You should register for your wedding gifts

You should register for your wedding gifts at least four months before your wedding. Gift registering is a service offered free of charge by department stores, jewelry stores, and gift shops. This registration of preferences benefits absolutely everyone involved. It is not only a time for you and your fiancé to choose the patterns and colors that will make your house a home, but also a step to avoid countless hours you could spend returning and exchanging gifts. Your family and friends are saved the time of selecting a present and are assured that their selections are well received. The store is saved the time and expense of costly exchange procedures and returns. These stores often provide consultants to help you in making your selections. If your family and friends live elsewhere, it is an advantage to register with a national chain department store. Also, many stores’ registries may be accessed on the internet. There are even web sites that specialize in wedding gift registries.

It is important not only to register for your chosen patterns of china, silver and crystal, but also to make your registry broad enough to include all of the items you’ll need in your new home together. Ask yourself what items reflect your lifestyle. Will you live in a small apartment with little storage space? Is your style of entertaining formal or more casual? Do you entertain friends often, and if so, do you cook? If not, don’t register for formal tableware to store and collect dust. Register for the tools you’ll use to start your life together. Many couples today register at nontraditional places like hardware or lawn and garden stores. The following items are suggestions for registration:

  • Fine china, silverware, crystal
  • Everyday dinnerware
  • Everyday glassware
  • Everyday stainless steel
  • Cookware
  • Kitchen appliances
  • Table linens
  • Bath linens
  • Bed linens
  • Home cleaning and comfort appliances
  • Luggage

When registering, select a broad price range from which family and friends can choose. Often couples who are marrying older do not need the items to start a household and will elect to register for money applied to their honeymoon or wedding photography.

It is never proper for you or your fiancé to volunteer registry information without being directly asked. This information should not, furthermore, appear on any printed wedding materials. Friends and relations normally ask your mother, maid of honor or you. Without such inquiry there is no way to tastefully give out registry information. The one possible exception is with a wedding website. If you create one, you could have a page or section entitled “wedding gifts”. Here the names of stores where you’re registered could be included.