We weren't planning to do a traditional registry for a few reasons:
We've been living together for a few years, we don't own a house and we're planning on jumping this midwest ship in a few years, so it didn't really make sense to upgrade our existing stash or ask for more stuff we'll just have to move. We're also the types that when we do need stuff (especially kitchen things) we first visit Goodwill, then check out Marshalls/Home Goods/TJ Maxx, AND then check out the clearance racks at department stores. We're not cheap, just thrifty!
We planned to do a "honeyfund" where you tell everyone where you're going on honeymoon, and they give you gifts to make it happen. But all of the honeyfund sites we found take a percent of the money you get, and the options they gave weren't really what we were looking for.
We ended up setting up our own make-shift honeyfund through PayPal.com But, we're only going to San Francisco and it probably won't be for long since Ted's work NEVER lets him take more than a few days off at a time. In other words, our honeymoon isn't going to cost much at all.
We played around with a few registries, but none were as inclusive as we would like. That's when we discovered that Amazon.com has a registry option AND they let you add stuff from any site on the web!?! How cool is that?
We nimbly added things that we actually need, at first...
For example, Ted owns two towels, and I found out that he has owned these towels since high school! It might be time to cut them up into rags and invest in a new set. But I'm not much better because my towels are the ones I brought to college with me...12 years ago!
Then we started adding practical "gift" options, like cookbooks we've been drooling over (ps-we're total foodies), interesting kitchen utensils we wouldn't mind having, and other things like that.
Then someone (I'm not naming names) told Ted that if he registered for a PS3, this person would get it for him. I figure if Ted can register for a $300 toy, I can sure as hell register for a stand mixer, right?
This week I took the serious plunge. There is something all of you who have never registered before must understand before I indulge: registering is like dream-shopping without spending any money! We totally realize that we won't get everything on the list, but hell, if someone wants to add to the china that my grandmother gave me, I'm going to give them the link where they can buy it!
Now where my confessional stems from is a single book: The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook.
I added it to the registry, but thought I should probably check it out first to make sure it's something we could really use. Picked it up at the library and my mind was blown! They included all of the equipment tests in the book! I proceeded to load up the ol' Amazon registry and click click click, added a good portion of the essential cookware items they listed.
I feel better having gotten that off of my chest. So if you want to shoot a little lovin our way, in the form of a gift, it'll be one less cocktail glass we'll have to buy the next time Ted gets tipsy and karate chops a glass off the coffee table.
xoshayox