After reading blog posts and registering and looking through magazine articles that said I "had to register" for this or that, I really wasn't all that excited about setting up our registries. Between the horror stories and the long list of things that I should have but will have no need for, I was ready to just include our Paypal info and call it a day. (Is that tacky? I assume you're nodding your head yes.) The more I thought about it, the more I wondered why it has to be a negative experience? So I decided it wasn't going to be. Easier said than done, right?
Source: Crate and Barrel
So the Mister and I had a chat about what stores or sites we wanted to use for our registries and then headed over to our first destination which was Kohl's. I shop at Kohl's regularly and they are really great about returns and I get tons of coupons which is really helpful when you have a lot to buy at once. I tried to be proactive and set up our basic information online beforehand so we could just pull up the info and start scanning! Unfortunately it didn't end up going that way. By the time the scanner was in our hand we were already a little frazzled from spending 30 minutes re-setting ourselves up. I think if that little bit of stress hadn't have happened it would have been a great experience but since it did, I quickly became overwhelmed by where we needed to start and trying to remember each thing we might need. We left with only about half of that registry done.
Luckily after about a month break, we went back to getting our registries done and it went really well! We did our Target registry which was really simple and a lot of fun. This time we took an open approach by just walking through each department and added things we could see ourselves using and things that would work cohesively in our home. Surprisingly it made a great date night! Dinner, desert and registering.
Source: Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn
So here's what I took out of it and what we'll stick to in order to continue having fun while getting it done.
- Make a list of where you want to register and see if there are any perks or rewards from registering there. Certain stores give you coupons or will give you special items for purchasing any remaining items on your registry. Also make sure the places offer registries and how easy it will be for you and your guests to use their registry.
- Ignore the "have to register for" lists and register for things you feel you'll really need and use. Don't want an extra set of dishes and flatware just for special occasions and holidays? Don't include it! Not really interested in "things"? Register for your honeymoon and experiences!
- Don't try to get everything registered all at once. Trying to make sure you have every kitchen utensil you might need is a waste since you'll probably forget a pizza cutter. Break up the registries into a couple days in store and/or online.
- Make it fun! Do fun things before and after and enjoy yourselves. Your fiancee might not like looking at throw pillows to add to your registry, but he will like scanning them with the gun! Maybe even let him add in some novelty glasses or a tech item he's been wanting. Also register for fun things like games to play when friends come over. Add things like camping gear or things for hobbies that you can do as a couple.
- Make things easier on yourself. Using nifty things like the Amazon wish button (like the Pinterest pin button where you can add anything to your registry) and apps like Wedding Scan to add things from any store to a master registry. Not only are you saving yourself from having to sign up for multiple places, but you don't have to stress on filling an entire registry with items from just one store or having a registry on your website that only has a few things.
- Revisit your registry. Make sure your in-store additions make it onto your registry and check in later to make sure you still want the things you previously added.
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