Wedding Blog
We did it… we finally registered and we felt like huge jerks. I wish registering felt better than it did. EVERYTHING IS SO EXPENSIVE! Living in NYC has given us a different view on life. Everything is expensive… our rent, our food. Neither one of us was that excited about registering. I am not sure why. Maybe it is that it is hard to imagine what we will need. Or maybe it is that we have a tiny apartment that we are moving into and it is hard to imagine it full of stuff.
Our first stop was Williams-Sonoma, and wow, was that place overwhelming. The one bright spot was the lady that helped us. She was super friendly and gave us great advice. Once we got started though, we felt sort of out of place and I just couldn’t bring myself to ask guests to get us a $500 pot. I just couldn’t do it.
(filling out forms at WS - Mr. AC is behind the camera)
After Williams-Sonoma we headed to Bed, Bath & Beyond. Being that almost all of our guests are from the South, we thought this was a good place that everyone was familiar with. It was SOOO much more comfortable there.
The girl that helped us was a dream. She agreed to walk around the whole store with us and gave us ideas on things we should register for. She had great pointers about how much to register for compared to the number on the guest list, and having a wide price range of gifts that would allow for every budget.
We started with china, and with our helper’s help we started to get into the whole registering thing. She really broke the process down for us and spent a lot of time setting up different place settings, with different stemware, silverware, placemats, and much more. We went through every department and debated, matched, and thought out every detail we could.
What seemed to make the process more difficult was trying to imagine everything we liked in an apartment we haven’t moved into yet. And planning for our eventual “house” added another level of complication, but it was starting to get fun.
Some of our favorite things that we put on the list are included an 18 bottle wine cellar/chiller/fridge (totally unnecessary but only $199), a complete sushi set, and a couple of cool bedspreads.
Our helper really stressed the point of having things we liked on the list because you never know who might purchase them, and if they do not get picked up by a guest, we can still get 10-20% off for two years.
After both Bed, Bath & Beyond and Williams-Sonoma, we thought a lot about it and decided that if we were going to have folks spend money on us… what about supporting artists and setting up an Etsy Registry?!? More to come on that, next.
How was the registry process for you? Did you feel guilty?
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Share this post: Registering - Why is This SO Hard?!
Is there an Etsy registry? We eneded up adding Etsy things to our Amazon.com universal regisrty.
A little guilty, yeah. But I love knowing that a bunch of the more expensive stuff on our registry — the All-Clad cookware and Wusthof knives — will last a lifetime!
I love the items you posted here, you have fantastic taste! I am excited to hear about registering for Etsy, I didn’t know there was such a thing.
Registering IS hard! But I found it to be incredibly fun. 
We LOVED our BBB registry person too! I’ve really been digging the universal registry thing on Amazon!
Feel ya on the BBB love. They have a good variety so you can register for a few expensive items but lots of midrange and cheaper stuff, too. I also have an Amazon.com registry that I love! Almost everything is cheaper via Amazon.com than at a brick and mortar store.
We haven’t started our registries yet…that comes next month and I’m kinda dreading it. My FI hates {read HATES!} shopping! I don’t really know what we’ll do. I’ve scoped out some sites here and there (BB&B being one of them) to get a peak at items we’ll need. That darker bedspread is the one I’m hoping we’ll register for!
Oooo! An Etsy registry! Can’t wait to here about that! We registered at BBB as well and they are so easygoing with the coupons (which never expire by the way!) and returns. Everything is just easy. We also really loved Crate & Barrel. The prices aren’t nearly as high as WS and they have lots of fun kitchen gadgets.
My fiance and I have already registered, even though our wedding isn’t until May of next year! The reason we did it so early is because our wedding is on Memorial Day weekend, and we’re sending out our STDs very early! We have a lot of family that make big plans and we want them ALL to be there!
As far as the process, I totally agree with you! We went in to register at REI because we’re huge outdoor enthusiasts, but all of there stuff is SO expensive! I just couldn’t bring myself to ask for just exorbitantly expensive stuff! So we ended up registering at Bed Bath and Beyond and Target. Target had some awesome outdoor stuff that was very reasonably priced!
