Do you have to register somewhere for wedding gifts?

Question

I already have a lot of stuff.. and it just seems kind of stupid to be like, "here guys, don't give me anything from your heart. Just buy me what I want."

Do I have to register somewhere? or can I just leave it up to people?

then again I risk getting multiples of the same gift...

Answer 1

You don't have to register anywhere if you don't want to.  People will still get you gifts from the heart if they want to or they may choose to get something that you asked for because they know that you will like it.  If you don't register you could get multiples and/or something you really don't like.

Answer 2

You dont have to register ,just write at the bottom of the invitation "No boxed gifts please" or " Monetary gifts are appreciated"

Answer 3

You don't have to register but it sure makes life easier for the people attending your wedding if you do and it prevents you from having to do a lot of returning. Just register at a couple off stores and I highly recommend you make sure one of them is local home improvement store ie: Home Depot or Lowes. Everyone I know who just got married says they wished they did that, since they spend so much money there getting their place fixed up.

Answer 4

You can register at only one place instead of lots of different places and not risk getting multiples. Even though my sister registered she still got gifts from the heart from people who wanted to give her something like that.

Even with registerys people don't always go off of them.

We registered at three places even though we have lived together for a while. It was just easier since a lot of his family lives out of state but still wanted to buy us gifts. With the companies we went through they can buy them and have them shipped to us directly. It was just easier.

Answer 5

We were going to register, but didn't get around to it as our needs keep changing. We bought our home about 8 months ago. Finally, we just decided to ask for gift certificates to Home Depot or Bed, Bath, and Beyond, or cash. Everyone has been fine with it, except my husband's mother.

She's always a  bit of a pain about gifts, and only wants to buy us cookware. We have firmly told her no more pots and pans - there is just nowhere to put them. She's still throwing a bit of a fit about the cookware, so I told her when she gets here Thursday we can go shopping and I will tell her what I like and she can get it. Either some new silverware or a new shower curtain is what I really need right now. Or she doesn't have to get us anything. I don't care if anyone gets us gifts, but I DO care if they get us a bunch of junk we don't need.

If you just let people know your needs, many of them will be great about it. Otherwise, I suggest finding somewhere that you can register and then return things for the cash.

Answer 6

Congrats! I am getting married soon as well and went through the same dillema of deciding if I wanted to do the registry thing as well.

I'm still a bit torn, but here is what I have witnessed lately going to other weddings:

My cousin didn't register for her last-minute wedding. The big problem was that I have never been to her house and although I knew a lot of her belongings could be upgraded I knew she probably needed things as well. It was weird trying to ask the hostess what she needed and then trying to figure out what her taste would be. I ended up getting her a gift card - which I HATE to do.

My sister recently had her wedding and did register. What was nice is that they took their time picking out things they didn't have but wouldn't have really thought about to put on a registry. They ended up putting camping equipment as a big chunk of the registry so that they could expand upon that in their new lives together. It was sweet.

As a guest I feel like it is much easier to get people gifts off of a registry, but add little things to it "from the heart". There will always be people that opt not to use the registry and that's great, but for some people that aren't close to you it would probably just be a little easier on them.

Answer 7

Nope you don't have to have a registry. Most people will give you a gift receipt so if you do get 10 smoothie makers you can take nine back. :)

Answer 8

You don't have to, but it's easier for your guests. People have no idea what your tastes and preferences are. My suggestion if you have a lot of stuff is to register at Home Depot or Lowes, so you can fix up your house. Another good suggestion are those honeymoon registries now where people can give money to pay for your honeymoon instead of buy you gifts. Good luck :-)

Answer 9

you might want to start a mortgage registry at your local bank.  wedding guests can contribute monetarily to you and your partner's new home.  The only thing that I would say about registering for somewhere is be careful about where you do it.  Target has a better registry system but it has a poor return policy.

Answer 10

It depends upon your relatives.  

While we would have preferred to not register, we did.  And my fiance keeps saying "we're registered for plenty of stuff that will end up stored in the basement".  However, I know my family.  There are certain relatives that will insist on buying us *something* so I figured it was better to register for stuff that is to our liking rather than leave it to everyone's whim.

Yes, if anyone buys us the china pattern we have chosen it will have to be kept in the basement as our house now is too small and doesn't have a dining room.  BUT we are planning on a larger house in the future so the china would be brought out at that later time.

Answer 11

You don't have to register anywhere.  If you have everything that you need, you have three options:

When people ask you where you're registered, tell them that you don't need anything, but if they want to they can get you anything that they want to.  Then I suppose you'll get a bunch of random gifts.

Or tell them that you don't need anything and that their presence at your wedding would be the best gift of all.  Then you'll probably still get some random gifts, but less of them.

Or (my favorite) research your favorite charity and tell them that's where you're "registered."  Many of the charities have wedding "registries" where they tally how much people contributed, and you can have your DJ make an announcement at the wedding of the "total" if you want (in a "thank-you" sort of way).  You can also have information at the wedding about the charity and how important it was to you.

You don't really risk getting "multiples" because the chances of two people randomly picking the same plate to give you are pretty low.  People who register for gifts are MUCH more likely to get multiples b/c some people inevitably forget to tell the cashier that it's a wedding gift or the cashier forgets to update the registry.

By the way, you didn't mention it, but any suggestion or hints for money IN ANY FORMAT are considered EXTREMELY rude by many guests and every single etiquette expert.  I'm assuming that's not what you're planning, but just in case wanted to add that.

Answer 12

No, you don't have to register. We didn't, and it was nice to get such a wide variety of gifts.

Don't worry about duplicates - it's not that common that it happens. But for example, we got two coffee makers - so you just store them away - for us, after two years ours went bust, so it was pretty cool just to do dig out a box, and voila! a new coffee maker!

Answer 13

you don't have to register.  you will get a lot of spatulas if you don't, haha.  maybe you could slip into you invite please no gifts only checks.  or like you said let them get whatever they want to get you.  i had a registery at 2 different places but people only got me what they wanted to get me, which was fine and i'm grateful, so i got a lot of the same things.  but the upside was that i got to return them and get the things i really needed!

Answer 14

You do not HAVE to register anywhere.  However a registry is helpful when the guest is not sure what to get you.

Just put up some bath towels or bedsheets and stuff like that.  Put on upgrades for your kitchen appliances and see what happens.

Answer 15

You don't "have" to register anywhere, but it sure makes it a lot easier on you and the guests if you have a registry. In my personal opinion, a wedding registry is one of the greatest inventions - you get the gifts you truly need or want, and the givers feel more confident in choosing a gift for you.

P.S. If you truly feel that you have everything and don't want any more "stuff", consider asking to donate to your favorite charity in lieu of gifts.