Now that our wedding has come and gone, and with three months of marriage and living together under our belts, I wanted to share the ten VERY best things that we registered for!

Registering can be an overwhelming thing for both the bride and groom, though it doesn’t need to be. I have long suggested that couples choose 2-4 stores to register with, and it can truly be any store or online hub that appeals to your desires and needs the most! Having three registries seems to me like the perfect number, though one more or one fewer is great, too. When selecting a store for your registry, think about what you need the most, what items you want the most, what designs/aesthetics you both gravitate to the most, and what types of stores you want. The most common stores that I see and recommend are: Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, Zola, Macy’s, and Amazon.

We chose to register at Crate & Barrel, Amazon, and Honeyfund, and we LOVE the three selections we made. This was the perfect combination for us!

You can think outside the box, too! Many of my friends, and even some of my clients, have chosen stores like REI, since they’re avid campers or really outdoorsy. And Anthropologie is often a hit, too!

The Ten Best Things We Registered For

1. Fancy champagne flutes and wine glasses (Now we have fancy, matching sets for all our entertaining and larger dinner parties!)
2. Nice wood cutting boards
3. Serving dishes, cake stands, and serving platters
4. Nice, matching picture frames
5. Board games
6. Gold flatware (I don’t think we’d splurge on this ourselves, but it’s the perfect addition for a registry, and I love the gold!)
7. Classic table linens and napkins
8. Waterford crystal items, like a picture frame, champagne flutes for our wedding, and a vase
9. Breakfast in bed trays
10. Beer dispenser (This is Rob’s very favorite addition to the registry, and one that he gets a kick out of using and showing off to our friends! It was one of those items we didn’t need, but it’s really fun to use and well worth it.)

And a bonus: our honeymoon! We registered through Honeyfund for our honeymoon in Antigua, where our family and friends generously gave us contributions towards activities, flights, champagne toasts, adventures, and hotel nights on our honeymoon. It was important to us that we go on a once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon, and we are so grateful that the costs of our trip were paid for through our registry. And it makes it even more fun and exciting to tell our family and friends that they paid for, say, a specific sunset dinner or an adventure from our trip!

On another note, there were a lot of basics Rob and I did not need to register for, which ensured we could register for pieces and items that we really loved and that will last us a very long time! We had both been living on our own for many years, so we already owned most of the basic items necessary to build a household. I’m thirty and had lived in my own apartment for two years, plus I love hostessing and having friends over, so I already had a fully stocked kitchen and home. It was nice to nix registering for all.the.things. and to instead focus on finishing off those wish-list items, collect board games (which we love and play all the time), and invest in classic, timeless items that will be in our home for years to come. We did not want to collect too many things – or have too much excess! And thankfully, I already own the quintessential Kitchenaid mixer, and we have not one, but two (!!) sets of my family’s heirloom china in white and gold. I love that our china sets are already complete, and they’re perfectly “us” too!

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Now that I’ve shared my top ten registry items, I’d love to hear yours! What is the one registry item you can’t live without? What’s something you wish you hadn’t registered for? I’d love for you to share your opinions and thoughts on registering, along with your favorite stores!

PS: Catch all of the details from our wedding over on the Our Wedding tab!