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Your Wedding Registry Checklist
by Dani
I’ll be honest: I’m a little weirded out by the whole wedding registry thing. Some of my friends took to it like ducks to water – gleefully paging through catalogues and websites and loving how quickly they were moving up from plastic to crystal stemware. But I wasn’t encouraged to write letters to Santa as a kid.
And Chris and I have been living together for a while now – it’s not like we don’t have flatware. But we do recognize that many of our loved ones want to give us gifts, and we’re even getting to where we can admit that we’re excited to receive them.
To keep from getting overwhelmed, the first thing we did was sit down and make a list of things we really wanted and needed. It really helped us prioritize and focus on just a few stores. I also got Chris to page through some websites and catalogues and play like/don’t like to zero in on styles that suited us both.
Most important, we figured out ways to take care of our loved ones so they can take care of us.
Go green and grow a halo
The first thing we did was set up donation funds for a couple of causes we liked. It was an easy way to do some good and let our friends and family choose how much they want to kick in.
The honeymoon fund
We’re still debating this one with our friends. Some people are uncomfortable with a flat-out “give us money” fund and some people don’t know what the big deal is. …And, yeah, we hear honeymoons are fun. It’s also not a bad option if you’re short on space and don’t necessarily want more stuff.
It’s not the size of the gift; it’s how you use it
Chris and I have several family members who are younger and just starting out, and quite a few friends who are starving artists, in school, or are just on a tight budget. That’s why we made sure to register for plenty of inexpensive items. People can get us just one, or combine a few.
Balance the classic and the now
You probably want some cool things that you haven’t seen before – by all means, register for them. But keep in mind that some of the people giving you gifts are hoping they will last a lifetime. It’s a good idea to register for at least a few gifts in neutral colors and styles so you know that they won’t go out of fashion.
