While for most people, this past weekend was for family, easter egg hunts and chocolate eating, for us this weekend was about setting up our registry.
We had been putting it off until we realized exactly how fast the wedding was approaching and that my bridal shower was even closer. So, Saturday morning, we hopped on the subway and scooted down to the core to get things started.
First stop - William Ashley. As a girl whose first set of dishes came from Canadian Tire and whose current set consists of a mishmash of borrowed china and camping plates, the idea of finally getting a full set to call our very own was very exciting, so we went to the place with one of the biggest selections in Canada.
Our lovely consultant Eichelle explained the different types of dishes they offered and gave us a tour of their store which, considering how huge it is, was definitely needed.
The rotunda area when you first enter the store.
The wall of crazy eclectic giftware pieces.
The silver platters and barware display.
The gourmet area filled with awesome kitchen gadgets.
The water bar for a refreshment pit stop.
And room upon room of dishes!
As we browsed through set after set of dishes, we discussed what we needed in a set. We both wanted something that was sturdy enough that we could use it every day and was in a reasonable price range so that, if all of our sets weren’t purchased off our registry, it wouldn’t break the bank for us if we had to buy them.(While many of the dishes were beautiful and reasonable, some of the sets in the store cost almost $400 per place setting!)
However, while we were in agreement about our dish needs, we were not in agreement about pattern and it took us longer than expected to pick out our set because of my dislike of beige and love of bright colours and Mr. Hum’s dislike of bright colours and his love of all things earthtone. Plus, on top of that, Mr. Hum went to design school and for design related reasons does not like square plates, so we crossed those off our list. At the end of the trip, we managed to find four sets that fit all of our needs and wants, before settling on these:
Noritake Colourwave Chocolate with Magnolia Accent Plate.
With a good price point, a stoneware feel to them and a little colour for me in the accent plate, they finally worked and we Goldilockses finally found our perfect porridge (bowls)!
Unfortunately, after an hour and a half of looking at plates and thinking of the food that would one day grace their surfaces, we had to cut our trip there a bit short, if we were going to grab a snack before heading to our second stop for the rest of our registry doodads- The Hudson’s Bay Company.
Basically, The Bay is to Canadians what Macy’s is to Americans. Mr. Hum and I registered at the gigantic Bay in Toronto’s Eaton Centre. It takes up an entire city block and is eight stories tall, the highest of which houses Acardian Court, a popular venue for weddings in Toronto.
We had a half hour meeting with our registry consultant Sharlene before we were let loose in the store with a scan gun. I do not have pictures of our Bay experience or the expression on my face when I was handed the scanner, but I will say that when it came to be in my hands, I held it like a pistol and pretended I was one of the girls from Charlie’s Angels.
Anyway, because we had a set time limit, it felt a little like we were on some crazy game show that was a combination of The Amazing Race and Supermarket Sweep, running through different departments and up and down escalators. But in spite of the rush, we managed to scan about 80 per cent of the things I had on our handy dandy registry list (thanks for the suggestions, ladies!) and we scheduled another appointment to finish up the remainder next weekend before running off to our most important appointment of the day - dinner!
As a treat, my parents sprung for dinner for us at Southern Accent, a great little cajun creole restaurant in The Annex. Not only was the food great and plentiful (we had corn fritters, a spicy mix of seafood, catfish and bourbon chicken), but getting to sit back with a cocktail after all the running around we’d had to do was the perfect capper to a crazy day.
Now that we’ve been through it, I want to hear other people’s experiences - Where did the rest of you ladies register? What was your experience like? Did you make a day of it like we did or did you split it into different outings?
Neither he nor I are very excited about registering. Is anyone else like this? He hates shopping and I just shudder thinking where we’re going to put everything.
We’re doing as much as possible online, since that really cuts down on the mallsickness factor, and means we can do a little here, a little there. Is that an option for most people?
We registered entirely online. There is very little we need and it’s easy to find fun gadgets without getting exhausted. We can easily add new things to our registry as we think of them. We’re also registered at a variety of locations to give our guests options to shop locally or online if they want– each location is a different type of gift (REI for outdoors, Amazon.com for electronics/play, BBB for housewares, Crate & Barrel for home furnishings). It was so fun and easy I can’t imagine doing it any other way!
We registered at William Ashley last summer, and I agree so much fun! But totally overwhelming, I’m not sure how many times I walked in circles before figuring out where everything was at the store. It was the best registering experience we had though, they treat you so well! And my FH loved the water bar!
William Ashley looks like a GORGEOUS place to shop ! Very jealous !
SUpermarket sweep!!! I was just trying to tell my fiance about that the other day and NO ONE knew what I was talking about….It was my favorite show…lol
We haven’t registered yet, I’m not sure how excited I am. My fiance is not, especially since I had to tell him there’s no more registry at Canadian Tire (cuz I was playing that off as a “manly” thing to go do…) Now I just feel lik eI’m going to drag him there and hope that he cares (or at least pretend to!)
We registered with the Bay because it was the only place we could find that would allow people outside of Canada (90% of our guests) to make purchases online without a Canadian billing address. The cross-border thing has been such an eye opening/annoying experience!
wow… where the hell is that william and ashley branch? it looks so fancy pants!
@Miss Gingerbread: Hey Gingy! Yeah, up here the Bay kind of has a bit of a monopoly on registries because there are so many and it’s so available. It’s not a bad store but it would be awesome if we had a little more variety.
@kim: The William Ashley branch is up in the Manulife Centre at the corner of Bay and Bloor, a floor down from the Varsity theatre. A lot of it is seriously fancy-pants but they have some really awesome accessories, so we thought it was worth registering there.
Mrs. Hummingbird, Toronto
Age and Occupation: 25, Publishing Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Videogame Designer/Cartoonist
Engagement Date: May 4, 2007
Wedding Date: June 28, 2008
Blogging Since: September 18, 2007
Venue: A garden wedding followed by a tented reception on Mr. Hummingbird's father's property.
About Me: I’m a pop culture loving, vintage obsessed foodie living in Canada’s biggest city with my fantastic fiancé and our lovable fluffy cat Bettie. I’m stoked to marry my best friend and to throw what I hope will be
the most fun and colourful party of our lives.
We registered on Saturday. Two places, no china or crystal (we have them) and it still took hours. Crate and Barrel (US) was great, while Bed, Bath and Beyond (also US) was totally tiring. Glad to be done! We only had to do some light editing afterward.