Weddingbee Blog

Last night around midnight, Mr. Butterfly went to go pick up a package from our building while walking the dog. It was our first registry present!!

Cuisinart 10-Piece Non-Stick Hard Anodized Cookware Set

Who would get us such a nice, extravagant gift? Mr. Butterfly’s mom, of course! The card said something like “Mr. Butterfly and Ms. Butterfly, Congratulations and best of luck in the future! Love, Mom.”

Mr. Butterfly looked at me and said, “Who’s mom is that?”

Whatta dork. I guess it was more obvious to me because I know that my mom would never order online, she would have written the card in Korean, and she’s already paying for half the wedding, so I wouldn’t have expected a gift from her.

I have to confess I’m having a ball checking and re-checking my registry to see what items have been bought. This is so exciting!! Receiving registry items is definitely the most exciting part of the entire wedding process because I love opening presents!!! It’s like Christmas came early to my house this year!

God, I’m such a child.

In keeping with my recent irriation with certain aspects of our registry (I’m having bedding issues, lol), I decided to be an optimist this Hump Day and talk about what I *am* thrilled with on our registry: Our china!!!

I love love love our fine china. It’s the Crestwood Cobalt Platinum pattern, by Noritake:

I love it because it’s simple and elegant and timeless without being too “stuffy.” Plus, color wise, it’ll look wonderful in our (eventual) dining room, which I’m already planning on decorating in the same colors as our wedding colors.

Read more…

We registered at Bed, Bath and Beyond and JCPenney shortly after we got engaged. At first our registries were filled with “fun” items — not one but four pillows shaped like Batmobiles, a speaker that doubles as an ottoman, etc. (guess whose idea that was? hehe). Since, we’ve revised the registries somewhat so they now consist of the more mature, expected items — things we really want and need, even if they’re not as cool or exciting.

I go back and check them out every few weeks — we’re not expecting people to have bought any gifts yet, but I like to go through and make sure I still like what we registered for, etc.

But as time passes, I have increasing uncertainty. The apartment we have now is definitely a college apartment — full of hand-me-down furniture and no real decorating scheme. But I’ve already got ideas about how to decorate our future home — color palettes, styles, etc. For things I’m not as certain about, though, I’m afraid that many of the things we registered for may not fit with the home and style we actually eventually have.

Is anyone else experiencing these thoughts? My thoughts now are that the registry is pretty much at a point we’re happy with — there aren’t too many decorative accents or things that wouldn’t fit into any style. And just in case we do receive things that won’t work for whatever reason, I suppose we could make exchanges for something else. There are several things on the registries that I can’t wait to have — the Le Creuset cookware, the gorgeous blue bedding set, etc.

Where did you register? How long did it take you to finalize your registry selections (or is it still a work-in-progress)? Do you think guests will use the registry, and do you think you’ll get to keep most of the things you receive?

#1 from Snowbride

A duster. Not even a feather duster but a fluffy cotton sort. Were they trying to imply my house needed to be dusted? Please!

I also received a jar of salt and a jar of pepper-but no shaker, no grinder… Just the salt and pepper inexplicably in a box.

#2 from Jamia

I’m sure there are far worse things, but this freaking hat was the worst thing EVER in the moment. It looks like a Jo-Ann Fabrics exploded on my head. And I had been having a pretty decent hair day until they made me put this on. Evil people. By the way, there was an accompanying Groom’s Ball & Chain hat. Of course. Where do people even find these things???

Read more…

I love this set of 12 journals called One Year of White Pages from Rare Device. The 80 paged journals have moleskine-like wrappers and holes punched out in each one to signify the month. A totally awesome and affordable gift for anyone.

Another great find from Rare Device is this inital pillow. Each letter was hand-drawn and silkscreened onto the fabric. A great gift for the newly married couple!

I had to go into work yesterday for a few hours, and my lovely fiance decided to join me. While I was working, Mr. Butterfly and I worked on our registry. I found it really hard to “complete” our registry in-store. First, after 15 items or so, I couldn’t remember what we had scanned, let alone try to color coordinate. Second, everything was sooooo pretty that I scanned a million things!!

Now, because both of us are pretty much Excel freaks, we made a table of everything in our registry. A simple table labeled “Bedding Set 1″ with items such as fitted sheets, flat sheets, duvet covers, pillow cases and shams can act as a real life saver when trying to keep track of multiple items. Next to each item, we wrote the color, brand and quantity. The reason for doing this is because your registry list online doesn’t always group everything together.

