Wedding Registry Must-Haves

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Once a bride, always a bride- right?!?!? haha. I can’t believe Kurt and I have been married for almost four years. Seriously, where does the time go? Because these past four have flown by. I might not be a bride anymore, but that doesn’t take away my love for weddings! And so today, I thought I would share my registry must-haves and items I still use to this day. It will be helpful for all my brides to be and also keep this in mind when you are out shopping for that next bridal shower you are attending. These are items we use almost every day and don’t sit in the back corner of the cupboard like my Vitamix blender I just had to have!

I loved registering when we were engaged and I knew exactly what I wanted. But I know not all brides are as decisive as me. My top advice I can give any bride is register for high quality items. You only want to buy a frying pan once in your life, so splurge and register for that crazy expensive one. I know it seems silly, but think about how much you will use it and how long the item will last. It’s about quality over quantity even when registering! And you would be surprised at how much people spend on you for your bridal shower. I mean I was in shock at some of the gifts we received because I never would have expected that. And people also go in on gifts together, so don’t let the price tag sway your decision here.

When we registered we decided on Crate & Barrel, Williams Sonoma and Bed, Bath & Beyond. Crate & Barrel by far had the most on it. I love all of their dishes, wine glasses, etc. and everything they have is at a really great price point. Williams Sonoma is a little more pricy and I didn’t have many items from there. And if I had to go back and eliminate one- this would be the one. Don’t get me wrong they have the most beautiful stuff, but their everyday items are a little pricey. They do have the best hard to find items or items you don’t think you need, which is the reason we registered there. And lastly Bed, Bath & Beyond because who doesn’t like to save 20 percent and they are everywhere (also important when considering where to register). Potterybarn is also a really good option and one we thought about. They have beautiful items and run 20 percent off promotions a lot, which you guests will enjoy!

Ok- now on to my absolute must haves and items we could never live without!

Dinnerware

This is clearly a must because you will use it everyday! We decided against registering for china. In my opinion, it is a waste of money and it is super expensive. I wanted people to buy me the items I actually needed. And we are still renting and move quite often. So the thought of packing it all up every move makes me wince. I would be devastated if we broke any of it, so happily we left it off.

We decided on a classic pattern that I love for every day use, but you can also dress it up if you had to. And white was an absolute must for me. You can always add color to your setting with a fun salad plate, glasses or napkin. The possibilities are endless! Here is where you want to invest in a higher quality. You are going to use these every day and they are going to get beat up quite a bit. You should see how Kurt loads the dishwasher sometimes- I might kill him. But luckily my dinnerware has withheld the test of time and only has minor scrapes. It’s going to happen, so just make sure you register for a pattern that you know they aren’t discontinuing anytime soon. You will likely have to replace a few here and there.

Flatware

For me, it was all about the weight of my fork and knife. I wanted something heavy and durable. And I fell in love with this pattern from Crate & Barrel. Make sure to register for at least 12 place settings. Kurt and I are always running the dishwasher and it’s just us two! Some days, I wish I would have gotten more, but you can always add later down the road.

Griddle

Kurt uses this pan every.single.morning!! He makes an omelette using it and on the weekends, we use it to make pancakes (have you tried Kodiak Cakes yet?!? They are to die for!). For sure our most used pan and a must on your registry!

Good Knives

I can’t even begin to tell you how life changing it was when we got better knives. It was so much easier to cut all our veggies, meats, etc. And it made cooking so much faster and less stressful. I decided on this brand and have been very happy with them over the years. They are sharp and get the job done! I decided to register for each individual item instead of a full set. That way I had a better chance of getting all of the items. It can seem weird giving someone just one knife as a gift, but I promise you they will be excited.

Pancake Warmer

This one is a little silly, but I wanted to add it because we use it a ton. And it’s an item you might not think about. Kurt and I love to make pancakes and waffles on the weekend, a tradition I only see continuing as we have kids. We use our pancake warmer all the time!! After you cook them on the griddle, you add them to warmer, which you can then place in the oven. No cold pancakes here! Kurt was actually really mad at me when I registered for this item, but now we use it all the time!

Wild Card

Sometimes you have to add an item to you registry that your fiancé just hates! We registered around Easter time and we were at Crate & Barrel and I fell in love with their pink wine glasses and pink champagne glasses. They are pictured above- aren’t they gorgeous?? Kurt absolutely hated them! And I didn’t initially add them to our registry. That evening, I was chatting with my mom and was telling her about these wine glasses I was in love with. And she thought they sounded so pretty and urged me to add them to our list. I am so glad I listened to her because they are one of my most loved items! And something that is so me- I love pink! Now every time I have my girlfriends over, we all want to drink from these pretty pink wine glasses. Sadly, Crate & Barrel no longer sells them (they should bring them back), but Anthropologie has similar ones here!

Tips & Tricks

If you can, register before Christmas the year you get married. We did this and that year we asked for items off our registry. It helped us to get a lot of the items we really wanted.
Almost all stores give you a percentage off your registry after your wedding. It even applies to items that never go on sale. This is how I bought my Vitamix blender that I just had to have, but for a fraction of the cost!
Some stores give you extra items when you buy a complete set. For example, we ended up getting a free omelet pan once our whole pot & pan set was bought. I just had to send in some paperwork. But, hey, it’s a free pan! And they even engraved it with our new initials!
I talked about this above, but skip the china. It’s SO expensive and you will never use it!
Have fun! We had a blast attending all the events together and scanning everything. I had to be careful with Kurt because he liked to scan everything! Even items we didn’t necessarily needed.

I hope you found this helpful if you are bride or even trying to decide on what to gift a bride to be. What is your favorite gift from your wedding registry?

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xoxox Amanda