The following wedding registry checklist and tips are useful for a typical registry. But if you already have the normal items found on most registries then further down the page you’ll find ways to put together a unique wedding registry.
A Common Wedding Registry Checklist
Traditionally a wedding registry was put together to help the bride and groom fill their new home with the items that they would need to live comfortably.
But these days many couples who are getting married already have a home together or homes separately that already contain all of the essentials for every day living.
The easiest way to figure out which items you might still need for your home is to do a room by room assessment of what you would do in that room each day. So I’ll do a basic run through of basic items for you.
Kitchen
Kitchen items are usually a huge part of a wedding registry checklist. There are several items that you could use for cooking and preparing meals.
- Toaster oven broiler
- Food processor
- Juicer
- Pots and skillets
- Pot holders
- Muffin pan
- Cookie sheet
- Mixing bowls
- Colander
- Grater
- Spatulas
- Garlic press
- Trash can
Bathroom
Most of the items you use in the bathroom would not go on your registry like toothbrushes, soap and toilet paper but there are a few things that you might want.
- Bath towels
- Hand towels
- Wash clothes
- Shower curtain
- Bathtub mat
- Bath rug
- Hand soap dispenser
- Soap dish
- Bathroom scale
- Clothes hamper
- Waste basket
Bedroom
Truthfully, when you first get married you really only need a bed in your bedroom but you can add a few more items.
- His and Hers robes
- Mirror
- Sheet sets
- Pillows, blankets
- Closet organizer
Dining Room
The focus for this room is eating and enjoying meals as well as entertaining dinner guests.
- Table linens
- Chair covers
- Cloth napkins
- Serving dishes
- Serving utensils
- Cake stand and cover
- Plates
- Bowls
- Stemware
- Cups
- Mugs
- Silverware
- Corkscrew
- Can opener
Living Room
The main items in the living room are the furniture but there are a few things that can help the room feel more comfortable.
- Lamp
- Wall quote decals
- Lamp
- A set of photo frames
- Wall mount shelves
- Area rug
- Storage ottoman
- Vacuum cleaner
Laundry Room and Garage
These rooms are for storage and keeping the rest of the home clean.
- Storage containers
- Iron and ironing board
- Laundry basket
- Tire inflator
- Power tools
The items that I listed above are just a small sample of what you might include on your wedding registry checklist. Use them as a guide and expand your list accordingly.
Hiccups With the Traditional Registry
My husband and I put a wedding registry checklist together by thinking about all of the things that we use on a daily basis at our parents’ homes that we did not own ourselves.
Then we decided on a store that had the items that we wanted but was a large chain store since we had wedding guests coming from a few different states.
We were given a price gun so that we could “zap” all of the items that we had on our list the create a registry for our guest to shop from.
But there were a few things that bothered me about that process.
- There were some items that we couldn’t find at the store so we needed to add them to our registry later online, which made me feel like the trip to store was some what of a waste.
- Some of our guests were last minute shoppers and had a hard time finding the online additions to our wedding registry at their local store. So they ended up buying stuff that they just felt like getting us that we didn’t necessarily need or did not match our taste.
- A few of our guests forgot to bring the printed wedding registry checklist to the cashier to get scanned so that the item would be listed as fulfilled. This lead to us receiving quite a few duplicate gifts.
- Most people will buy wedding gifts from their local store and then just bring it with them to the reception instead of dropping it off or mailing it to a designated home before wedding.
So we ended up with a minivan full of gifts to transport home after the reception.
Yup that’s a photo of our matron of honor’s and best man’s family minivan that we had to pack up full of gifts to take home.
Unique Wedding Registries
I often hear of couples who are registered at 2 or 3 (sometimes more) stores for their wedding because they want a variety of different items. There is one place that I enjoy shopping because it seems to have just about anything that you can think of and their shipping is quick and efficient and that place is Amazon.com. It’s probably not the first place that you would consider for your registry but you can add all sorts of non-traditional items to your registry like
- Exercise equipment
- Luggage for your honeymoon
- A camera
- Camping gear
- Massage therapy products
- A kindle and kindle books.
When you put together your Amazon wedding registry checklist
- Your guests can have the gifts sent to your home instead of bringing the gifts to your wedding reception
- You have less chance of receiving duplicate gifts because everyone is buying your gifts online
- You don’t have to worry if your guests have a store nearby because everyone will be shopping online.
Now if you would rather receive gifts that are more “financial” in nature then you might be interested in this unique wedding registry.
Wedding Registry Tips
- When deciding where you would like to create your registry, make sure that it’s not only a place that has the items you want but also that it’s a place that is easily accessible to all (or at least most) of your guests.
- Try to limit the number of places where you register to one or possibly two places.
- Do a room by room inventory of the things you need.
- Don’t be afraid to register for some things that aren’t necessary but that you just really want.
- Include items from a wide range of prices so that your guests are sure to find something they can afford.
- Add gift cards as an option on your registry.
- Take your time when making choices.
- Make sure that you really want each item that is on your registry.
- If after your wedding registry is created, you realize that there is something else that you want or need then be sure to add it because gifts can be bought even after the wedding.
- Give your guests plenty of choices. We had a reception for 250 guests and received everything on our registry, some duplicates plus several things that were not on our wedding registry. We received quite a few things that we didn’t need or necessarily want because we didn’t have more than enough options for the number of guests that we invited. We probably should have had at least 150 items since many of our guests gave gifts as families or at least as a couple.
