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At first Mr. D’orsay and I were excited by the prospect of entering a store in a virtual candy land state. If we had a house, what would we chose to fill it with? Plus, they give you a scanning gun!
However, the whole project quickly became daunting when we realized that we in fact did not have a house, or even an apartment to call a home. We currently switch off crashing at our parents’ homes depending on the country we’re in at the moment.
Therefore, how do you a fill an imaginary box that is sub-divided into several other imaginary rooms?
While duking it out over china patterns and discussing imaginary future holidays that my cousins would be invited to, we both began to understand that registering wouldn’t be the highlight of the 12 hour registry blitz we created.
There were highlights of course, the amazing sheets and throw at Target, the china pattern that stole my heart (Mr. D’orsay won the glasses), and the one we can’t stop talking about: the automated soap dispenser from Simple Human. However, we can’t even begin to discuss dinnerware since I spent over an hour scouring the web for a set we’d enjoy looking at every day, and in the end have decided to go with plain white plates. Oddly enough, this was decided by the complementary Williams-Sonoma registry guide, which recommended the prison-esque motif. I’ve decided to think of plain white plates as “classic”, instead of boring.
Did you find registering to be a much more daunting task than it originally seemed? What roadblocks did you run into?
Like you, I was PUMPED about registering. I was so excited for all the things I’ve been holding off purchasing for our home (which we bought years ago)…but once we got in the store, and the glee of scanning gun wore off a bit, it was incredibly daunting and tiring. So much so that after 4 hours, we threw in the towel and haven’t gone back. We have time, and are planning to finish (we have 2 other stores to hit) in the next month. But yes–it’s tiring, and created weird drama conversations about things like holidays and place settings and things we knew we didn’t need but wanted (like Nambe serving dishes!)
I am on Williams-Sonoma website registering right now! It is a daunting task. And FI isn’t interested in the registering process at all. I keep putting off going to the stores, bc I think I will feel silly with the scan gun all by myself. Though it is necessary since internet registering is harder than it looks - since I have no idea how big a 2 3/4 quart pot looks in real life.
Ditto, girl. It’s definitely overwhelming. There’s so much to consider…your tastes now, predicting what your tastes will be in 30 yrs, space constraints, etc. I also had a hard time deciding on every day dinnerware and ended up with plain ol white too. Did you end up with that ballet ribbon china??? Sad that I know the name, huh?
I took my FI with me for the first “round” of registering - I promised he would get to use a toy gun and that we would eat after - but went back to finish up with my mother. We have no idea where we will be living, but we have to cook and eat wherever we are! Oh, and we’ll use sheets and towels too. 
The hardest obstacle for us is keeping the registry updated as things come and go at the various stores. Who knew that a garlic press was seasonal?!
@Miss Latte: You bet your sweet latte I did!
@Miss BK: If available you might want to take your MOH, your mom or even your FMIL. Although tough, it was a fun bonding experience.
Huh. We gave up in the end and just spread the word that we’d like gift certificates, please, or buy something you think we’ll like. Registering was so confusing and tiring. The part I hated was that at two stores we couldn’t even find twenty items we really liked. So it was pointless!
We are freaked out by the prospect of registering, so we’ve been casually visiting stores and checking things out. We’ve also been keeping s list of things that we need as we think of them. Hopefully that will help a little when we go in for the scanners!
I agree 100 percent. I was never excited about it, but I didn’t expect it to be so hard. Or time consuming. Or frustrating. Like others have said, I started online and dragged poor Mr. Nice along to the stores when I just couldn’t get any further without the assistance of touching and feeling the items. I’m so so happy that it’s done now (although I DID just add the sensor soap pump to one of our registeries!).
I was WAY excited to register and so was Mr. LatteLove. Until 20 minutes into china patterns.
At some point I started caring even less than he did (he was actually into the china and flatware and bathroom stuff), and we decided we needed to split registering into at least two or three trips.
We would have never made it otherwise!
My biggest tip: Register for things you like, maybe even two different kinds of the same thing and spend lots more time online switching. Don’t spend an hour in the store trying to decide between two comforters. Just register for both and make up your mind later! The online registry is a wonderful thing!
I saved FI a headache and just went online and put stuff on our registry. We registered for a few of those automated soap dispensers. WE LOVE THEM! It was FI’s idea and I was a little hesitant. We now have one for hand soap one for dish soap in the kitchen. There is still 1 open on our registry. Best gift ever.
