I just received a wedding invitation in the mail that directed guests to check the couple’s wedding website for updates and details. Hmm, OK. Some wedding websites include cute stories about the couple or photos, so it’s worth a look.
I go to the website, and it contains a “Registry” section. Not my fave, but fine, let me see what the bride and groom are asking for…perhaps they’re asking for an item I planned to buy them anyway. “We are registered at DenseJungle.com, BedroomandBathroomCrap.com and BoxandBucket.com; click here to view the registries.”
When I clicked on the registries I was taken to the typical registry pages generated by these respective retailers. I think we all know what these website registries look like. For each item the bride and groom request, there’s a small thumbnail image of the item, the cost, the “Quantity Needed” (for example if they want bath towels, they might ask for 8), and then a tally of how many they’ve received so far, to avoid duplicates.
But to my surprise, the only item listed for purchase at all three retailers was a gift card! So, rather than walking through the big box stores and scanning in sheets, towels, dishes, etc, the couple has opted for the ultimate combination of greediness AND laziness by providing a single entry at all three sites: “$50 Gift Card; Quantity Needed: 20.”
All three sites have a big fat ZERO listed under “Quantity Received,” so apparently I’m not the only person who’s appalled. 0608-10
Well, at least they are not fooling people by registering for gifts they do not want so they can be returned for cash, i.e. registry money laundering.
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The one thing that I love most about registries — well constructed ones — is the one item that no one has mentioned: Even if you know a bride/groom’s taste in clothing, you don’t know their taste in household items/gifts. I am not a shopper, so I love registries. The best wedding gift excursion I ever had was for a sensible, well constructed registry — tradition items, wide range of prices, most of them being on the lower end — took less than 30mins. tops: I mean from entering the store, getting the printed registry, having it wrapped and shipped to the couple and my leaving the store. Yes, the candle sticks and glasses were expected, but what wasn’t was the entire Southwest theme that this East Coast couple had planned for their new home in Washington, DC! The candlesticks were an affordable $15, the glasses were $20 — all very casual style — and the brides thank-you note practically praised me for buying something off of her registry; items that I personally found ugly. She made me, the guest, feel great before I even attended the ceremony, enabled me to take any wedding day flubs in stride. So here’s my bit; (1) register for items that you’ll use and are in your taste, not someone else’s, (2) include a wide range of prices, (3) if you’re out of town/the country, only select stores that will ship to any destination directly — I couldn’t attend my cousin’s wedding in Vegas, but her registry gift was purchased online and shipped to her new home in St. Thomas, USVI, and most importantly (4) don’t demand that your guests fork over cash in $50 increments, all while telling them that you expect to collect no less than $3,000 (remember, it’s 3 stores at a grand each) — as a “guest”.