It’s wednesday again 🙂 and this week I decided to write about the question some couples have, should we start a wedding registry? I am going to use this post to highlight some of those thoughts and hopefully help you decide whether having a wedding registry is the best way to go or not.

So let me start off that for some, long gone are the traditions of waiting until marriage to actually move in together with your significant other. While some couples still wait, it is a good perspective to realize that not every couple is the same and thats what makes this whole post fun!

From one perspective, the wedding registry is used to help the newlyweds get their feet off the ground and start building this new home and life together. On the other end some couples have lived together for a while and use this registry to maybe upgrade that set of pot and pans from college or finally have nice serving pieces to now host friends and family as a married couple.

Now in 2018, there are so many different options if you do want to skip the registry and instead have the amount that your guests would want to spend on a gift, now given directly to you in a different way such as a honeymoon fund! There is so many websites out there now a days where you can create a honeymoon fund. Some are very specific to letting you breakdown what activities you want to do during your honeymoon & then your guests can pick from that list. I think the honeymoon fund is such a good option especially for the couple that either has lived together for a while and feel like they’d rather receive the monetary gift to have an amazing honeymoon. Or even for the couple that is maybe not planning on immediately moving in together after the wedding maybe because of work obligations.

Something to consider when deciding if to register, it’s your guest demographics. Some generations may feel a little weird let’s say walking into a wedding without a gift. So in this case I would encourage you to consider a small registry, even if you don’t highlight it, it would be a nice option for when those guests ask your parents or bridal party. Another issue with the wedding gift is knowing how much you should gift-monetary wise. I personally hate giving cash just because sometimes it is difficult to gage how much and then I start overthinking. I sometimes prefer gifting a giftcard to maybe one of the stores the couple registered at that way they can then shop any leftover registry items they really wanted but did not receive. Somehow in my mind I see it a little more thoughtful than cash.

One more thought in regards to not registering, not sure about ya’ll but my home style has definitely evolved with time. So it is safe to say that the super trendy plates I loved 5 years ago, no longer exist in my kitchen. So if you are the type that gets bored of home decor, or feel the need to constantly update then maybe a traditional wedding registry is not the route you want to go. Or if it is still something you really want to do, because I mean who doesn’t love running wild with a scanning machine? Then maybe consider those classic staples that you don’t have now. For instance a food processor will more than likely look the same from now to 3 years from now. I definitely want to get a little deeper into more of “what to register for” so be on the lookout for a post on that!

So all in all, deciding to register is totally a preference/decision you will both need to make and if it helps, starting a small registry won’t hurt regardless what route you go 🙂 Til next time!