Where to Begin: Wedding Registries

This week, we are excited to feature a blog post from one of our very own users! Last year, Morgan was the Maid of Honor for her sister's wedding and one of her many responsibilities was putting together the wedding registry. So she reached out to us and wanted to share her tips with our Harsanik.com users!

While traditional Armenians do not typically have wedding registries and instead prefer to give cash as the gift, more and more couples are choosing to create a registry, especially keeping in mind their non-Armenian friends and family members. While cash might be the preferred gift based on your culture, not all cultures are comfortable doing this and thus it's a good idea to have a registry.

Where to Register
Remember, everyone from grandparents to siblings to college friends will be buying gifts, so it’s important to be sensitive to everyone’s needs. An online registry might be perfect for the couple’s tech-savvy friends—not to mention the procrastinators who won’t remember to buy a gift until 2AM the day of the wedding. Online registries can be a lifesaver. Couples can put everything they want to register for, and with SimpleRegistry, you can add items from any retailer all on a single list. Some sites also make it possible to register for things like cooking classes or donations to a favorite charity, or for a group to chip in on a pricey gift. You can also choose common wedding registry options like Macy's, Bloomndale's, and Crate & Barrel.

Getting the Word Out
You can always just do it the old fashioned way, word of mouth. My mom is the best promoter in the family—all I had to do was tell her where I registered my sister and just like that, the neighbors, family friends, and family members knew about it. This also works well for people who don’t usually go online.

The Internet is an obvious choice, but it can get tricky, too. I had a cousin who would share her registry as her Facebook status every now and then, but to be honest it came off as a little bit pushy. If you have a wedding website, definitely put the registry as one of the pages (or link to it somewhere). Just don’t make it the first thing people see.

 
Be Practical
I totally understand that my sister and her soon-to-be husband were going to register for whatever they wanted, but sometimes “boring” gifts are the best ones. A vacuum cleaner might not be the most exciting thing in the world, but it’s going to get a lot more use than some fancy espresso machine. And no, storage bins aren’t exactly romantic, but it might be awhile before a couple leaves that cramped apartment for their dream house.
 
And At The End Of The Day...
Once the wedding’s over and the dust settles, there’s one thing left to do before you can relax: thank-you notes. Many online registries track gifts and let you record whether you’ve sent a note yet. Be prompt! All thank you cards should be mailed before the three month mark of your wedding date has passed.

Thank you Morgan for sharing your registry tips with us!

Any other suggestions? We would love to hear from you on our Facebook wall!