The Registry

Okay, if I’m being totally honest with you, I have to say that I hated one part of our early wedding process more than anything: The Registry. I didn’t think I would, either. I mean, it’s shopping – what could be more fun than shopping? Phil, on the other hand, naturally, loved it. We are a strange pair.

We knew we needed to select fairly mainstream stores as our guests live everywhere, and we are pretty down-to-earth people. So we chose Crate & Barrel and Bed, Bath and Beyond. We didn’t want super stuffy china. I have my eye on my grandmother’s set in my mother’s attic anyway. We are also set on crystalware. We mostly needed great flatware, some practical china and most important: great wine glasses. “Easy,” I thought. We’ll be done and out in a couple of hours.

If only…

We were off to a decent start at Crate & Barrel. We chose Roulette china and Halstead flatware, but only after Phil picked up every single piece of flatware in search of the heaviest, most durable spoon. We even chose our wine glasses, the Vin set, which was no easy feat considering our criteria: they had to be big, with a stem that was not to tall, and not too thin as I break everything. The choice was important as the glasses will get far more use than the spoons.

After about an hour, though, I found myself standing, staring blankly at the wall of Crate & Barrel while Phil made “exciting”, casual conversation with a sales associate about knife collections. Who knows what she was thinking of me as I wandered aimlessly between napkins and vases, completely burnt out with blood sugar plummeting. Suddenly I snapped, abruptly ended the conversation with the associate and announced to Phil that I was done. Unfortunately, he wasn’t, so, on he went with his merry scanning as I slid deeper and deeper into Registry Hell.

Bed, Bath and Beyond was no different. By the tenth time that I advised Phil I didn’t care about some item he wanted me to evaluate, he recognized his advantage in the situation and went scanner happy for the rest of our visit. When we receive a kayak and his-and-hers whirlpool foot baths as wedding gifts I will have to remind myself that I did set him free with the scanner.

Even the most highly anticipated wedding tasks can sometimes be really draining. Brides often don’t realize how much additional energy they have to output while carrying on their daily work and home lives in preparation for their Big Day. Break up your registry trips on multiple days, and try to keep your visits painlessly short and focused. Enlist your fiancé’s help with this task as he may very well enjoy it as much as Phil! Just know that you’ll need to accept the consequences if you delegate the job and may end up with an unusual set of gifts.

Check in soon for more of this wedding planner’s own planning adventure!