You know those cute little Target mailers that advertise what your
life as a married couple might look like? If you’re an American bride, you probably
know what I’m talking about. As a bride subscribed to Brides magazine and
various wedding planning websites (ie The Knot, The Wedding Channel, etc.),
I’ve gotten several postcards, leaflets, and brochures in the mail urging me to
sign up for a bridal registry. I’m not exactly a fan of my contact information
being handed off between different companies that want to sell me stuff, but I
must admit that the registry advertising (that I didn’t request) has caught my
eye.
Since I’ve started getting these mailers, my subconscious has been
nagging me about creating registries at various places. After all, I want enough time for my fiancé and I to envision what our style might be like when
we finally move in together and to figure out what kinds of things we need and
don’t need as a married couple. And another big thing—we need to give our
guests plenty of time to browse our registries and get ideas so that they don’t
feel like they’re going shopping for a wedding gift at the last minute
(though—I’m sure—there are bound to be those last minute shoppers on any given
occasion). So I have to admit that the advertising works—it’s gotten the idea
churning in my brain that I need to set up our registries and I need to do it
soon.
Realistically, however, I haven’t had enough time to get all that
done. But I have started a registry for us at Bed, Bath & Beyond. And just
from this one registry, I’ve already learned a lot.
I’ve been to BBB several times, but we started the registry completely
online. I did go into a store to talk to a bridal consultant about the benefits
of a registry at BBB—namely a no-questions-asked return policy, online wedding
planning tools, and high quality products. She gave me a catalog featuring
their most popular registry items as a way to get ideas on what we wanted. But
she suggested that I come into the store to actually see and feel the products
before I added them to our registry. Well…I should have taken her advice while
I had more time on my hands.
Don’t get me wrong—doing your registry online is very convenient
(especially for college kids like us). But I realized that there are just some
things I have to see in person to really know whether or not I actually want it. For example,
bed sheets are something I want to feel and touch before I decide I'm interested in a particular
brand or make. There are so many different kinds of sheets and various thread
counts that it’s not an easy decision to make just by looking online. Towels are like that, too. And in my experience, even dishware looks
different online than it does in person. I've been into the store since we started our registry, and when I saw some of the products in person that I had put on the registry, I realized they weren't actually the kinds of things I wanted. I also saw more items that I was interested in from seeing them in person. All that to say, I need to go
through and edit/update our registry. (So please don’t search for our registry yet—it’s not finished!)
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| Credit to Dynamic Graphics, Creatas, and thinkstockphoto.com for the use of this photo. |
Anyways, I would suggest going into the store and taking a couple of
hours with your partner to explore your options and get a feel for what style
fits you best. Even though doing your registry online may be more convenient,
it’s more helpful to see and feel the products in person in the actual store.
There are tons of different places that have bridal registries these
days. I want to give our guests a lot of options and different price ranges to
shop around with, but I think it’s also important to narrow your choices of
which places you want to register at. I think having registries at more than
five places would get pretty overwhelming for a guest. So we’ve narrowed down our
options and we’re thinking about looking into starting registries at:
-Target
-IKEA (if they get one up and running soon…)
-Amazon.com
-Celebrity China*
*This is a cookware and fine china company. Its bridal registry is only available to members who have purchased something from them, but if you’re interested in finding quality cookware, I would suggest looking into them. They are pricey, but if you talk to the sales rep long enough, he or she might give you a better deal. If you want to hear more about our experience with them, or about cookware in general, leave a comment and I’ll add it to my list of entry topics.
Next entry’s topic ideas:
-Bridal shows
-Cookware/China
-Food
-Invitations
Until next time!
-Paige
