My husband and I recently celebrated our five-year wedding anniversary.  It has been a wild five years.  Two babies, three moves, two job changes, and a hurricane!  We just began the process of building a home and I am now starting to go through boxes that we never unpacked when we moved into our town home nearly three years ago.  Through this process, I have come across a few wedding registry items that we have never even used.  If you are recently engaged I have some wedding registry tips to share with you.  Specifically- 10 wedding registry items to skip!

 

When my husband and I were engaged and creating our wedding registry, I had this picturesque idea of what our life would look like.  My dream included a huge kitchen with plenty of storage, a few well-behaved kids and lazy Saturday mornings.  That is NOT real life!  We have a tiny kitchen that is way too short on storage, our kids are wonderful, but sometimes a little out of control and lazy Saturday mornings?  Ha!  Soccer, grocery store, birthday parties…lots of birthday parties!

 

Wedding Registry Tips: 10 Items to SKIP

• Chicken Roaster:

I thought we would use this all the time to roast our own chickens, seasoning them however we’d like.  Life is too busy to season and cook your own chicken when you can grab a perfectly seasoned and fully-cooked roasted chicken for $4.99 at the grocery store.  I’m not even sure you can buy a raw whole chicken, season it and roast it for less than $4.99!  Skip the roasting pan and pick up a roasted chicken from the store.

• Waffle Iron:

Now, I have to admit, our waffle iron has been used a few times.  HOWEVER, my boys love frozen waffles, not homemade ones.  Funny thing- we splurged by putting a fancy waffle iron on our registry and skimped by purchasing an inexpensive toaster.  Should have splurged on the toaster!

• Pancake Batter Dispenser:

The reasoning behind registering for this goes back to those lazy Saturday mornings.  I really thought my kids would be seated around the kitchen table, I’d be cooking pancakes and we’d all sit down and eat breakfast as a family.  The reality: when we do have pancakes, I mix the (just add water) batter in a large measuring cup as to not dirty extra dishes because a family of four goes through a ton of dirty dishes.  What was I thinking wanting an extra contraption to clean?

• Furniture:

What fits in your house now, may not fit in your next home.  Avoid registering for furniture.  Also- furniture can be really expensive.  A good alternative is to save the cash you receive and buy something after you are married.

• China:

We totally skipped registering for China and I’m so glad we did.  I know this is an old tradition to pick out a China pattern and register for place settings.  Most of my friends who did register for China have either never used their China or have only used them on very few special occasions.  Register for everyday dishes- you will use them EVERY. DAY.

• Crystal:

Same reasoning to not register for crystal as not registering for China.  We also skipped the crystal and we don’t miss it at all.

• Home Décor:

Unless you are in the process of buying a home while you are engaged, I would suggest not registering for home décor.  You will probably move (or in our case move many times) before you finally settle in your forever home.  Decorations that fit your “just married” home may not work in your next home.

• Seasonal Items:

You have many years to collect seasonal items throughout your married life.  Skip the cute Easter bunny appetizer plates and register for things you will use year-round.

• Pots/Pans Sets:

Don’t get me wrong, you should definitely register for pots and pans if you plan to cook, but skip the “sets” and order individual pots and pans based off of your need and cooking style.  We registered for a set of all clad stainless steel pots and pans.  We use our non-stick 8-inch skillet and sauce pot for just about everything we cook.  Funny enough, the 8-inch skillet was not a part of the set.  We have a lot of fancy pots and pans that we never use, that came as a part of the set.

• Knife set:

Register for GOOD knives.  If you cook, you will want really good knives.  You do not need to register for a set of knives.  We registered for the Shun Kaji knife set.  Yes, they are fabulous, but we do not need an 8 inch, 10 inch and 12 inch chefs’ knives.  One 8 inch chefs’ knife, a paring knife and a utility knife would have been sufficient.  Register for knives separately based on your needs.

Did you have items that you registered for that you never use?  I’d love to hear from you!

10 Items You Can’t Live Without

I can’t just leave you with a list of what NOT to buy without telling you what I can’t live without!  The following 10 items are our most-used items from our registry.

• Towels/washcloths
• Sheets/linens
• Cooking Utensils and flatware
• Dyson Vacuum Cleaner
• Cutting board
• Staub
• Measuring cups/spoons and mixing bowls
• Coffee Maker
• Canisters
• Slow Cooker

I leave you with one final tip.  Register for items at all price points.  Don’t just register for things over $50, or things only under $100.  You don’t know what peoples’ budgets are!  A group of co-workers may want to go in on a larger gift like a wine fridge and your aunt might want to put together a basket of 10 smaller items.  Register for a variety of items at a variety of price points.