The Modern Couple’s Wedding Registry: A Guide to Creating the Gift List of Today
Among all the stress that a wedding can bring, couples often underestimate one of the most exciting aspects of the process leading up to their day: the registry. In generations past, the bride and groom selected china, towel sets and even picture frames. The rise of online registries have modernized this old tradition quite a bit, but for today’s couples, many of which already live together, the registry itself present an issue: where do we start?
Online or Traditional?
Some couples choose to complement their online wedding registry with a traditional registry, catering to both older and younger guests. Online registries, like Zola.com, offer you the perfect melding of the old and new. The online registry service is a one-stop shop for creating the perfect wedding registry. You can add and remove items you’re asking for at the click of a button, from the comfort of your own home and without being at the mercy of the store hours of a brick and mortar location. Registering online gives you access to a multitude of items in a variety of price ranges in an organized fashion that only online can offer. Giving guests many choices allows them to work within their budget to shower the two of you with gifts!
What Goes on the Registry
Deciding what to put on the registry can get complicated, but it shouldn’t be! It is important that you decide what is important to both of you. What do you need? A set of dishes to host your new families? What do you want? Fun personalized luggage tags for your honeymoon? And what do you have that needs to be upgraded? Sheets to replace the ones from the groom’s bachelor pad?
Couples should be looking at a few basic categories for your registry: kitchen and dining room, bedroom and bathroom, hosting and entertaining, decor, and experiences and fun. And though this loose guideline is meant to aid you in navigating the woes of registry making, it is most important that you keep in mind what you need and want.
The New Type of Gift
As a modern couple, you should not be afraid to lean more towards what you want, which may seem unconventional to wedding guests. With nearly 8 million unmarried couples living together as of 2012, brides and grooms are no longer needing the basics for your home together. You may be coming into the relationship already equipped with cereal bowls and blenders, and are ready to experience life as a married couple together. Luckily, registries like Zola allow you to register for experiences and funds for those experiences in addition to traditional gifts. The gift of travel can promote early bonding in the marriage, leading to a happy and healthy married life together. When choosing what gift to purchase, wedding guests should consider the couple’s personalities; it is crucial that you include registry items that reflect the personalities of the bride and groom best. Are you adventurous? Love to vacation? Do you cook often? Being able to add a new, high end set of frying pans and an experience, like a couples cooking class, to the same registry is a great advantage that allows guests to gift you something thoughtful that you actually want!
Registering for hobby-based gifts or even weekend getaways can be both fun and rewarding for guests and the two of you alike, as guests know that they took part in creating memories for you! Don’t be afraid to ask for upgrades, or “bigger” gifts, because many times guests love giving as much as you love choosing what you’d like.
Getting the Word Out
Choosing gifts for a registry is great once a plan is made, but how will wedding guests know about the experiences, dishes and wall art if the registries aren’t shared with them? Registries are meant to be shared with your guests and you shouldn’t be shy about it! While the information should never be printed on the actual wedding invitations according to etiquette, it should be included on the save the date cards and your wedding website. A website like Zola is the perfect place to create your registry because not only can you include traditional and non-traditional gifts all in one place, but you can also create your own wedding website to share their registry!
Making a registry may daunting at first, but the process can and should be enjoyable for the two of you. Using an online option can modernize the process, allow you to ask for what you really want, and simplify the gift buying for your guests.
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