Wedding Blog

I see a real value in having a gift registry. For occasions such as weddings and new babies, it’s inevitable that people will want to buy gifts. So, why not provide them with a list of items you need/want/like so you don’t end up with things that are the wrong color or something you already have? I know some people don’t see a need for registering for gifts, but I’m one of those people who appreciates registries and I try my best to buy from them. I don’t see them as a necessity and I certainly don’t think a gift purchased from off the registry list is any less significant, but I do think registries can be a great way to help guide friends and family to items that suit your needs and your style.

When it came time for Mr. Deviled Egg and I to think about registering, I really didn’t think too much of it. I mean, how hard could it be? You go to the store, you pick out items you need and want, you scan them with the “gun” provided, and ta-da! Registry created!

Well, Mr. DE and I headed to Kohl’s on Saturday to create a registry and I was kind of surprised by how difficult it was. We really didn’t have any disagreements when it came to selecting items. For the majority of the time, I let him work the scanning gun, we compromised on a few things, and we each scanned a few things we personally wanted to add to our list.

Mr. DE scanning some bath mats

The difficulty came in a few different areas. The first was that we don’t have our own place yet. Since we don’t live together and we have yet to make plans for where we will live after the wedding, it was a little weird to try and pick out colors for kitchen towels, shower curtains, bath mats and bedspreads. How do you pick things when you don’t know what color your walls will be? (I guess white or beige would be the best assumption.) For this reason, I’m glad we are registering at a store with a great return policy!

The second area of difficulty was in not wanting to seem too greedy. I guess there is some level of greed associated with creating a registry and spreading the word to your wedding guests, but where do you draw the line on the prices of the items you register for? I found myself selecting a less expensive option for an item because I want to be sure we have more items in affordable price ranges for potential gift givers. But, is it fair to yourself to suggest someone buy you a gift that you know isn’t the best quality or not exactly what you want? Where do you draw the line between trying to accommodate your guests’ pocketbooks and trying to set up your household with items that won’t land in your trash bin before your first-year anniversary?

I guess we’ll handle this by making sure we have lots of items in a variety of price ranges while including some of our must have items, even though they may be higher in price. At Kohl’s, we’ll be eligible for their registry completion discount of 15% off after the wedding. If someone wants to bless us with a gift, we’ll appreciate it. But if we don’t get select items that we really want and need, we can purchase them ourselves after the wedding and at least get them at a sale price.

and here I am shooting some towels with the scanner

I’m sure we’ll be doing some tweaking to our list as our future living arrangements start to fall into place. And I’m also sure we’ll forget stuff or register for items we’ll never use. All in all, I was surprised at how hard it was to put the registry together. At least we had some fun while doing it!

Did any of you find registering for gifts to be more difficult than you expected?