Mrs. Toucan, Boston
Age and Occupation: 25, Full-time Research Assistant, Part-time Graduate Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Actuary
Engagement Date: February 18, 2007
Wedding Date: June 7, 2008
Blogging Since: November 07, 2007
Venue: St. Catherine of Genoa, Jin Asian Cuisine Restaurant
About Me: I’m a Gemini to the extreme. On one side, I’m a girly girl. I read countless bridal and fashion magazines, and have an obsession with keeping up with the latest Hollywood gossip. On the other side, I’m a sports fanatic. Despite being a full-time bride-to be, full-time research assistant, and part-time student, I’m also a full-time Red Sox fan from spring training to October, and a full-time Patriots fan from mini-camp to February. I devote almost as much time researching my for fantasy football team as researching for our wedding!
Registering For Big Ticket Items
April 29th, 2008 @ 4:25 pm by Mrs. Toucan
When we first started registering for gifts, Mr. Toucan and I weren’t really sure what price ranges our gifts should fall under. We didn’t want to look like we were asking for too much, but at the same time, we didn’t want to register for things we didn’t really like either. When we registered at Macy’s (I know a lot of people here don’t like the Macy’s registry, but it’s easy for our guests), they provided us with a little guideline of how many gifts we should register in each price range. The registry consultant also suggested that we add a few “big ticket items” to our registry. This made me feel a little uncomfortable. What would guests think when they saw a $400 price tag on ONE item? Would they think we were greedy, asking for something so expensive?
In the end, I figured we had enough items at different price points in our registries, so I added this bad boy:
Dyson Slim Upright Vacuum
I don’t own a vacuum, so this item kind of make sense… plus, it has the added bonus that Mr. Toucan thinks that the Dyson is so awesome, he might even be the one doing most of the vacuuming (hopefully)!
And then later when I was searching around for other things to add, I couldn’t help but add this:
Francis Francis X6 Trio Red Espresso Maker
Other than the fact that Miss Toucan LOVES her morning lattes, this cute little machine came in such a lovely RED! I just couldn’t help it! 
After registering for these two “big ticket items,” I went back and forth on whether or not I should remove them. I ended up leaving them on the registry… and we ended up getting BOTH of these items at our shower (eeeee!)! Two sets of aunts and uncles combined to buy us the Dyson, and a group of friends chipped in to buy us the espresso machine! I guess that’s the point of registering for the “big ticket items” - for group gifts!
What do you think of registering for “big ticket items?” Did you register for any “big ticket items?” What did you register for?
32 Responses to “Registering For Big Ticket Items”
we registered for an all clad stock pot, which is probably our biggest ticket item. we felt bad initially, but then rationalized it. we do really need a stock pot, and what’s the point of registering for nice cookware if you don’t register for everything you need?
When we saw it on the Target website we knew we had to, but we registered for a BlendTec blender. Largely out of the sheer amusement my FI has with that thing. I highly doubt that we’ll get it ($3-400 blender, come on seriously?) but it’s kind of a joke amongst his friends of all the things they could destroy in it.
If you haven’t heard of it, go to:
http://www.willitblend.com and watch the videos 
We choose a carpet cleaner that we REALLY needed, and I know a bunch of my mother’s friends were going to go in together on a gift, so I pointed my mother in the right direction
Yes! We went for the high end espresso machine too. What I’m really wanting is nice luggage though.
I think putting larger items on registry lists is a great idea, specifically for the option of friends grouping together.
I know sometimes it’s tough to choose something from a registry list that actually looks like a substantial gift - I’d much rather put the same amount of money towards a larger item, that the couple wouldn’t normally want to shell out for themselves.
p.s. I’m very jealous of your coffee machine!
We put a nice (NICE) dining table on our Crate & Barrel registry, to get the completion discount when all of this is over. I felt wierd about having it on there… but then FMIL snuck in and bought it for us!