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Those are the same two places we’re registering!! I’ve been too scared to go into the stores and have done it all online through their websites. Very user friendly.
Ugh. I’m dreading registering. This is the one part that I am in no way looking forward to. I’m glad that others feel the same way.
LOVED registering! But I did really try and be cost conscious about what we chose…except for some furniture pieces that if anything, we’d buy for ourself after with gift cards and the 10% fulfillment!
We would love to do an Etsy registery, can you do that?!
We’re not setting up a registry. I know that’s a faux pas in the Wedding world but we really don’t need anything right now. However, I wouldn’t feel guilty, as long as you are giving a wide range of prices that people are able to choose from.
I really love the sushi set you marked.
I didn’t really enjoy registering as much as I thought I would, either. We started at Macy’s and kept saying things like, “do we really want someone’s whole wedding gift to us to be this vase??” That’s when we decided to go register at Target instead.
I can’t wait to go to BBB to do our registry. and you get the 20% for 2 years!!! Totally awesome!
eh, registering makes me nervous too. I can think of just a few items we need, but we can just buy them ourselves. We’ll probably register for something, but not tell everybody, just in case there are people clueless without a registry to follow. I’ve tired of arguing with people about the cons of registering. I have had someone scoff at my lack of a registry and *gasp*, lack of china! Coming from someone whose china went straight into storage and will remain there until the economy improves. hmm.. Good luck to you and thank you for registering at BBB instead of WS 
By any chance, do you remember what China pattern that is? I LOVE IT!!
I too was amazed at the cost of some items, mainly nice cooking ware, knives, crystal and china. My fiance registered for Chantilly by Gorham sterling silver and I almost flipped out as it was $385 a place setting! I keep reminding everyone that it was him, not me as I thought that was outrageous, but it was the only thing he HAD to have (he already has a few place settings in his own apartment).
#1 - I Love your curly hair!
#2 - I’ve been fantasizing about our registry since I was a teen. I can’t wait to start picking things out!
I cannot get excited about our registry. We registered at one place (Macy’s) for about 12 items. I just can’t bring myself to register for stuff we don’t need and we don’t NEED much.
It was difficult for us too…theres no way I could asked for something that was more than $100…but there are a few items that are. But like you said we could always buy it after the wedding if we really want it. Are those comforters at Bed Bath and Beyond? Could you please share the name…they’re beautiful.
yeaaaaa I felt really guilty about the prices of things on my macy’s registry so I set up crate and barrel and amazon because I could find the same thing for so much cheaper. In the end though I have had to move a lot of things to the macy’s registry because that’s the place people are going to buy our gifts! It’s kinda strange to see what age groups purchase where.
the bf and i have been picking out things we need for our first place together and i’m balking at some of the prices and we’ll be picking up this tab. i can’t imagine asking guests to do the same!
on a side note, the bf picked out those sushi plates too. but i had to veto. lol
Registering wasn’t too much of hassle for us, but we were very careful to only add items that we really need, which means our list is somewhat small. Would I love a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer? Yes! Would I use it? No. So, it didn’t go on the registry. Sigh. If you read A Practical Wedding, she has some great posts about registering. http://www.apracticalwedding.com/2008/12/how-i-tamed-registry.html
Ah yes! Our BB&B guy was a DREAM! I was so overwhelmed with all of the options, and he did the same thing with formal and casual place settings, bedspreads, etc. And, I feel like they have things in a great price range. So, while my pots and knives are a little pricey, our sheets are great quality, but won’t break the bank!
We would prefer that our guests donate to one of our favorite causes but knew some would rather go the more “traditional” route… enter Crate and Barrel. We hated registering! My fiance was walking around the store aimlessly with that scanner thingy when a young woman approached …
CB Customer: “Are you registering for your wedding?”
Fiance: “Yep”
CB Customer: “Oh I love it… spending other people’s money! Isn’t it great!”
Fiance: “Ummm…not really, no.”
