12 Tips for Creating the Ultimate Wedding Registry
Your guide to curating kitchen, dining, and decor musts that are anything but basic.
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Once you've gotten engaged and set a date, your friends and family will want to start showering you with celebratory gifts—and parties, whenever gatherings become feasible with social distancing top of mind. As a silver lining to quarantine, you now have the time to give some thought to your registry, and how you live with the items, objet, and appliances in your home. While creating a wedding registry used to involve a trip to your local department store and a scanner gun, the internet is chock full of resources to source all you'll need to update your current living space together, or create the look for your newlywed home.
As etiquette goes, your family and friends should be planning engagement parties and bridal showers events for you, but those who'll attend won't come empty handed, or ideally, without sending a gift in advance. Your loved ones, colleagues, and friends will turn to your registry (which you can list on your wedding website), so it's best to get yours together ASAP.
Don't let the idea of a registry overwhelm you; yes, you can register at multiple places and for items in a wide range of price points. And, the process of compiling your wishlist is one of the few wedding planning tasks that grooms prefer to participate in, so you shouldn't have to go it alone. Here, how to curate your registry—and the best products to get you started.
1. Register ASAP. Gifts Come Whether You've Curated Them or Not.
Building your wedding registry is one of the first things you should do after getting engaged. You'll want to make sure it's complete before save-the-dates go out or engagement parties and showers are scheduled. Your friends and families will buy you gifts, and punctual people will look to do so immediately, so make sure you’ve at least compiled the bones of what you need and desire on your registry. List the link to any and all of your wishlists on your wedding website, to avoid having to answer countless questions about where you're registered.
An artisan stand mixer, like this rose gold select, makes an elegant addition to any countertop while also making baking a breeze.
Opt for enameled exterior cookware for pots and pans that will last for years to come.
A sleek and chic wall clock will withstand the test of time, and look far more polished than anything digital.
2. Don’t Forget the Basics
You can register at more places than one, so choose the retailers that make sense for you and your personal style. Zola offers easy, all-in-one registering that allows couples to register for products from other e-shops, while keeping everything organized for you and your guests.
Our tip? Browse each of the shops and land on one or two to register for the kitchen, bed, and bath basics. Then, add decorative objet, books, and statement pieces from other sites to your Zola cart to make your registry feel unique to you both individually, and as as a couple.
Update your old measuring cups for a set of metallic ones. It's a small touch, but it will make baking at home that much more polished, and give you one more thing to display on your countertops.
A blender might be the most basic registry item, but this smaller, smoothie-ready version is great for individual drinks, dips, soups, and dressings.
It's easy to forget about a nice knife set, but a great set will be something you use every day. While knives are a notoriously inauspicious gift to give, traditionalists suggest gifting each of them with a penny for good luck.
3. Manage Your Shipping & Receiving
Receiving gifts throughout the wedding planning process is a recipe for chaos—especially now, when everyone is spending more time at home than ever before, and a decluttered space is key.
You may not have the room to store your new gifts just yet, so create a hold registry. Most online registries will send you a notification when someone has purchased a gift off your list, and will wait to ship them until you're ready to receive shipments at home. On Zola, if you change your mind about an item, their registry allows for the option to exchange or return your product before it's shipped to you—free of charge. Our advice: Wherever you choose to register online, be sure to check the "hold" option when prompted.
A chic bowl or display vessel is never a bad idea. One that is neutral in color will work with most of your décor, and won't look dated as time goes on.
A classic game—backgammon, dominos or chess—not only offers hours of fun, but can serve as chic, interactive décor.
An elegant end table will level up any room, and will likely be something you don't automatically think to add to your cart. Start here, then add a small vase of fresh flowers.
4. Opt for Heirlooms
Register for pieces that will withstand the test of time in style–and in quality. This isn't a time for disposable products or impulse purchases. Rather than listing a long list of products you think your friends will want to buy you, consider editing down your registry to less items at higher price points, and allowing guests to pitch in for items rather than buying them in full.
These products will live with you over time—long after the blender you registered for has died—but be sure to register with a company that allows you to shift your credit (or group gifting) to allow you to make adjustments to your registry along the way.
An upholstered bench is stately, eclectic and adds a print and texture to any space.
Vintage Greek Mirror
Add a vintage mirror in a style that feels like a slight departure from your furniture, but that speaks to your personal style.
Now is the perfect time to start the art collection you've always dreamed of.
5. Plan Ahead for Entertaining
Think about products you'll love using at home together, and when you entertain—like these chic colorful glasses by Estelle Glassware, pictured here.
Couples tend to entertain at home much more as they get older. And when hosting your closest friends, what drinks you'll be serving, and what glasses and stemware you will want to use should be top of mind. Sometimes the tiniest touches, like multi-colored cups and decanted wine, can make your guests feel extra special.
Invest in barware. Even if you don't drink often, gorgeous glassware on a well-appointed bar cart goes a long way in any sitting area.
A marble wine chiller works double duty as objet when it't not in-use.
Don't skip the things you'll wish you had later in life—like a decanter that will impress as you're enjoying amazing bottles of wine for milestone anniversaries.
Heather Hall is a weddings, fashion, and lifestyle writer and editor. Her career in weddings began at The Knot, where she worked as a bridal fashion editor. She then worked as a PR Manager at Amsale, a bridal design house, before starting her own events and digital marketing business. She has been featured on Today.com, MSN.com, Yahoo.com, Racked.com, Huffington Post, Verily Magazine, and Style Me Pretty. Heather loves music, travel, and practicing yoga. In her spare time she's typically researching the next fun workout class to try, or finding a new concert to attend. Her latest goal: become a DJ.
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