Here are the things we registered for (most of them anyway):

Macy’s
1 Trashcan
1 Vacuum Cleaner
1 George Foreman Jumbo Grill
1 Crockpot
1 Carving Set (for roasts and stuff - like I ever roast)
1 15-piece Knife Block
3 Bedding Sets (fitted sheet, flat sheet, 2 pillow cases, 2 shams, duvet cover)
2 Comforters
2 Pillows
2 Blankets
3 Bathroom Sets (4 bath towels, 4 hand towels, 2 face towels, bath rug, shower curtain)
2 pieces of Luggage
Bathroom accessories

Crate & Barrel
8 Kita Dinnerware Sets (dinner plate, salad plate, bowl, cup)
2 Kita Platters
8 Masa Dinner Plates
8 Masa Bowls
16 Masa Dipping Dishes (for Korean side dishes)
2 Masa Platters
2 Masa Serving Bowls
1 Rustic Red Platter
1 Serving Set
8 5-piece Placesettings
8 Dublin highball glasses
8 Dublin double glasses
4 Stratton Beer Mugs
8 Placemats
1 Centerpiece Bowl
And a ton of other stuff - cooking utensils, wine rack, tea kettle, measuring devices, cookware and bakeware

Wow. Now that I’ve listed it, I think I went a bit overboard. Where am I gonna put all this stuff? I guess we just need a bigger apartment.

Question: Since we are moving into a new place within a few months of getting married, we will probably use only the new stuff. The old stuff in my kitchen is pretty new and of good quality. What do you do with your old kitchen stuff when you get your registry items?

Well, we’ve done it! We’re officially registered… at 4 places. And there is a wild card in there that I want to share. The place is called HomeClick. Anybody heard of them or used them?

At first, we were going to register at Michael C. Fina. But the china pattern we picked was very expensive, so I started to do some research on where I could get it cheaper and stumbled across HomeClick. They have a gift registry and they had both our day and formal china patterns for MUCH cheaper than anywhere else. Here are a few random examples that I plucked from different sites (not from my own registry since I wanted to experiment and see if it worked for other items too):

For example, this Rosenthal Inspiration 5 piece place setting–

is $198 at Michael C. Fina (per place setting), but costs $124 (no tax too) at Homeclick.

This Orrefors vase–

is $335 at Michael C. Fina, but costs $251 at Homeclick.

This 5 qt oval oven from Le Creuset–

is $290 at Bloomingdales, but costs $143 at Homeclick (in white…$179 for other colors).

Homeclick tends to be cheaper for less expensive items too. For instance, our day pattern is $15 cheaper than elsewhere plus no tax and free shipping (a lot of items have free shipping, but not all). Our formal pattern is $100 cheaper per setting! There were a few items that were the same price, but so far I haven’t found any that cost more than other places.

It seemed like a no brainer to register with them. Why ask people to pay more for things than they need to? And perhaps this way I will get a few of the more expensive items I wanted, because they are a little more reasonable in price. The concern I had, however, is that many places will hold all your gifts until the end and ship after you have made final decisions. HomeClick does not and will not work that way. The thought of my tiny (did I say tiny? I meant so small two M&Ms could barely fit in there) apartment stacking up with gifts was a bit scary. Also, HomeClick is only online and not known to most people so I will really have to spread the word. And then there is the pain of shipping things back to exchange (they pay for return shipping).

I bit the bullet and did it though. I hope it works out and that people use it since many of the things I really want are on there! Fingers crossed!

Mr. Bee and I went to Bed Bath and Beyond this weekend, and I noticed that they’re now carrying Kate Spade’s line of china, glassware, and silverware.

We’ve all heard of honeymoon registries and new home registries, but now there’s even another option - an education registry. At educationregistry.com you can register for help paying off student loans, education savings accounts for your children, and tuition registries for couples that are going back to school.

There is of course a service fee based on the contribution amount, but that would probably come out to the same cost of tax and shipping a gift anyway. I love this idea because I’d really feel as if I had contributed something to the couple’s future.

(via dcnearlyweds)

by: Nanette, Knottie Nannersp

Because my husband and I already had an established home (we’d lived together more than two years), we decided to have a honeymoon (HM) registry for our wedding.

Prior to setting up the HM registry I asked my friends their opinions, knowing that it’s an untraditional option. They thought it was a great idea! They understood that we wouldn’t need much else to stock our kitchen, etc. As one friend noted, she’d rather give us money to go to China than actual china. Heh!

We used TheHoneymoon.com and they were great! The “catch” is that they charge a fee for your guests to use it, but in my opinion, it’s nominal (typically around 7%) and not unlike the tax, shipping and handling that guests have to pay when they use traditional registeries.

They sent us a check about three days before our HM and another one about a month after our wedding. You can close the account earlier, if you’d like, but they suggest keeping it open in case someone decides to give you something after the wedding.

We had this registry in addition to two traditional registries, so there were options for all of our guests. Most of the HM registry gifts came from our peers, as opposed to older family members who are more traditional.