We ran into the exact same thing. Not having a place of our own yet made this much more difficult. The best thing is that you can edit your registry online after going crazy in-store.
Miss Dorsay (or Mrs Bee, maybe you can help), the link to the soap dispenser actually takes us to your real registry, where everyone can see your names & wedding date. I just wanted to point this out in case you don’t want that info out there!
I tried to find a way to PM you, but couldn’t!
I hated registering…. it was the most bickering we did during our entire engagement….
Who knew it would be so tough?! I heard like 3 or 4 hours, so I was mentally prepared, but not phisically. I was so tired after! The hard part is there is so much MORE stuff online, so you start second guessing yourself. Luckily I had prepared Mr. HandM by stopping to look at china randomly when we were at the mall. That helped narrow it down considerably. I too love the ballet rippon china, but had to compromise with the Mr.!
I can’t wait to register! My FI works in supply chain for the housewares dept. at a national deptartment store so we spend a lot of time in that department doing spot checks. We already know each other’s styles and agree on what we don’t want - and I’ve started to make a list of what we need. Doing research before hand is such a help - go in armed with a list and your mutual likes/dislikes!
FH and I kinda ended up registering by accident, okay not by accident but we didn’t plan on registering really… we went to the largest Crate and Barrel close by to look at maybe add a few things so we could add more on line and ended up doing a lot and then going to Macy’s and doing a lot more.
We have the same issue as you, we’re buying for a hypothetical place for dinners we’ll be having when exactly?
The hardest thing for us to agree on was our China, but we ended up with Lennox Federal Platinum because is was simple and we could add pretty much any accent plate we wanted… I’m hoping for Kate Spade Larabee, also in platinum, to match our flatware.
We were excited to start our registering, and got out only a couple of months into our two year engagement. We tried to do the whole thing at once (What color do we want this room? Do we need this? What about this? Well … what about this?), didn’t know what to expect, and were tired, cranky, and a bit overwhelmed a couple of hours later. As a result we couldn’t really even look at our registry for another couple of months. Once we did, we ended up deleting almost everything and starting over.
Then we started in a section we knew we could handle - kitchen. We both know our way around the kitchen, know what we have and what we want. That was the only section we got done that day, but it was a lot! Then we took another two trips back to finish the BB&B registry, and one trip for a Target registry. (Which went great until we ran into another couple agonizing over all of the things we did that first time, then I was done.)
So, my tips:
- Pick a section of a store that you know pretty well and can make easy decisions on, and make that your goal for the day. If you can do more, great, if not that’s good too. If either of you is starting to get tired or touchy, call it a day.
- Remember that as you agonize over china or sheets that your guests will look at your registry and then pick the thing THEY like best.
- We did a lot of, “Put it on the registry and we’ll decide online later.” It’s a wonderful, wonderful tool. (Though BB&B is a lot easier to navigate than Target.)
- There were just some things that we couldn’t decide on, either because of indecisiveness or not knowing where we’re moving, and that’s okay too.
- Enjoy it!
I researched endlessly for the china pattern and other essentials for the registry.
We went in to register at Crate and Barrel and literally started scanning away.
Then we went to Macy’s and wow was it DAUNTING!!! We were there for 2.5 hours and ended up registering for only a few things. And to top it off I was even more confused about which china pattern to register for then I was before I even did the research!! I am so glad they let you update online. It has really been an addicting savior to the whole process.
Its so good to know I’m not alone! I really thought it would be easy and fun!
I’ve said a million times that registering was the most stressful part of the wedding for me. Thinking about picking a range of gifts in different price ranges, getting what you want, imagining where it will all go when you have a tiny apartment. Ugh.
We started in the store but had to finish online. That was much easier.
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Mrs. D'orsay, Baltimore/Lancaster UK Age and Occupation: 24, nonprofit communications Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Web site developer and designer; co-owner of men's skincare shop Engagement Date: August 10, 2008 Wedding Date: August, 2009 Venue: Oakland Manor About Me: I'm a Maryland raised environmental policy wonk/activist/organizer and communications aficionado. In the past year I've lived in Baltimore, MD, Tucson, AZ, Miami, FL and Lancaster, England. In my not so spare time I enjoy planning trips with Mr. D' Orsay, visiting friends and family and crafting like a mo-fo. I also enjoy modern dance classes, rugby and soccer but have been banned by my mother, MOHs, and Mr. D' Orsay from playing till after the wedding. I have an unnatural addiction to cheese and shoes, but love Mr. D' Orsay more than either and can't wait to become Mrs. D' Orsay!
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