I kind of dreaded registering as well. It was pretty stressful for me but that was more because my fiance didn’t seem to want to put anything on the registry! He was so picky and I couldn’t get him to understand that people would want to get things for us and that there were plenty of affordable items we could put on there. Sometimes he’s too practical for his own good. Now that gifts have started showing up, he’s happy we registered. My rule though was not to register for anything that I wouldn’t be willing to spend the money for myself. For example I chose towels that were $9.99 each instead of $19.99 each because that is what I would have been comfortable spending on them if I were buying them for myself.
I’m probably going to do a blog about this… we have a tiny house (NYC sized! Actually I think some friends’ places in NYC are bigger…) and have lived together since Christmas 2007. So… we have everything we need! Our registries are kind of non-traditional and 1) that makes me feel badly and 2) some people- few, but yes they have- complained! I feel materialistic asking for things we REALLY do not need or even have room for. I wonder if in years and years registering will be different in any way? Like more non traditional?
We just moved in together from two apartments where we already had everything we needed. Plus I really despise this “tradition” of telling people to buy us gifts. We’re really trying to convince our guests to think of their presence at the wedding as gift enough. For those who insist on buying something, we picked two charities and listed them on our wedding webpage. Now here’s hoping it works!
i didnt really want to make a registry since i already have most of the things i need, but made one anyway at the insistence of many of my friends and shower/wedding guests. it turned out to be a lot more fun than i expected, but also very stressful too. the best part is, most stores now let you create, maintain and manage your registries online. perfect for people like me who work way too much and don’t have time to go to an actual store.
First of all, you do indeed have awesome hair! I am hair-jealous! With registering - don’t feel bad! It sounds like you registered for a wide variety of price points, which - to me - is exactly the right thing to do!
Ugh, somebody needs to take the exclamation button off of my keyboard.
I’m scared to register. We have so much stuff already! But I love BB&B, since they have such a wide variety.
FI will probably be disappointed that Lowe’s doesn’t have a registry.
@Caroline: The pattern was Newgrance Platinum http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/regProduct.asp?order_num=-1&WRN=-146519092&sku=13528497&
I found it for much cheaper here: http://www.barronscatalog.com/product/shop+by+brand/100315/waterford+newgrange/newgrange+5pc+place+setting.do?sortby=ourPicks
Can someone please explain the 20% off at BBB deal? My understanding was that after your wedding you get a coupon for 10% off that you have 3 months to use? Are you just talking about the 20% coupons that you get in the mail or is there some 20% after the registry deal?
I felt totally guilty. And it was a bit of a waste of time, since most of our gifts came from 1 place and we registered at 3.
i felt guilty too, fortunately the only really expensive things are a coffee table that holds wine, knife set and china, the rest are under $50, and even more cheaper like the whip cream maker! just for fun.
unfortunately we didn’t have a “helper” at crate&barrell, and 2 days after checking online, a lot of stuff was unavailable and we are still 4 months out. eeeeks, i think we need a back up, but i hate wasting a day on pretend shopping.
I started at Macy’s, hated it, and moved on to BB&B. I HEART BB&B! We ended up scrapping the Macy’s one because the prices are SO much better at BB&B.
Oh, I feel so guilty. Another thing I HATE is putting the registry info on our website. So painful, but I know we have to do it. And I know the registry is going to run out of items, I feel like we have already registered for way too much.
You make registering look like the classiest thing one can ever do! Adorable! And I love what you had to say about BBB, good to know!
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Mrs. Apple Cider, New York/Charlotte
Age and Occupation: 27, Corporate Communications Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Grad Student – Clinical Mental Health
Engagement Date: September 13, 2008
Wedding Date: October 2009
Venue: Banner Elk Winery & Blueberry Villa
About Me: I am a North Carolina girl with a New York City spirit. I love crafting, blogging, laughing and dreaming. I know every word to the Anne of Green Gables and Little Women movies. I own every single Martha Stewart Wedding Magazine and have been dreaming of weddings since I was little. I believe life is about doing what makes you happy. If you aren't happy re-evaluate what you are doing. You should never look back on your life and not be proud of what you are doing. If you want to travel - travel. If you want to sing - sing. If you want to start a company - start a company. If you want to blog – blog!
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