It hink a few large ticket items on registries are great. My 3 older siblings and I often get together for my cousin’s weddings, bridal showers and baby showers (I have 21 so we have one a year or so - next year will be mine!) and give just one gift. There are seldom items that fit as a group gift from 4 people so we often go out on our own and find something or multiple things to give. We got a really great ice cream maker with sundae dishes, long spoons a neat scoop and fixings for one of my cousins. She waas marrying a man who already had 2 young girls and we thought it was a great family gift. They loved that it was something they could do as a family. We have also given gift certificates to B&Bs and swanky restaurants for want of a large ticket items on the registry. We often wish people would put more large ticket items. I am putting really fabulous mixer on mine. Everyone nows I love to bake and cook so I can see my cousins getting together and giving me this. (If my FFIL doesn’t beat them too it. He receives most of my baked goods and often gives me bakign items so that I will try something new on him. LOL)
i don’t know the price of that dyson…but i registered for a dyson that retails for $399. it was the first item purchased! i cannot wait to use it! if you want it, register for it. you never know!
Our most expensive item was the ubiquitous KitchenAid stand mixer. Other than that, what we really want are our china, flatwear and All-Clad pots/pans — all of which are over $100. Not super, duper expensive, but taken together (multiple place settings, a few pots/pans, etc.) could amount to a big ticket item suitable for a group gift.
Plus, people in our circle really don’t spend much more than $100 per couple on a wedding gift (I don’t think — maybe I’ll be proven wrong!).
We registered for the big mixer and top of the line professional Wusthof knives which came in a total of around $700. No, we didn’t get it per se but we did get a lot of our $100-150 items (all actually!) and gift cards to buy the knives, which we did! I actually have had a hard time with a couple who’s wedding is coming up that doesn’t have something similar to what they got us. And I’d feel bad getting a gift card because they don’t have anything to strive to use it for on their registry!
We put on some really big ticket items (ie $300-800) that we weren’t expecting to get…just kind of did it on a whim and to use the completion discount to buy them later. I was really shocked to find out that these items were the first ones to be bought, mainly by family members.
Definitely big ticket is the way to go! We have couches, dining table, vacuum, & bedroom set. We’ve accumulated all the essential kitchen things we need since we both love to cook, and we see no reason to have fancy china in addition to everyday china, or for fancy matching towels or sheets–thats just not our style. Suprisingly our friends and family actually prefer to pool their money and give group gifts–so it’s a win-win!
We registered for the SAME vacuum. And we’re registering for furniture at Crate and Barrel. Honestly, I don’t expect anyone to get us big-ticket items, but they’re far more needed than small things because we already have an established household. I’m for sure letting people know that they can get us gift cards and it’s OK too!
We registered for a kitchenaid mixer which was around $300, it felt really strange but it was the first wedding gift we received! The rest of the stuff was lower (all under $100) and I had a few friends e-mail to say we needed to put more expensive things on there. So I say go for it
We put a few nice furniture items on our registry. We have a lot of things already, so most of our other items are small. What’s nice about our big stuff is that people can combine and get them as group gift items. That way no one feels like they have to purchase the whole thing.
We have registered for several things that are technically big-ticket: a wonderful Ralph Lauren duvet cover, dust ruffle and sheets; and a new stove and dishwasher. We have both been living on our own for a while, and FI loves to cook, so we have the traditional expensive kitchen stuff (KitchenAid, Cuisinart), and he has a Dyson and I have a Rumba. But the appliances in my house (which I bought two years ago when I moved here) are on their last legs, and he and the kids will be moving in when we’re married. I felt a little odd about it, but I figure we will get giftcards, and I know that my aunts and cousins like to get together and buy practical and expensive gifts as a group, so it makes sense to register for what we need.
I hope people will give us gift cards to places where the big ticket items are (best buy!) so we can buy those big ticket items later!
We registered for the Kitchen-Aid mixer, a set of Calphalon pots and pans, some luggage (though it’s almost always 50% off at Macy’s) and a duvet cover that I really only put on there so I could remember what it was — cause nobody’s going to buy us a $300 duvet cover, but you better believe I’ll buy it for myself with wedding cash + the discount later. I thought people would go together on the pots & pans set, but one couple ended up buying the whole thing! I nearly fainted when I opened the card.
We registered for a KitchenAid, and it was the first–and second–present we got! Basically, my mom bought it for us, but it wasn’t marked as completed on our registry for some reason. We received a second one in the mail as a combined gift from some of my aunts and uncles. I think people really like buying the big ticket items as a group.
I bought a Dyson a couple of years ago when our roommate had a heavily-shedding golden retriever. I had no idea that I could spend so much time marvelling at a vacuum, but I did (and still do!).
