Registry - To do or not to do?

[SusanJeff2008]

I wasn't going to register but I think my family will expect it so I will follow your guidance. Thanks girls!

[skp1]

I'm pretty adamant against registering but friends keep telling me I have to (mind you none of them did a destination wedding).  We have an established house so we don't need anything and I'm not having a shower.  But I guess there will be some people who aren't able to attend that will want to buy a small gift so I might ultimately break down and register at BB&B or target.

[aholen]

We also did not want to register for all the same reasons as everyone else...people are paying to come to our wedding, we have enough stuff between the two of us for 3 households, etc. etc. But we too were told some folks will want to give gifts anyway. So we created a PayPal donation button and are asking people who insist on gifts to help us help our loved ones who can't quite afford to join us.  Here's the wording from our website:

 

 

We do not wish to receive gifts, your presence at our wedding is our present!  We've been told, however, that some people will run out and buy us something anyway. If you are in this camp, instead please consider donating to our scholarship fund for guests we'd love to have, but who can't quite afford to attend. Nothing could be more personal than the gift of allowing someone we love to share our wedding with us.

[schmizer]

We are going to register at one or two accessible places because of requests from our guests.  We have clearly stated to our guests that their presence was the greatest gift that we could have and they have given us a hard time about it, saying that if we don't register, then we will have to deal with getting things that we don't want.

 

We are not posting where we are registered, just verbally telling people if they insist.

[missook]

I didn't want to do a registry but the people who wouldn't be able to make it wanted to throw me a bridal shower.  My sister told me I should register somewhere or people will get me things I did not want or need.  THen I'll be stuck with it and unable to return it. 

[erinmc]

We registered at our travel agent at our parents request. I am not expecting a shower, but I have a feeling there might be one anyway

[JayKay]

We decided to register (we absoutely were not going to) but so many people were asking where we were registered.  I tried to explain to everyone we didnt want gifts, but some of my family who can't come is adament on buying us a gift.

[chiefscribe]

Following up on the multi-registry site question from way back when, we ended up using an Amazon universal registry (allows you to list items from other online stores or offline stuff along with amazon products) as well as a Bed Bath & Beyond for people who have no web access.  Both worked fine, and were easy to deal with.  Now avoiding amazon for other reasons involving their business practices in California, but their wishlist/registry software works great. 

[skp1]

Thought I'd pipe in with a post-wedding point of view.  We were adamant about NOT registering - we simply did not need anything.  People kept hounding us (particularly those who were not attending) but we did not give in.  I guess we got our message across because other than a few random little gifts, almost everyone gave cash or American Express gift cards.  It was awesome and just what we wanted and we didn't have to deal with any fees that "honeymoon registry" websites charge.  We used all the Amex cards when we checked out of our honeymoon hotel (room was prepaid, but all those food, drink and spa charges add up).  For those of you on the fence, don't register just because people tell you to - do what YOU want.

[ericka417]

I concur.  why register just to please others.  that was great you got enough to offset your trip

Originally Posted by skp1 

Thought I'd pipe in with a post-wedding point of view.  We were adamant about NOT registering - we simply did not need anything.  People kept hounding us (particularly those who were not attending) but we did not give in.  I guess we got our message across because other than a few random little gifts, almost everyone gave cash or American Express gift cards.  It was awesome and just what we wanted and we didn't have to deal with any fees that "honeymoon registry" websites charge.  We used all the Amex cards when we checked out of our honeymoon hotel (room was prepaid, but all those food, drink and spa charges add up).  For those of you on the fence, don't register just because people tell you to - do what YOU want.