Updated on: Feb 29, 2024
One of the best things about getting married is registering for your wedding. You will fill your home with fun items and complement your lifestyle with all kinds of gifts from your closest friends and family members. We compiled the three best wedding registry websites, ten expert ideas for your list, and five of the important etiquette tips to help you create the best wedding registry for your special day, stress-free! Learn more about how to make a wedding registry below.
3 Best Wedding Registry Websites
1. Target
This retail giant has become immensely popular when it comes to how to make a wedding registry, and with good reason! Target offers a 15% completion discount on those last gifts on the list, for both online and in-store shopping. They also offer group gifting, for when a group of guests want to split a big gift for the couple. Target has also an extensive list of partners such as Uber, Honeyfund, and Princess Cruises, so your guests have the option of buying you a vacation!
2. Amazon
Amazon lets you register for pretty much everything you might want for your home, from bedding to electronics! Think of how many products you’ve seen on their page: that’s how many options are open to your guests! To help inspire your list, search popular items, categories, or even what celebrities are putting on their registry (some big names are Priyanka Chopra and Jennifer Lawrence). You will also get free 2-day shipping on some eligible items, up to 180 days for returns, and a 20% off completion discount.
3. MyRegistry
If you don’t love the aesthetics of a single store, then MyRegistry is the website you should use for your wedding registry! This universal registry lets you pick gifts from that one-of-a-kind boutique or small business you love but unfortunately don’t have their own registry services. You can pick from items such as home furnishings to even experiences like a cooking class. A great thing about MyRegistry is that nothing is off-limits with it. They also offer you the option to add a donation link to any non-profit or organization you support, which allows you guests to donate in your honor.
10 Expert Tips On How To Make A Wedding Registry
4. Don't Wait Too Long to Register
One of the first things you should do after getting engaged is build your wedding registry. You should also make sure your registry is complete before the showers an engagement parties are scheduled and the save-the-date cards are out. Your guests will look for your registry as soon as it comes out, and punctual people will start buying you gifts right when they see your list is out, so make sure you have at least a very good base of the gifts you want.
Having a wedding registry ready early also makes things a lot easier for guests that want to buy a gift for your pre-wedding celebrations or even a simple gesture of their congratulations.
5. Create a "Hold" Registry
A “hold” registry is a great idea: it’ll send you a notification when a gift is purchased but it won’t ship it until you pick a date. This is a great way to control when you receive gifts and helps you make the whole process less chaotic. Planning a wedding can be stressful and little details can sometimes be forgotten, but a hold registry should definitely help with that. Plus, you can return any items if you end up deciding against them, so each gift is technically an amount of store credit! You can also decide if you want to exchange gifts before they even get sent to you, so controlling the items you end up getting is way easier!
6. Look to the Future
When creating a registry, don’t only consider the things you want or will use now, thing about what you’d also love down the road. Maybe it’s hosting the Thanksgiving dinner next year, or having more plate sets or larger pieces of cookware. Also, a wedding registry is the perfect way to stock up on linens. Think of the future: you might move into a bigger house once the family starts growing, and if a bigger bed is in the future, it’s extremely advantageous to register for some linens in multiple sizes.
7. Assess your needs — and wants
Make a list of you and your partner’s wants, keeping in mind your personalities: are you a digital couple that likes working from home? Or maybe wanting to buy your own place? Or maybe instead of receiving gifts, you’d both like some funding? Use your answer to those questions to make a list of everything you’d need, then put those items on your wedding registry! As always, stock up on the necessities, like bath towels and kitchenware.
8. Register for enough gifts
A huge expert tip is to register for more gifts than the amount of guests, that way they’ll have plenty of gifts to choose from. As always, keep your guests in mind when creating your registry list: who they are and how much they can afford to spend on their gifts to you. Keep a wide range of prices on your list, and it’s fine to have a couple of expensive, nice items, but don’t forget to throw in some more affordable ones to keep the list balanced.
9. Stay in Season
It’s a good idea to not register items that are in season, since those will be easily replaced in a couple of months. Another issue with season gifts is that once the season is over, your guests might have difficulty finding certain items, as they might have been discontinued.
10. Play With Prints. And Color. And Texture.
A great registry has a diverse collection of items that work together. Review and edit your selections as a collection, and remember to try mix and match items like dinnerware as much as possible. For example, if you have four place settings, each with a different pattern, you actually have sixteen total that you can mix whenever you’d like! Try to add some variety to your daily life and don’t commit to just one style, that way you’ll have way more interesting pieces of decor for you, your partner, and your guests to enjoy.
11. Don’t worry if you don’t get everything on your registry
Not receiving everything you put in your registry is not a bad thing! Many places offer a completion program with discounts on left-over items, or will even keep your list up on their website months (even years!) after the marriage, so your friends and family can keep purchasing items for special occasions such as anniversaries.
12. Review Your registry
It’s a great idea to review your registry every couple of weeks and even more frequently as your big day approaches, even if your registry automatically notifies you when a guest has purchased an item. This will give you a more accurate idea of how many gifts you’ll receive, as well as help you with writing the thank-you notes!
13. Spread the word
A wedding website is the least complicated way to share your registry. Your website isn’t just an informational spot for your guests to see the event’s time, date, and attire, it can also be a landing page to keep your registries organized in one spot. This will make it way easier for your guests to find your registry and purchase you a gift!
5 Best Etiquette for Making A Wedding Registry
14. Thank-you cards
Your thank-you’s should be sent to guests as soon as possible but no later than three months after the wedding. It’s a good idea to send them out when you receive the gifts, which will help you keep track of how many thank-you’s you have sent out.
15. Never list your registry on your wedding invitations
It is considered very inappropriate to put your wedding registry in the invitation or save-the-date cards, since it implies a gift is required from all guests who plan to attend. However, it is considered okay if your friends are hosting the event for your wedding and they share your registry list!
16. Give people plenty of choices.
It’s a common courtesy to list a variety of items on your registry with different price points (least expensive to most expensive) in order to give your guests plenty of choices. You should also register for more gifts than guests, so that way your guests will have the option to buy multiple items and you can get the chance to enjoy completion discounts after the wedding.
17. Have your registry done early
The polite thing to do is give your guests three months to purchase a gift for your wedding, at their convenience. The earlier your registry is out, the better, but aim for at least three to six months before the big day!
18. Be considerate of your guests
Think of your guests: who are they? Young or older, more well-off or trying to save some money? Put yourself in their position and try to give them choices that will make them comfortable, such as a diverse price range, common and unusual gifts, and with COVID-19, the ability to skip in-person shopping and take advantage of online stores. Keep in mind some guests might be last minute shoppers, so it’s always a good idea to keep checking your registry regularly as your wedding approaches to make sure there are still a variety of options available!
Guide to Creating a Wedding Registry: Conclusion
These 18 expert ideas on how to make a wedding registry should get you all set and ready to go, check out our wedding ideas to make sure you have everything you need for the big day! Keep in mind a registry is a convenient feature for you and your guests, but they’re not required to purchase something on it. Now, you should have everything you need to create the perfect wedding registry for you and your partner!
For other gift ideas, check out our Best Wedding Gifts and Best Gift Ideas!
Written by Graziella Monteiro