Bride-to-Be Blogger Danielle: Creating a Wedding Registry

Over the past week and a half, Tim and I have begun our registry process. We were engaged over a year before we actually started this registry, but we began preparing for it during one of this past winter’s brutal snowstorms, when we spent an entire homebound weekend clearing our cabinets and closets of all mismatched glasses, melted plastic spoons, and 20-year-old (but extremely appreciated) hand-me-downs. We put everything in a tag sale pile and made some room for future matching pieces.

Still, it took a while for me to get Tim to commit to registering. I’m marrying a man who hates to shop. Like really, really hates to shop—unless it’s for beer or electronics, which I know is awfully cliché, but it’s true.

I talked him into attending a Crate and Barrel registry event, “The Wedding Party,” at the Cherry Hill location by explaining it would be much calmer, since the store would not be open to the general public. The store was indeed quiet, there were only about 20 couples, and they served refreshments. The entire process was so very pleasant. I highly recommend it to anyone unsure of the experience.

We registered for quite a few things, but after two hours it became a little overwhelming and we called it a night. I was surprised and pleased to receive a personal phone call from one of the registry associates the next day checking to make certain our selections had populated correctly in our online registry. We added a few more items from the online store, including for a citrus juicer Tim has been dying to have for a couple of years now, and a stand mandoline that I’ve coveted since I purchased one for a friend’s shower in 2005.

Then, a week later, I dragged Tim to Macy’s. We wanted to add a large national department store because it’s convenient for most people. It appeals to those who do not have a local Crate and Barrel, and those who are not Internet shoppers (think Grandmas and other older relatives and friends). Also, Macy’s tends to have great sales and we prefer giving relatives and friends the option of getting a better deal on an item that could be purchased multiple places.  (As it is, we’re not the type of people who feel comfortable asking for anything from anyone, let alone making a “wish list.”) We also love that we receive credit towards Macy’s gift cards for all the items purchased up until our wedding.

However, the store was a bit of a disaster. It was somewhat messy and picked over, and we had a hard time finding some things. Although we registered for bath items, we’re not really satisfied with them, as we could not find lines that completely coordinated and also met our tastes. We did, however, find some great dish towels that match my bridesmaid dresses!

So, we are looking to add a third location to fill it out a bit. Both stores told us to register for twice the number of items as expected guests. That seems a little exorbitant to me, but we still would like to have one matching bathroom. So, poor Tim will have to be dragged back out to yet another store … all in good time, of course. I don’t think I can make him go shopping three weeks in a row in good conscience, even under the auspice of registering.

At how many stores did you register? Did you have a hard time deciding on anything? What is the craziest thing you registered for? The item you’re most excited to have in your home?

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