Besides the fact that you are getting married to the love of your life, the other great aspects of weddings are receiving the wedding gifts. The problem with sitting back and letting people bring whatever gifts they think are suitable is that you often end up with several of the same items or gifts you have no use for.
It is no longer considered impolite and an utter lack of etiquette to choose the wedding gifts you’d like to receive during your wedding. If you are the type to feel shy about saying what you want, then there are subtle ways of going about it.
Wedding registry
A wedding or gift registry is a subtle way of asking your guests for gifts that you’ll need when you move into your marital house. A wedding registry is a wish list of the items you’d like to have and which you are sure you’ll find useful and helpful. You open it online or at a retail shop and is the perfect way to tell your guests what you’d prefer.
Setting it up is simple. As a couple, you discuss the possible items you’d need. It, however, is not an opportunity to list all the expensive items you’d ever wanted and to command them to purchase them for you. Take a reconnaissance tour of the shops offering gift registry services and take note of the good you’d find useful. They should vary in prices so that most of the people in your guest lists can be able to afford at least one or two items. You can even set up a wedding registry for money and get cash gifts which you can later use to buy household goods of your choice.
If you are satisfied with store’s product catalog and agree on the terms, they will then set up a registry with your names and contacts. You can include the contacts and location of the gift registry in your wedding invitation cards and every time someone buys an item in your registry it is checked off. It is especially important in stopping the possibility of several guests delivering the same gift.
If you had already issued out the invitation cards, you could email or text your guest. The language should be that of a suggestion, not a mandatory directive.
Collective registry
You can set up a collective registry to have your way around getting a big ticket or expensive gifts like a house, furnishing a house or a dream honeymoon destination. In this case, you can set up a collective registry with the real estate agent, or the home improvement company, or the hotel you want to spend your honeymoon at, and friends and family attending your wedding can make contributions to that kitty. You may want to set a minimum amount, but the best way to go about it is to let everyone contribute what they deem fit.
At the end of your wedding, you can top up the amount if there is any deficit or withdraw the amount and utilize it elsewhere. The holder of the collective registry will charge a small commission though.