I had the same qualms about looking greedy, but we added a couple big ticket items. A wine refrigerator for me and a freaking kegorator for FI (seriously, who at Williams Sonoma thought that would be a good item to stock?).
I hope it turns out well for you, Miss Toucan, but the FrancisFrancis! Machines were discontinued from Williams-Sonoma because they had many, many problems with them!
Just wanted to let you know, but it’s a great idea.
Register for what you want. I like to buy nice wedding gifts, unless the couple has been living together for a long period. That’s so tacky. “We’ve been shacked up for five years and already have a bunch of stuff, but we want all this expensive crap anyway, so buy it! Because even though we’ve been living as a married couple, we’re the briiiiiiiiiiide and groooooooooom!” Ugh.
My fiance wanted to register for a Dyson but I felt it was too expensive… I think the most expensive thing we registered for was a Kitchenaid.
I figured we could buy a Dyson and a new tv with money/giftcards we get.
oh wow!!! i’m drooling over your Dyson! how awesome is that??? very, very awesome indeed!
we need to be registering, like now. i have no idea what our big gift will be, but i’m leaning toward a vacuum cleaner….bc we need one badly. It wont be a Dyson, unfortunately…..
perhaps a Kitchenaid mixer like Beccs…….
@JessicaSpeak: oooh, I probably should look into it a little more! Most of the reviews I had read before were great!
@Beccs: We actually weren’t going to register for it, and like I said in the post, we went back and forth on keeping it on the registry. In the end we kept it on so that we could purchase it on our own with our completion discount. We never expected anyone to actually purchase it!
I would LOVE to register for a Dyson, but honestly, there’s no reason to–we live in a house of hardwood floors right now, and will likely move to something similar at our next place, so that level of suction seems…silly. But I lust after that thing the way some lust after shoes (not that I don’t do that, but I seriously need to visit the Dysons whenever I’m in Target or BJs).
Our big ticket item (for now–we JUST started our registry…Sunday) is a Le Cruset cast iron dutch oven. But we’ve been really good about doing things at every price range, from 95 cents and up (pastry brush–we figured we might as well register for some instead of not).
@Miss Cherry Pie: I think I may put one or two reasonably priced furniture pieces on ours, just so we can get the 10% discount to complete it in the end. One of my dream pieces was the wine closet, but one of our close friends is making something similar for us instead as our wedding gift, so…so many options…so little time.
From what I understand, a couple of big ticket items are actually a good idea for a registry because people can opt in as a group or some really rich family friend or what have you will decide to splurge on something you wouldn’t otherwise decide to get for yourselves. I think the second part is particularly good for people with more traditional families because of disposable income and emphasis on family values.
We registered for a Vitamix blender ($474!!) not expecting to get it and we did..I think people who can afford it like to splurge on such an occasion and it makes groups of people who go in on things together happy to help get you something thats a “big deal” that they wouldn’t have been able to afford on their own. @alli: It was a real toss up as to whether we’d go with the BlendTec Blender or the Vitamix…my fiance saw the “will it blend?” videos too and fell in love with the overall manliness of it But then a friend talked him into the Vitamix and I’m glad I don’t have to worry about him blending up our ipods…
The Dyson is on my list too… I am thinking two or more people will go in on it together. Some people like to give big too, so I wouldn’t worry about putting big ticket items - wedding gifts are supposed to big anyhow.
We haven’t had a bridal shower yet. I have a couple of big ticketed items, especially at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. Even if no one buys us the item, we have the opportunity to buy it at a discount after our wedding.
When I see big ticketed items on registries, I don’t get offended. Just because I might not be able to swing getting such an expensive item doesn’t mean someone else would (plus, like you said, GROUP GIFTS!). Someone in another wedding community said they get offended when they see Dyson vacuums on registries. I just think that’s ridiculous. Couples should have a wide range of priced items and every item should be something they’d actually use. As long as the couple will use it, who cares? It’s the couples’ business what they want on there, not mine.
@Jodi:
I forgot, our big ticketed items that we have on our registry are a Roomba and a flat screen TV.
Hi Miss Toucan - The Dyson Slim was a wise investment I made when moving to my loft! It picks up all the dirt and some. You should totally leave those items on your registry! I have a latte machine…it’s the best. But, you should also consider the Tassimo.=) KLG
