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Ribs and I finished picking out the registry items by the time we sent out the save the dates, which has its pros and cons. One problem with registering early: our dishes and cordial glass designs at Crate and Barrel have been discontinued. They’re available online still, but in limited quantities and I have no idea if people will buy them. I’m almost convinced I should just buy those myself, in case they run out! Suffice it to say, you run the risk of discontinued items when you’re a little overeager about registering.
On the other hand, it was nice to work on the registry in chunks at my leisure. I looked at knives one day and bedding the next. I wasn’t rushed to finish picking things out for an impending shower, so I really mulled over all the choices. Pros and cons, people!
Even though we had so much time, I was still stressed about one thing: price points. I’m from a very middle class Midwest background. The real or imagined threat of registering for an item that was “too much” was eating away at me. I don’t want to look greedy but I also want things I’ll use and like.
So I settled on this strategy: balance. I picked out a few high quality and essential items, like pots and pans, and then balanced the rest of the list with more affordable things. We went with the assumption that most people will want to spend about $50, some more, some less. So we populated the list with a lot of things that either as a set or alone cost about $50 and then peppered stuff in the price gaps. I even got my Midwestern mom’s approval on the prices, so I think we did okay.
Did you have any strategies when you registered?
We definitely registered for items within a wide range of prices as well!
Damn, I need a strategy. We pretty much did the “WANT” version of registering.
Nah, we were good about putting different priced things on there. It’s not finished yet, because I’m lazy. :p And rambling now, apparently.
Wait, I always spend around $150 and have been SLAMMED on this site for not spending more!! I thought I was wrong here!
I intentionally registered for a mix of prices, the most being under $100 and plenty under $50. Of course our Mixer snuck in there, the same as your picture!
Ha Midwestern guilt — it’ll get’cha every time. I think you did a great job — highs, lows, in-betweens. If I were your friend, I’d look to spend around $50, but if I were a relative, I’d probably go to around $75.
I usually want to spend about $50-65 on gifts for friends’ weddings. More if they were family or if I was in the wedding party.
We have the same issue, I kept thinking of what my rather frugal FMIL would say when she sees the pricey things we registered for. Then I got over it.
Totally understand (I’m also from the midwest)…I kept saying “but it’s too expensive!” when we registered. Honestly though, we only ended up with 2 really expensive things that I can think of, the mixer (same one!) and our cookware. The rest is definitely under $100, and most things are under $50. I have 5 relatives also getting married this year, so we kind of used their registries as a guideline as well.
I registered a lot like you did — focused on one thing, then moved on to the next. That’s not to say I haven’t changed my registry 500 times since, though.
We did a honeymoon registry, so I actually have no idea how we would have gone about registering for actual stuff! We put a range of prices ($10 ice cream vs. $100 dinner, etc.) for broad appeal, which I think is fair.
I heard Crate and Barrel gives you a discount on unpurchased registry items, btw!
I normally spend $100 if I’m going alone, and $150-200 if we are invited as a couple. My mum always told me that I need to cover my plate cost, so I figure it’s about right, but depending on the state of my finances and my relationship to the person I might spend more or less. Don’t forget if you put big items on your registry some people might pool their money to buy it for you. At my aunts wedding my family and my dads other brothers families all chucked in money and we bought the couple a outdoor furniture suite.
We’re registering a little early (about 9 months), but I really want to be registered before we send out our STDs. I already have people asking me if we’re registered yet! It’s crazy!
We registered for what we wanted. Most of it was in the $50-100 range, which I felt okay about, and we registered for a few more expensive things that we hoped we’d get, and some less pricey things (that we could have got for much less if we’d bought them at someplace other than Macy’s, where we registered, which was annoying) so that people had options. Most of our stuff was bought, except for our cutlery (which I kind of understand… I wouldn’t want to buy someone a $100 chef’s knife, either. 
I’ve been surprised that our higher end items have actually been purchased, and our day to day items have not yet, granted we still have time, but people do buy expensive things, I was shocked!
The discontinuation issue happened to me too! That being said, I guess just we just registered for more stuff. It took awhile for us to even get higher end items. We only registered for things we absolutely needed. Small NYC apartments will prompt that. 
We had the same strategies, I stress so much over price points!
We focused around the $50 mark. We looked at stuff in the store and then registered online. One con has been that I have added and removed several things over the course of time.
We didn’t really have a specific price point to focus on. With the economy being so bad I made sure we had plenty of ~$20 stuff so that people could just pick up that for us. We put on stuff we wanted and even upgraded what we wanted a little simply because I know that people will buy it or at the least we can get the 10% discount. Most of our stuff is probably $20-50 though
We did the “want” version of registering too… I put a littl note on our website asking that no one be offended by the items, that we had made this a “family” registry (I’m an encore with 2 children), and that we sort of looked at it like the list we would use if we won the lottery.
With my disclaimer, no one seems to have been offended and even though we’re just over 6 months out, our first gift arrived yesterday.
I ran into the problem of items getting discontinued at Crate and Barrel as well since I registered early. However, if you really want something and it’s unavailable in the store, they will locate it and sometimes it’s at an outlet store, which means you get it cheap!
Our registry is more of a ’stash to buy later’ list for us since we weren’t expecting any gifts after our destination wedding 
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Mrs. Ribbons, Washington D.C./Bloomington, IN Age and Occupation: 23, Research Associate for an international development firm Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Proposal Coordinator for contractor Engagement Date: May 2, 2008 Wedding Date: June 2010 Venue: Indiana Memorial Union About Me: I'm an Indiana transplant living in DC with my fiance and our pretty kitty. I enjoy the color pink, I'm obsessed with the Dior New Look and tulle, and I heart my level 80 paladin. I'm a sucker for bad TV, literary theory, and cakes of all persuasion. I also happen to be marrying the cutest closet nerd around! It's all about Bloomington for us because it's where we met -- on the college paper. If there's a theme for our small summertime wedding, it's Dior meets Dorothy Draper on a lark in Bloomington; think poofy, plus graphic prints, bold colors, and a whole lot of prettiness.
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