.. A while ago
And let me tell you... I've noticed a few things that you don't realize when you are always the person purchasing items off others' gift registry's and never making your own.
1. I distinctly remember thinking someone was crazy for putting a $30 (or so) paper towel holder on their gift registry once... now I understand... we just scanned stuff at the store and often tried to go with the cheapest option (when we weren't concerned about colour and what not) but it isn't like there is a wide range of prices at just one store. So we scanned the items anyways knowing that we weren't attached to any specific brand and if someone found that citrus zester for $5 instead of the (probably) $15 one we found... we would probably be perfectly happy with that $5 one too.
2. I got reprimanded by one of the sales ladies at one of the stores we registered at for checking prices because... see above. I just don't want anyone to think that the $150 waffle iron is the one I want and no other will do... when the one right next to it was only $40 and would definitely do just fine! So I continued to check prices... I just did it a little more sneakily.
3. Neither of the stores we registered at sold a Swiffer Wet Jet and I really want one. I don't like sweeping/cleaning floors at all (in fact I've already told John - and I'm sure he's forgotten, that the floors are his job to clean!)... maybe the Swiffer will make me want to do it a little more often though.
4. I also couldn't find mustard yellow bath towels (bath, hand, and face clothes).. I want a yellow and grey bathroom... someday... maybe.
5. Pots and Pans are expensive! Our plan was to go with some open stock pots and pans but... do these even exist? We couldn't find any. So we didn't register for any. The 2 places we register offer us discounts on our registry after our wedding for up to a year. So when we find ones we like we'll just add them to the registry and go purchase them ourselves.
6. You know what else is expensive... Kitchen Aid attachments. I registered us for an ice cream maker attachment though because it was on sale for under $100. Then it went back up to regular price and I sort of felt guilty about leaving it on there... Another purchase to make with our discount cards!
7. Our most expensive item is a lovely Dyson vacuum that would be oh so wonderful to have but we aren't expecting it... that might be a purchase that we use our savings card on within a year after our wedding. Otherwise, everything else is pretty reasonably priced (I hope!)
8. We've had some people get stuff not on our registry and I (we) don't mind that either. The games we received are awesome!
9. We've also had people get stuff off our register from a different store. I (we) don't mind that either! I just go online afterwards and remove the item from the gift registry myself then.
10. Finally, John had some fun while registering for items. So on our list you'll find 1 hula hoop, maple syrup (which we actually got), an Olympic sweater, a pizza maker (which is apparently a serious addition despite what I may think), and I think there may be some fancy cloth napkins on there as well. I left them all on though until our most recent shower... when I went on an updating spree and deleted things that we had received and deleted things we didn't really need (like that hula hoop).
And just a tip... before we headed out I looked up a list of things online that people register for, regretted registering for (because they don't use them), and wished they would have registered for. This really came in handy and I made a list for John and I (before looking these lists up I had like 5 things on my list and was stumped.. so it was a HUGE help!). Once we registered for an item that was on the list I checked it off so that we wouldn't forget and register for a second one.
But what's most important to note with our gift registry is that we don't NEED anything... Nor do we expect anything. We are super grateful for the showers that we have already had and for everyone's generosity. And we hope you feel like we appreciate them. Because we do!
In fact people have been VERY generous. My spare bedroom is now officially the present room... until we move into a place with a much larger kitchen that can hold all these precious things.
I've already used the breadmaker (which is why it is out of it's box)
Psst... want to know a secret? If you look closely you can catch a glimpse of part of what we are giving away for favours. I've been spending my evenings tracing and cutting out 150 circles just for them!
