]
I, too, “had” to register at Macy’s. It was the ONLY department store that carried our pattern in individual pieces. BBB had them, but only in full 5-pc place settings. I couldn’t see asking our family and friends to spend that much.
PLUS, Dillards nor Belks (used to be McRaes at home) carry the pattern! AARRRRGGHHH!!!! So, Macy’s was our only choice. Oh, did I tell you all that there is NO MACY’S at home (Jackson, Mississippi?!). Thank goodness that there is one in Alabama (where the majority of my family is). The only folks that are in Mississippi are my extended family, which is still a good number of people.
I also registered at Crate and Barrel (casual pattern and some house decor) and WS (only things that you could get at WS and not BBB).
Can’t you opt out of the weddingchannel emails? I think I found a way to do it because I no longer get all of the emails from them (praise GOD!). I’ll check….
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Ms. Dahlia, Detroit/Cleveland
Age and Occupation: 24, PhD Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, IT System Administrator
Engagement Date: December 31, 2006
Wedding Date: May 2008
Blogging Since: September 19, 2007
Venue: United Methodist Cathedral & historic downtown hotel in Cleveland
About Me: I enjoy cooking, dancing and swimming. I am a geek and apply game theory to my everyday life. Winter is my favorite time of year, especially when spent curled up with good coffee and a book by Madeleine L'Engle.
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