After going through the process of registering for all the things, I thought I would share our experience, what we found helpful, where we registered, etc.! I actually found this process super fun and enjoyable after we began the daunting task. I just get overwhelmed with decisions, seriously(it takes me way too long at restaurants to choose my meal, ask anyone), so deciding on my future home decor, kitchen accessories and everything else was not easy by any means for this indecisive girl. Good thing my fiancé is one of the most decisive people I know, we make a good match.
Where:
To start the registering process, we had to decide where we wanted to register. I talked to all of my married girl friends about where they registered to get some ideas but oh my there are sooo many options. To limit myself and help with decisions, we chose 2 places to register: Target and Crate & Barrel. Amazon is doing registry now and a lot of places are fully digital but I really liked being able to go into these stores and feel and see the items we are registering for in person. I am a Target fanatic so it was a no brainer for us to register there. I love their home decor and the recent Hearth & Hand line released just in time for us to register for ALLLLL the things. For our second choice, we chose Crate & Barrel. I have seen friends do William Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Belk, Bed Bath and Beyond and so on and I am sure those are great choices. However, I felt that Crate and Barrel had the most reasonable prices for the higher quality items for kitchen, bathroom, bar, etc. I love their store and their style really aligns with my own personal home decor style so it was a perfect match!
When:
I wasn’t really sure when we were supposed to start the registering process because my bridal showers weren’t going to be until March, April, and May. I am glad we got the process started ahead of time though. I use The Knot wedding planning app(highly recommend) and it gives me deadlines for big things like registering. Since I am a teacher and I thankfully get holiday breaks, we registered over Christmas break for our June wedding. I felt like that was a good time and it still gave us room to change our registry if needed.
10 things you might not think to register for:
I asked friends, searched on Pinterest and talked to family all about what to register for to get a better idea of what a typical registry looks like. However, I would like to say that it is OKAY if you register for things that maybe your best friend didn’t. Try to think about your personal taste, and what you need that you don’t necessarily want to buy after the wedding. Also, don’t worry about how much you register for, you can always buy the stuff you don’t get after at a discounted price but it’s great to give your guests lots of options! Some of those things for us were:
- trash can
- Kitchen aid mixer(Don’t be afraid to register for a range of low and higher priced items, people love to have a variety when shopping your registry)
- lamps
- bathroom accessories: glasses, rugs, etc.
- bar necessities: wine opener, beer glasses
- hamper
- LOTS of storage bins(to hold all your new stuff!!)
- placemats & nicer napkins for special events!
- platters on platters(My mom is quite the host for parties and she recommends to register for at least 3 platters, her words, “You can never have enough platters”
- steamer or iron or both! I have been told that a steamer is a life saver and super easy to use!
If you register at Crate & Barrel, you HAVEEE to register for their free private registry event! I went with my mom and sister since Patrick had to work but it was such an awesome, stress free experience. You get to go to your local Crate & Barrel before stores hours, they provide snacks and drinks and you have one on one help with their employees. They give you a checklist and you can use their super easy app to register around the store instead of a bulky gun. ALSO, you get entered into a giveaway for a big ticket item(it changes) but since there are not a lot of people that go to these events, your chances of winning are high, trust me , WE WON! We won a chef’s knife that was over $100! I don’t even know how to cook yet but I have a fancy knife so I feel prepared. Seriously though, check out more info about these awesome events here (not sponsored, just loved my experience)!
Well, that is all my bride wisdom for the day, hope that helps if you are getting ready to register or just for your future self! Thanks so much for taking the time to come to my little blog and read today, you are my favorite!!
XOXO, LPOC
Here are links to our registries at Target and Crate and Barrel(not for your to buy us stuff but to get an idea as to what we registered for!
Target: https://www.target.com/gift-registry/myitems?registryId=4f83253c141441aebc913ff7719df125
Crate and Barrel: https://www.crateandbarrel.com/gift-registry/registrant-list/5771458