Nontraditional Registries
A newlywed friend of mine was just saying the other day that she wished she could have registered for things that would have helped them set up their new home. Like many couples, she and her Mr. didn’t need a lot of home goodies, but they did need bags of mulch for their garden, paint for their bedroom, and some furniture. And while many places will let you register for home improvement items, or furniture, its rare that one store has everything one might actually want to register for. It got me thinking- how cool would it be to just be able to randomly register for things from different places like that? Turns out you can!
TheThingsIWant.com- allows you to set up “wish lists.” Perfect for the kind of person who can never remember what they want for their birthday when asked… you just make the list and pass it along!
MyRegistry.com– Kind of like the previous website, but a bit more formal looking, this site lets you register for any store (or just cash). Very of-the-moment!
OurWishingWell.com- Similar to the others, but touting the ability to access money before your event and making it possible to ask for contributions towards more expensive gifts (I’d use this feature to register for a dutch warmblood, but people with their priorities in better order might ask for furniture).
GoGift.com- their whole M.O. is to help you “tastefully ask for cash.” I don’t know if I buy it, but its probably a “know your audience” kind of thing.
Other non-traditional registries that caught my eye during the research of this posting include:.
Honeyfund- I’m a personal fan of this website because its one of the only honeymoon sites that doesn’t take a commission on your gifts (some take upwards of 7%)!
Justgive.org – Charitable giving with over 1 million non-profits to choose from, and its tax deductible for your guests!
I Do Foundation – If you’re going to go the traditional route, you still might want to think about this option. Here, you register through certain stores (like Crate and Barrel, Target, Home Depot, Macy’s and Pottery Barn), and up to 10% of your guests’ purchases go to your selected charity. A win-win for sure.
Home Depot– I really wanted to register for hardwood flooring at Home Depot. It’s too bad Lowes has discontinued their registry option.
Vino Classics- That’s right, you can register for WINE. I know what you’re thinking and I agree 
Gifts of Stock – I think this is cool and unique, especially because the company will provide you with a broker to set up your wish portfolio, and then guests buy investments.
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The Pros and Cons of a Honeymoon Registry
One of the hot topics on all wedding websites is where to register. And for us, that one was tough! John and I are not exactly spring chickens. We both own our own homes, we’ve spend considerable time and money furnishing them, and somehow our lives have come together in a comfortable, adult kind of way. We like it. We don’t need towels. We don’t even want more towels.
So when we got engaged, we were immediately drawn to the idea of a honeymoon registry. A honeymoon registry is a place where, just like a traditional registry, guests can buy you a gift– only instead of towels, you receive a portion of your honeymoon (a night in your hotel, a portion of your airfare, or an activity for two)! For two people who don’t need anything, we were pretty thrilled with the idea! So we set up our registry at www.honeyfund.com, which was one of the only websites we found that did not charge a “commission” on our gifts. The website is user friendly, and allows you to customize your requests to your honeymoon. And if you upgrade for about $20, you get a space that is ad-free!
Since setting up our registry, I’ve heard a few comments from people saying they feel honeymoon registries are “in poor taste” or that “people should pay for their own honeymoons.” I was totally taken aback by these comments though. Of course we can pay for our own honeymoon. We would never have booked it otherwise. Yikes!
Frankly, neither of us really cares if people buy us anything. It will be wonderful enough to have family and friends around us to celebrate our special day with us. But alas, registries are one of those “things people expect.” So to satisfy any concerned citizens, we also set up a registry at Bed, Bath & Beyond. And, happily, there are no towels on it! Rather, we registered for a nice set of sheets, some kitchen gadgets and appliances we’ve managed not yet to acquire, and shamwow (holds twelve times its weight in water, or so I hear)! If people want to buy us gifts off either registry, we’ll be honored and thrilled. And if not, we’ll still be honored and thrilled that they came to the wedding. Hopefully now the distasteful comments will come to an end!
Has anyone else heard negative feedback on their registry ideas?
Filed under Hawaii, honeymoon, registry
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