wedding wednesday no. 18 // my 5 tips for creating your wedding registry

We are nearing the final countdown to our June wedding, friends! Can you even believe it?!

One of the many reasons I am so excited about reaching March is because my bridal shower is just a few weeks away! I’ll fill y’all in soon on what Andrew and I have planned in terms of showers, parties and such, but today I want to focus on one aspect of the process… our wedding registry!

From my first Wedding Wednesday post, I started receiving tons of questions about the wedding registry process. “Where are you registering?” “What are you registering for?” “Where should I even begin?!”

Let me be the first to admit… registering for your wedding can be so overwhelming. I know I definitely felt that way! So many stores, so many brands, so many tools you don’t know if you really need.

I’ll never forget Andrew saying to me wielding his hand-held scanner, “But we’re living in Florida! Don’t you think we should get a fryer for fish?!” *Beep beep!* And just like that… we had a $200 fryer added to our list.

While it was quite the undertaking, I walked away from our wedding registry journey with a few tips and tricks I picked up on to make the whole process much easier, more efficient, and hopefully fun! Today, I’m thrilled to be partnering with WeddingWire in sharing those with you.

My 5 Wedding Registry Tips

O N E // Make A Day-Dream Date

Before you let yourself get overwhelmed at the thought of registering for your wedding, let’s get back to the basics. At the end of the day, your wedding registry is all about your friends and family helping to start off your marriage on a wonderful note! And really, what is more sweet or fun than that?

Keep that thought in mind as you get into the “weeds” of registering. My tip? Plan a date night (doesn’t have to be anything fancy, pizza and wine at your apartment will do nicely) before you register for a single thing and allow yourselves to daydream about your future in the day-to-day sense!

Maybe you want to have coffee together every morning before starting your day. A nice coffee maker might be a perfect wedding registry item! Are waffles and bacon on Saturday mornings a tradition you’re excited about starting? Make a note and start researching waffle irons. Do the two of you consider yourselves wine snobs? Add a beautiful decanter and a lovely set of wine glasses to your registry!

Instead of getting overwhelmed by all of the endless options and opinions out there, give yourself the opportunity to get excited about items the two of you specifically want! Your wedding registry should represent you and your significant other… that’s all that matters!

T W O // Ask The Mamas

Who always knows best? Your mama! Sit down for coffee or plan a phone date and ask her, or a special woman you’re close to, the items from her registry she most enjoyed. Then, on the other hand, ask her what she didn’t ever use. Sometimes knowing what not to register for is just as helpful as knowing what to register for.

I learned so much from asking my mom her opinion. She told me what she’d most recommend (from actual tools to best brands), what to steer clear of, and even items she picked up along the way that she’s grown to love!

It was so fun to sit down with Andrew and his mama and get her thoughts as well. She also had so much great insight and plenty of different ideas from my mother.

These two conversations helped Andrew and I create a registry that was representative of how we both grew up. Needless to say, we are so excited to bring some of the pieces, tools and traditions we grew up with into our own family!

T H R E E // Consult A List

Now, once you’ve done your daydreaming and have consulted the “pros,” the next best step is to download and print off a wedding registry checklist. WeddingWire has a great one here that is definitely all-encompassing!

I’d go so far as to highlight the items you know you do want to include, and then mark them off as you add them to your registry. I’ve found there’s something about doing this on a physical sheet of paper that helps keep everything organized in your mind.

Keep in mind… you do NOT have to register for everything on there. Rather, use it as a helpful road map to ensure you think through everything you might need.

F O U R // Strategize Price Points

One thing to keep in mind when registering? Most likely, you will have guests all across the board when it comes to the amount they’d like to spend on a wedding gift. So register accordingly!

For example, instead of registering for a $250 set that includes five pans, register for each pan individually. Be sure you have plenty of gifts in the $30-$50 to balance out the higher priced items you may also have included, like silver, china, and crystal. This hopefully allows all of your guests to find something they are excited to give!

I also recommend creating registries in at least two to four different stores. Try to balance a more luxury retailer, like Neiman Marcus, with a more accessible one, like Bed Bath & Beyond. This, again, allows your guests to shop where they feel most comfortable.

F I V E // Centralize Your Registry Using WeddingWire

Here’s a tip I’m so excited about… did you know that WeddingWire allows you to consolidate your wedding registries from over 25 different retailers onto one easy-to-access page? Oh yeah, we’re talking Williams Sonoma, Bed Bath & Beyond, Amazon, Anthropologie and so many more. Right there. All in one place.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed managing lists at different retailers, but this free tool allows you to see it all together. You can also direct your guests to this one page instead of having them search each retailer individually. Such a game changer!

Simply click here, then click “start your registry” and create a free WeddingWire account to get started! And if you’re curious about the other ways I use WeddingWire (and why I’m obsessed with it) see my post here.

S I X // Don’t Stress Over Every Detail

I am not the person to get easily overwhelmed or stressed, but y’all… the process of registering initially threw me for quite the loop. At some point I remember thinking…

I. DON’T. CARE. WHAT. SPATULA. BRAND. WE. GET.

(Can I get an amen?)

But THEN I remembered on simple fact… everything. is. returnable.

Here’s the truth. You won’t get everything on your registry. And that should be so freeing! Until you receive the items themselves, you won’t really know what is actually most important to you or how to prioritize what you really want. So my advice is to register as comprehensively as you can, then let the chips fall where they may!

Remember, almost all retailers have great return policies for items purchased on a wedding registry. So at the end of the day, nothing is final until you say it is! Don’t let the stress of getting everything you will ever need get to your head. Enjoy the process for what it is, and your mentality will change from one of stress to one of thankfulness!

Trust me, I mean it when I say I know how overwhelming the wedding registry process is. (Just ask Andrew, haha!) But as I’ve sought to focus on the positives of the whole experience instead of letting the stress of little details get to me, it’s allowed me to enjoy it and be so thankful for this season!

I hope these tips help you do the same… savor every moment!

Love from Texas,

Kate

Thank you, WeddingWire, for sponsoring this post.

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6 Comments

  1. Kayla Michelle Pelletier said:

    I would STRONGLY recommend keeping the things that you loved and are one of a kind after your shower, keeping inventory of what you received, return them, and seeing if your vendor can ship them/ has a location in Florida that you can repurchase them in. After we were married we moved across the country to Washington state where there was a bed bath and beyond in the town we were in. Instead of hauling it all in the moving truck and having extra stuff to unpack, I was able to pick it up at my convenience and it saved a lot of hassle of having to pack, load and unload. After packing up the kitchen to move back to the south I was so happy to have all the boxes and have done that when we started out. It feels rude “returning” them, but in all reality they are going to be in your home period saving you the headache of packing a kitchen/ home goods. I saved all the items that were low in stock/ were very unique so I didn’t have to part with them. Can’t reccomend this enough!

    Published 3.6.19 · Reply
  2. Ady B said:

    This is a GREAT roundup! My husband and I just celebrated our one year anniversary this past November and we still have items unopened from our wedding! Two important things I learned: you can’t ask for too many quality linens/towels and gift cards were a VERY welcome gift! Thank you for pointing out the return policies, we didn’t even think about that until we were knee deep in doubled-up gifts. Congrats Kate and Andrew!

    Published 3.6.19 · Reply
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    Published 3.21.19 · Reply