HM registries are not for everyone, but it worked for us. I highly recommend it, if your guests seem open to it.

~~~

Do you have an idea for a guest blog? Tell us about it at bee@weddingbee.com.

We finished our registry! Well, almost….

Mr. Butterfly and I went to Crate and Barrel this weekend to finish registering for our kitchen and dining room items. This time, I definitely went a little crazy with the scanner gun because I ended up with 70 unique items in the store. This does not count the 8 different place settings for each item.

I will have to look through both Macy’s and Crate & Barrel lists to edit, add and dump some items, but otherwise it’s another thing off the to-do list!

Now, I have a question for you readers.

For our Macy’s registry, a couple of the items are not available online. So the guests will either have to call the store and have them delivered, or go pick it up themselves. I have a feeling that people will just not buy those items since it’s too much trouble. So, do I leave them on the registry anyway? Or do I replace them with other items?

What do you think?

Teacups that reveal their heart shape when filled with tea from Keith + Lottie.

They’re $29 for a set of 2 cups and 2 saucers, but shipping to the US from Australia is $23 or $29. They’re still too adorable to pass up as an engagement or shower gift!

(via notcot)

~~~

daisy028 found 2 similar and more affordable alternatives at theparagon and weddingthings. Thanks daisy!

Starwood Hotels has teamed up with the Wedding Channel to offer a free honeymoon registry for 100 of their most romantic and luxurious destinations worldwide.

You set the amount and guests gift you “honey money” towards the cost of the honeymoon. The honey money is even valid for up to 2 years so you can take a minimoon now, and a honeymoon later or you can even use it towards your first anniversary.

The process is as easy as 1, 2, 3… and 4.

1. Search the Starwood honeymoon site for a destination, or call the honeymoon concierge at 1-800-503-7800 for help.
2. Choose your dates and rooms. Book thru the Starwood honeymoon site, any other Starwood hotel website, the honeymoon concierge, or by contacting the property directly.
3. Visit the Starwood Honeymoon Registry on weddingchannel.com. Enter your reservation number, hotel name, and the amount you want to register for.
4. Direct your friends and family to your wedding channel registry to start earning honey money.

If you already have a home full of wares, this might be an ideal registry alternative for you. Wedding Channel will even make a donation to a charity of your choice every time someone makes a purchase your registry.

Some of Starwood’s properties include:

St. Regis, Bora Bora

Princeville Resort, Kauai

Blue Palace Resort and Spa, Crete

Sheraton Hacienda Del Mar, Cabo San Lucas

Le Meridian Fisherman’s Cove, Seychelles

W Retreat and Spa, Maldives

How happy would you be at any of these destinations?

Mr. Caterpillar and I registered at only one place, Michael C. Fina. They have a large selection of china, crystal, and silver, and because I’m kind of crazy like that, I only wanted china, crystal, and silver.

So far? Disaster.

The site is down ALL THE TIME. As well, the page layouts make it really difficult to navigate. And for those without a cryptology doctorate, it is apparently impossible to figure out how to buy anything. One of Mr. Caterpillar’s parents’ friends actually got so frustrated with the process, he called Mr. Caterpillar’s mama and told us he was giving up and just getting us a Costco giftcard.

The wedding is about 20 days away, and last I checked, two people have made purchases from the registry. We now have 7 spatulas and a single coffee saucer. It’s not looking good.

Oy! My aching feet!

Mr. Butterfly and I went to Macy’s on Saturday to register. We must have walked around for 2.5 hours, and we only managed to register for 36 things! Well, some of them are multiples, like towels, and Macy’s counted them as one unique item.

Anyway, we registered for mostly linens. I went a little crazy with the laser gun in the linen section because all of the sheets were so pretty! But we ended up with a pretty good selection of light yellow to beige to brown for the bedding. For the bathroom, we ended up selecting cream and light blue colors. We also registered for a couple of pieces of luggage, and a few kitchen items. We will probably add more bedding and bathroom pieces later.

I think Macy’s is a great place if you want a large variety of items. They have everything! However, we decided to leave the kitchen items, such as dishes and utensils, for Crate & Barrel. I just like their colors and styles better.

One note about Macy’s: they have a dollar rewards program where 5% of everything your guests buy from your registry is added towards a gift card. The gift card is then sent to you, and its basically free money. However, you must sign up for a Macy’s card for this to work. Our total registry was around $3,000, and 5% is only $150, even if everything is bought on the list. I personally did not think it was worth it to sign up for a department store card (with its’ high interest, not to mention an additional credit line) just for a few hundred dollars. But, if you already have a Macy’s card or a very large registry, I would totally take advantage of it.

Happy shopping!