Registry Frustrations

I've posted about our registry frustrations before. You all provided great ideas for the registry, but it wasn't enough! Our mothers keep pestering us {read me} to add more! My fantastic aunts are throwing me a shower back home in August and Nick's family is holding one in my honor in September, so it is time to add some more options to the list.

Problem is if we need something new for our house {decorative element, a chair, etc.}, I look for a long time at every store imaginable and eventually I'll come across something I love that is perfect and I'll buy it. I'm not going to walk into one store and find something perfect immediately. I guess I am just picky? Narrowing our registry down to a few stores has been murder on me and deciding what to put on them has been even worse. {Especially since I decided to forgo the headache of registering at the returns-unfriendly Target where I always find stuff I love.}

It is really stressing me out to pick out every utensil, tray, or plate I'd like us to have for the next 50 years while making sure everything coordinates. I know that's so silly to say because it is supposed to be fun, but it is the truth. I don't want people to be upset because they don't have a lot to chose from, but at the same time I don't need 75 chip and dip sets. Seriously. The one I have will do the job.

To relieve some of the stress, I downloaded Crate and Barrel's plain Jane, but very helpful registry checklist. {Available as a pdf and online.} I liked the pdf because it was easy to read and bare bones {no blurbs to read through about each item} and it had boxes for check marks. A few weeks ago before we rounded out our registry at Bed Bath and Beyond, I printed out our registries from Crate and Barrel and Macy's and went through the checklist page by page. Lines went through things we do NOT need {soup tureen, mattress, etc.}, checks went through stuff we'd registered for, and circles or question marks went next to items we should consider registering for. It definitely took a little bit of the stress of and helped me narrow down the items we needed to add at BBB or look for at the other stores.

After it was all said and done I felt a bit better about the whole thing and a lot less stressed. If I had it to do over, I'd have started with that list from the beginning. Circling things we might like, crossing off stuff we don't need. Hopefully my ideas will help you other brides be more organized about it from the get go and not be stressed like me! Did you have any methods for registering? Did it stress you out a bit?

Comments

[Jenna]

I'm sorry I don't have any registry advice for you, I thought mine would be easy breezy, but it isn't. I wanted to thank you for showing me that fantastic crate and barrel pdf. I plan on using the same system you did to create my own registry based on their suggestions.

[Erin @ Blue-Eyed Bride]

It actually didn't stress me out much. We started at Williams-Sonoma because I love that place and I knew the things that I needed there; All Clad pots and pans, KitchenAid mixer, CuisinArt coffee maker and food processor. I saw a Vera Wang china ad right before we registered and I knew that was the pattern I wanted. Our only issue was that I wanted to register at Dillards because they have Dillards in Louisiana, Texas, South Carolina, and Indiana. My MIL wanted me to register at Belk because that's where the SC ladies go, but I didn't see the point in registering for the same stuff in two locations. I picked out our gorgeous every day pattern at Neiman Marcus. We really only registered for kitchen items. We had plenty of furniture. I just tried to keep it simple-- entertaining items.

[Erin @ Blue-Eyed Bride]

It actually didn't stress me out much. We started at Williams-Sonoma because I love that place and I knew the things that I needed there; All Clad pots and pans, KitchenAid mixer, CuisinArt coffee maker and food processor. I saw a Vera Wang china ad right before we registered and I knew that was the pattern I wanted. Our only issue was that I wanted to register at Dillards because they have Dillards in Louisiana, Texas, South Carolina, and Indiana. My MIL wanted me to register at Belk because that's where the SC ladies go, but I didn't see the point in registering for the same stuff in two locations. I picked out our gorgeous every day pattern at Neiman Marcus. We really only registered for kitchen items. We had plenty of furniture. I just tried to keep it simple-- entertaining items.

[Pamela]

I'm so glad you wrote this - I felt the exact same way with my registry! My taste changes day to day (and mood to mood), so how am I supposed to know what I'll like five years from now? Not to mention the fact that I wanted my guests to get the best deal for their money on things I wanted, so I felt the need to compare Macy's kitchenaid mixer cost versus Crate and Barrel's! I ended up doing the exact same thing you did - checking things off on the master list C&B gives you - and then put all of the things I might want in a spreadsheet. Then, when we were done registering at each store I filled in the spreadsheet with the name of the store where we registered for each item and how much it cost. We registered at the same three stores as you, but now I'm considering adding a fourth registry at Home Depot to cover the home-type stuff we really need (we just purchased a home last year and need a weed whacker, gutters, etc.) Is it bad to register at four stores?? Should I just keep my registry as is and hope to get money for the home items?

[Rachel]

I'm in the process of registering now, too. So far, we've got Crate and Barrel started. I know we want to use Target, and then either Best Buy or Home Depot for him. We already have so much stuff (both of us lived on our own before getting together), so we're focusing on smaller things, every day stuff (like towels and sheets), a few pots and pans, some entertaining, and a coffee table. We LOVE the coffee table, and need one, so we figured we'd put it on there so if someone gave us a gift card, they'd see what it would be going to! Plus, you get 10% off of whatever's left on your registry after the wedding, so that makes it an even better deal!
I'm like you, I like to shop around and see everything out there. My advice would be to put lots of kind of generic stuff (sheets, towels, etc) on there, things you wouldn't mind getting and can use again. Things you need and use, but don't get excited about buying for yourself.
And try not to stress about whether or not you'll really love this stuff forever and ever... Just pick stuff you really like or have a good use for and you'll be fine.