Wedding Blog

From one of my favorite artists and domestic commentator, Anne Taintor
{Image from here}

Mr. Canary and I took the plunge and registered at Crate and Barrel a few months back. Though we are combining two households and really don’t need more “stuff,” we decided to register for a few items for our new home for the more traditional guests.

We got all the necessaries including fine china (who knew that I’d ever care about bone china), flatware, and bed/bath linens, but the big gap was cookware. Mr. Canary and I really enjoy cooking, but we don’t get much of a chance to do it since we have been living at Mama and Papa Canary’s. We’re spoiled. Mama Canary doesn’t let us near the kitchen. And previously, I lived in a tiny NYC studio apartment (under 300 square feet!) so my cookware was limited to items that were specifically for cooking for one person. My “kitchen” consisted of a very small area that contained a sink, two range tops, a mini-fridge beneath it.

But we love food and entertaining. One of the first furniture pieces we got for our new apartment was an extend-able dining table. We have grand hopes of entertaining and throwing dinner parties. Hence, the need for more things for the kitchen and cookware.

To help with your registry list, all the store guides suggest imagining that you are planning for a dinner party and think of your menu and the number of people attending. This is always distracting, because all I can imagine are the cute little place cards I’d make or the beautiful centerpieces. Plus, all the store guides have ulterior motives to get you to buy stuff that you don’t need, but subconsciously think you’ll need: egg cups, pancake warmers, condiment spoons…

That’s when I found Epicurious’ handy guide to kitchen essentials. It’s a great overview of things you would need to entertain and be a good hostess. Now if they’ll just magically make the food appear as well!

How did you decide on what to register for? What were your guidelines? Did you imagine hosting a dinner party?