Jul 16

Jul 16 My Wedding Registry Tips

*This post originally went live May 22, 2018

Hello hello! I know this is not a typical post for my page, but I wanted to share some of the tips I've learned regarding registries for brides (and grooms)-to-be! For those of you who don't know, Yale and I are getting married this October, and I recently had my bridal shower. When we got engaged, I was SO excited about planning our registry, but quickly found myself overwhelmed with the options available!

I wanted to write this post for any brides-to-be (or anyone just curious) highlighting what we registered for for our home! I had a hard time deciding which stores to choose, but we ended up registering at Williams Sonoma, Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn and Bed Bath & Beyond. I would recommend choosing at least 2 places to register, as this gives your guests some flexibility in where they decide to shop for you. However, where you register is TOTALLY up to you and your needs and tastes. I've been really happy with our registry choices so far.

Before I dive into what we registered for, I wanted to provide tips for future brides & grooms, as well as tips for wedding guests!

Tips for Future Brides and Grooms:

Look at the "Most Popular" section on your registry site. This will give you an idea what other couples registered for which may be really helpful for you.
Take inventory and make a list. Be sure to know what you already have and what you need for your home. For example, we did not register for fine china because my grandmother was giving us a set that belonged to her mother. So we just registered for new everyday plates. Also check your friends' wedding registries too and see what they selected!
Register on websites that frequently offer discounts. Most websites like Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma offer tons of discounts if you subscribe to their email newsletter. Also, some give couples 10+% off their purchase for a year after the wedding (for those registry goodies that didn't get fulfilled.)
Try not to stress too much about the registry. Our registry really stressed me out in the beginning, but now I am just so grateful for any gift we receive.

Tips for Wedding Guests:

Sign up for website newsletters. Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn are always offering deals like 15-20% off one item in your cart! Keep an eye on your email and take advantage of deals as they pop-up!
Sign up for E-Bates! I wish I had sooner! Several websites (like Bed, Bath and Beyond as well as Crate & Barrel) offer cash back on your purchase. I've saved so much money with E-Bates, it's awesome. I also recommend downloading the browser plugin which notifies you of any cash back deals as you're shopping.
Check the registry first. Before we got engaged, I didn't realize how much time went into the registry planning process (at least lots of time went into ours!!), and often purchased items not on the registry for my friends' weddings. That is amazing if you have a knockout gift that isn't included on the couples' registry, but I'd recommend checking the registry first. That way, you know the couple will enjoy and use the gift you're giving them, since they picked it out themselves.

Williams Sonoma and Crate and Barrel were our go-to's to kitchen stuff like appliances, utensils, bakeware, cookware, flatware, dishes, etc. They both have a wide array of options and offer products at a variety of price points. One of my tips would be to include LOTS of gifts in the $25-50 range for your shower. This allows your guests to buy a couple things in a set for you! We actually registered for over 150 items in this price range (sounds like a lot, but keep in mind some of these items are individual glasses, dishes, towels, etc.). These items were some of the first to go and I think having so many options was really helpful for our guests. Another tip, we originally registered for a set of new cookware, but realized that gift was a large commitment for our guests. Before the shower I decided to swap out the cookware set for individual pots and pans.

At Pottery Barn, we mainly registered for our bedding (we're upgrading our bed to a king size! More on that coming soon!) and towels, with a few other pretty home items thrown in the mix. I love plush white bedding, and had my eyes on a particular set (see below) from Pottery Barn for awhile. While our bedding was on the slightly pricier side, we know it will last us a long time! I went ahead and registered for multiples of everything. So we did 2 sets of king sheets, extra pillow cases, 6 bath towels, 4 hand towels and 4 washcloths. This way, we could always have a set of clean sheets for our bed ready to go, as well as lots of towels for both Yale and I and our guests. We also registered for new bed pillows, since we like to have LOTS of pillows on our bed (and want to be able to offer our guests extras as well!).

We only registered for a couple items at Bed Bath and Beyond that we couldn't get at the other stores (like our vacuum and steamer). Some couples prefer just registering at 1-2 stores like Macy's and Bed Bath and Beyond since both offer a wide array of products, but I personally knew I had my sights set on a few particular items from Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn. We considered registering at Anthropologie for fun home accessories, but I felt like we already had so many decorative pillows and throw blankets that we didn't need to add a 5th registry site to the mix.

Another great option is to do a Honeymoon Fund or Newlywed Fund. Websites like The Knot and Zola offer these right on their site to keep things super easy for you. This may be a great thing to add to your wedding website as you get closer to the wedding date!

So before I go into the individual products that we registered for, I do wanna say that we already owned a LOT of the big ticket items that many people typically register for (Vitamix, crockpot, instant pot, stainless steel cookware, etc.). This list is basically some of the items from each of the stores we registered for (we've yet to receive all of them, but I definitely hope we do!). You can check my FAQ page for my tips on appliances to accumulate for your kitchen.

I hope this post was helpful! It was so fun to write and I will keep you posted as we continue the wedding-planning process.

PS: We haven't received all of the gifts listed below, but my fingers crossed that we do! All of these items below are either on our registry, we were gifted or we already owned.