Registering for Artwork

A friend of mine gave me a great idea for our registry. We have registered for two paintings at a local gallery. I never knew that you could do this, so I thought I'd share, in case anyone's interested and if there's any galleries in any of your areas that do this. Apparently there's a few galleries in our city that support registries. The one we ended up using actually has a wedding registry link right on their website, and they post a link to a photo of the artwork that you have selected. The couple provides a 25% deposit (which seems fair, because the paintings are marked as "sold" and then the artist knows that they will be getting paid). The gallery allows contributions in any denomination, and people can either go to the gallery in person or phone in their gift. The gallery then emails them a gift card that they can enclose in their card if they so choose. The thing that we loved about the idea is that the paintings are so meaningful to us, and it will be so nice to have these amazing pieces of art in our home forever and know that they were given to us by our friends and family. We have registered for 2 paintings, and we've had the most amazing response from people. We also had so much fun choosing the paintings!

 

I don't think anyone else has started a thread on this (I did a ton of searches, so I'm really sorry if there's already a thread).

thats a great idea! sounds like your going to get a gift from people that you really love - rather than getting run of the mill household items like towels and kettles!lol

That is really cool! What is the name of the gallery? I wonder if they would ship to Ontario? I don't know of any around here that do that...maybe in TO....thanks for sharing!!

We registered with Swirl Fine Art and Design in Calgary. I don't know if they ship to Ontario, but I'm sure it's not impossible. Here's their website, if you want to check it out: Swirl Fine Art and Design - Wedding Registry

The other thing we've been finding is that with a DW, our guests particularly love the idea, because they don't want to bring gifts with them to the destination, but they also want to give us something really meaningful. I can't believe how well it's worked out, and we're so excited about the paintings!

What a great idea! My father owns an art gallery - I'm going to pass this idea onto him

 

btw, the gallery is Samuel Lynne Galleries - Dallas Art Gallery - 21st Century Art - we've got some AMAZING artists! I invite you to check it out Martin and I just purchased a piece by Ray Phillips last week as our wedding present to each other Ray Phillips : : Contemporary Abstract Art : : Houston, Texas

Definitely pass on the idea!!! We kept saying to each other when we were registering, "Why doesn't every gallery do this?"!

A couple questions if you don't mind me asking:

What is the price range for the pieces you are registering for?

And, what happens if the piece is not fully paid off? Are you left with the bill? Just curious on the logistics of this because this is a VERY exciting concept to me! I know I'd LOVE something like this!!!

(btw, feel free to PM me if you'd rather discuss it in private - but I'm also going to sign up for updates on this thread too though so either way...) =)

Thanks!! I found one in TO that does a registry too Bridal and Gift Registry - you're right, all galleries should do this!!

No problem, I don't mind sharing! We've registered for 2 pieces by fairly new artists, so the pieces were around $1500 each. We had actually intended to register for one piece around $4000-ish, but then we found these 2 both by young artists and just fell in love with them, so we decided to register for 2 instead! I know another bride in the city who registered for one piece that was $4000 or $5000 (I'm not sure exactly how much it was, but definitely in that range).

With the gallery we've registered with, we paid a 25% deposit (apparently some galleries charge a 50% deposit, so I guess it depends). Our guests make contributions, and then if there is any balance owing, we pay that. We're planning to use any other money we get in terms of wedding gifts to pay the balance, although it's looking like we may actually have a credit, the way things are going!! I can't believe how many contributions we've received already, and the wedding hasn't even happened yet. The gallery owner said that the last couple who registered actually had a $700 credit, so they ended up using it toward another piece later on!