Unique Wedding Registries

by Lisa

Unique Registry Options

Registering was one of those tasks that I really did not enjoy when I was getting married - all those years ago. It was tedious to go out to stores, fight crowds, and use that gun - which half the time did not work. Also, you were limited as to the stuff you could register for. For instance, I registered at Macy’s and Williams Sonoma. Although there were lots of choice, you could only register for items at those two specific stores. You had to pick something that they carried (either in the store or online). In this day and age there are so many cool options. If you know what you want, you can even register without leaving the privacy of your own home. I would like to share these alternatives with you.

There are two online sites in which couples’ can create universal registries - http://www.amazon.com is one of those sites. I don’t know about you, but just about everyone I know has an Amazon.com account. Amazon.com is my go to place for just about everything. If you don’t have an account, check them out. The site is really easy to navigate, and it’s even easier to set up an account. Once you have your account, you can download a widget to place on your toolbar by going to the wedding registry and downloading the universal button. From there, you can go to any site to add items to your amazon.com registry. You can still add items from Macy’s and Williams Sonoma, but you can also add items from other places - no matter how rare and obscure. It’s that easy.

Another such registry is http://www.wishpot.com. Like amazon.com, the site is really easy to sign up and navigate. Like Amazon, you download a widget to the toolbar and you can add items anywhere on the web. Unlike Amazon, Wishpot is more “wedding” oriented. You can search for and find local wedding vendors in their resource directory. It’s also a social networking site in which you can friend people who are also signed up in the wishpot.com network.

The great thing about both of these two sites, is you can also create other registries - such as birthday, holiday, and anniversary. You can have all your lists in one place - so one username and password does it all! What’s better than that?

For those of you that already have an established home or are combining two homes and you do not need the “traditional” registry stuff, think about honeymoon or donation registries. There are tons out there, but http://www.honeymoonwishes.com and www.idofoundation.org are just two such sites. They are really easy to set up - and you just give your guests the information - like you would for any other registry.

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment.

Have fun!

Lisa Nelson is a longtime member of African-AmericanBrides.com and the owner of Elegant Event Design.