When I first got married, I was super excited about creating a wedding registry. There are so many fun things to register for and so many ways to set yourself up for success for the next few years. I love cooking, so I was very excited to get some new cooking tools! Much to my surprise, registering was actually very stressful. There were SO many different things to pick from, and so much research to be done! Below are my tips for creating a wedding registry and how to make it a little more enjoyable!
P.S. If you are newly engaged, check out some of my other posts on wedding planning!
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Pick only a couple stores
Try to limit yourself to no more than 4 stores. More than 4 stores will be hard for you to manage as well as difficult for your guests to sort through. Some top stores include Bed Bath and Beyond, Belk, Target, Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, Amazon, Crate and Barrel, and Sur La Table. Also, consider local gift shops as well. These might have a more unique selection of items and appeal to the older family and friends who are wanting to purchase a gift for you.
Pick a few stores that match your style and will be accessible to your guests and go from there.
Know yourself
This is one of the most important registry tips I can think of. Are you going to wish you had the fancy china? Or do you KNOW you will never use it? Are you going to order out more nights than not? Or will you actually use some of these super fancy kitchen gadgets? Knowing yourself and your spouse is super important in the registering process. You don’t want to end up with a bunch of items you think you are “supposed” to register for just to realize you won’t actually use any of it.
Pick your dinnerware and silverware first
This is one of those mistakes I learned the hard way. Your dinnerware and silverware set the tone for SO many of your other items it is important to know what this is going to look like! I had picked out some serving items, only to realize later that they didn’t match the silverware or plates I had previously picked out. Make sure you’re regularly taking a step back to think about how items will look in the grand scheme of things.
Go to the stores in person if you can
Some people have done their entire registries online. That is completely fine, however, there is an added benefit to going in-store. Not only does your husband get to have fun with the scanner gun, but you also get the assistance of a real-life human! This real-life human can help walk you through some of their registry favorites as well as explain the differences between some of their products.
Plan for it to take longer than you think
Don’t think “oh this will just take an hour or so and then we can go to lunch!” No. Stop right there. It will take longer than you plan and you will get stuck in the aisles looking and debating items. Make sure to carve out enough time so that you can enjoy the experience! If you can’t find enough time (understandable as the engagement period is very busy!) then try to get all the top items you want checked off. It is completely okay to continue to add items to your registry throughout your engagement, so there is no need to stress about getting every single item on there in one fell swoop.
Start early
Another great tip to make the wedding registry process easier is to start early! If you know you have a few weeks or even months before your shower or wedding, you will not be as stressed about getting everything added to your registry right away. Starting early helps you really have time to think things through!
Register together
Ladies, make sure to include your husband in the registering process. He might be super excited about it, or he might not care at all…either way these items you are registering for are going to be for your home TOGETHER. Make sure to start off your decision-making together by registering together as well. While there are some things he probably will not care about, you might just be surprised how many items he does care about. Make sure to include him in the registering process whether it is in person or online.
Imagine this stuff together in your home
Make sure your stuff matches your style as well as each other. You don’t want farmhouse kitchen decor next to your very traditional/formal plates, do you? Make sure to think through these things not only as you are registering, but also especially as you are looking through your wedding registry as a whole. This is a great time to get the feel for your items!
It’s okay to overlap big items
Some people are afraid to have the same items at multiple stores, and while I don’t suggest that for absolutely everything on your list, it is nice to have some of the bigger ticket items at multiple stores. I suggest this because my guests like sales just as much as I do. If one of the stores is having a great sale on a bigger ticket item, it gives your friends and family more price points for the same item.
Stay organized
This seems like an obvious one, but it is SO important. Make sure to stay organized not only when creating your registry, but also when you receive gifts from your registry. Having a list of “wants” for your registry helps you stay focused across all stores. Having a list of received items with a column for when thank you notes were written helps you keep up-to-date with thank you notes. Figure out an organization system that works for you and stick with it!
Make sure to provide a variety of price points
Your guests want to get you something off your registry, but if there is nothing available in their price range they will not be able to do that. Make sure to include many items from a variety of price points so that your guests have plenty of options!
Check your friend’s registries
You may or may not have already thought of this idea, but checking your friends’ registries will sometimes help you come up with ideas you might not have thought of yourself. You and your friends probably have similar tastes in items. Go through their registries and look for unique ideas that you might not have thought of. Some of my most used registry items came from friends registries…to think I almost missed out on them! Your online registries stay active for a year or more, so don’t be afraid to check on registries of friends that are already married.
Update your registry
Things go out of stock or get completely eliminated. Check in on your wedding registry from time to time to make sure your items are still in stock, and that you still have a variety in every price range.
Write thank-you notes immediately
Do not-I repeat-DO NOT wait to write all your thank you notes until after the wedding. They will pile up and you will never get around to them. Life happens, but that shouldn’t be a reason to not thank your guests for their generous gifts. Try to keep up with your gifts as they come in, that way you never have a massive list of thank you notes to write! We got the same “M” that was at the top of our wedding invites for our thank you notes and its been so great! We are able to use them after the wedding for thank you notes or anything else that you need a card for. I highly suggest getting thank you notes that you can use the remainder for multiple purposes.
Don’t be afraid to return items
If you end up deciding that you don’t like an item you register for, you get duplicates, or you just don’t need it as much as you thought, do not be afraid to return it! The people that have bought you these gifts would much rather you get something you will actually use instead of something that will just sit in a box for years to come.
Overall, the wedding registry process can be overwhelming but also so much fun! I hope this post helped you with your own registry process. Do you have any registry tips from your own experience? I’d love to add them. Let me know in the comments below!