Many months ago, Mr. G and I were shopping and found ourselves at Macy’s. On a whim, we decided to start our registry. We were like kids in a candy store. Armed with our complimentary Swiss Army tote bag, we used the scanner to swipe anything we imagined might look “cute” in our condo. Eventually we grew tired and confused by all of the options, so we gave up and went home.

A few months later, we were at the mall and registered at Crate and Barrel. Again, we got side tracked by looking at pretty things. I think I scanned three different cake plates, a dessert cookbook, and Mr. G scanned a ridiculously expensive chair. Are we sensing a pattern here? Yep, Mr. G and I were suffering from what I deemed “purposeless registry” syndrome. Purposeless registry syndrome usually occurs when couples get “scanner happy”, experience confusion over what they need versus what they want, and generally waste a bunch of time. Creating a registry is a process and I’ve realized a few things along the way. 1) Take On As Much As You Can Handle. The task of managing two registries stressed me out, so I made the executive decision to nix the Crate and Barrel registry. While I love C & B, I wanted to be able to look at one list and focus on one store. 2) Get Organized. Arrive at your store(s) of choice with a good idea of what you might need; perhaps bring a list of your own. Most stores provide a generic list of common registry items for you, but it never hurts to do your homework ahead of time. 3) Don’t start too early. When I finally sat down and started editing our Macy’s registry, I realized we had registered way too early (7 or 8 months prior). Many of the items we originally had picked out were either discontinued, no longer available, or sold out. 4) Scan with a purpose. We were registered for 54 items and with a guest list of 250, Macy’s online suggested we register for 350 items. We don’t need that much stuff. I wanted to be practical while giving the guests a variety of items to choose from. I also kept in mind the budgets of our guests and tried to keep most of the gifts $100 and less. Here are some examples:

• We don’t need fancy china, so we registered for everyday “throw around” plates. We decided on a simple white pattern. Therefore, if we break a dish (there’s a good possibility that will happen), it would be easy to replace.
• We don’t need the big, professional KitchenAid mixer (who am I kidding?), so we registered for a simple hand mixer.
• We don’t need a state of the art coffeemaker, so we registered for a nice blender.
• We don’t need fine crystal, so we registered for mismatched cups and glasses we will definitely use every day.

You get the picture. For me, building our registry was all about practicality and classic style. I aimed for timeless pieces for the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom that (hopefully) we will use for years to come. I tried to stay away from busy patterns and trendy pieces. Mission accomplished! Have you completed your wedding registry? How was your experience?