Crate and Barrel Gift Registry Guide

My friends had always raved about Crate and Barrel's registry and I have purchased many gifts from them. It's always fun to watch engaged couples in the store scanning the items that they want and having a debate on whether or not they really need five different types of forks. It seems that people are often trying to fill up their registries with goodies that may never be used (can we say "Oxo ® Soap Dispensing Palm Brush") rather than things that would really be useful in the long run. However, I found that the Crate and Barrel site has put together a registry guide to help in the planning process and notes 50 things you should know before you register. Some of the advice given is common sense, but they do have a few good pointers especially on the quantity of items that you should get. I would suggest to give it a quick click through just to get a few ideas on things to keep in mind before you go scan-happy at your next visit with your fiancee to the store. You can get to the guide from the front page of the Registry area on the C&B site.

Williams-Sonoma Private Bridal Registry Events

It's hectic enough deciding what you want to put on your registry that I personally would at least like to make my decision somewhat in peace and not deal with massive crowds. Williams-Sonoma sponsors "The Store Is Yours" event where you can join other engaged couples in a closed-store event.

In other words, you are allowed into the store to shop for gifts you want to include on your registry before general public store hours. This is actually a great chance to interact with other engaged couples...although they are probably too busy shopping themselves. However, it does give you easier access to the store employees for questions since there aren't as many people around. I would certainly recommend that you attend one of these events. All you have to do is contact your local store to find out the day that they will hold this event which is on a pretty regular basis.

An All-In-One Wedding Registry Site

When talking to my fiancee, he always notes "Do we really need ten sets of towels? Can't I register for a plasma TV instead?". I'm assuming that a lot of us have the same thoughts when putting together our registry. There are the common things that we all will need to register for, but it's unlikely to find one store that carries everything that we want. Having multiple registries is not only hard to manage, but it makes it difficult for the guests to browse and decide exactly what they want to get you. I found a site today that seems to have a solution to all of this. It's called My Registry (simple enough, right?) and you can register (no pun intended) for a free account at www.myregistry.com.

It's really a site to manage registries for all occassions including weddings! So how does it work? It really is a portal for other registries in which it pulls in things that you want from other sites and aggregates them to a single point. It's got a nice tool that you can install in your browser's tool bar so while you're surfing the web you can simple click on the option to add it to your registry. You can even ask for cash to buy that plasma tv of yours...but I'm going to have to check into whether this falls under proper registry etiquette. The user interface can use some help, but the overall concept is a good one.