Adventures in Registering!

I’ve changed my mind. Not blogging about the wedding is silly. If I don’t blog about it, I don’t blog. ‘Cause, y’all, it’s the most exciting thing going on in my life and, well, I wanna talk about it!

We met with our photographers last week (the fabulous Benfields), and Dale said something that made me change my mind. He said, “Blog about the wedding! That’s the fun stuff! That’s what people wanna read about anyway.” Apparently Cece posts on his blog get more hits than any of the photo posts – because she’s the exciting part of his life now. And it’s what people want to know about.

So, I’m blogging about what I wanna blog about.

But keep reading, k? 

Thanks.

Anyway, on to the topic at hand – we registered last weekend!

Now, if y’all are naïve like me, you see registering as an awesome excuse to make a big list of all the stuff you want so everyone else can go buy it for you. Fun, right?

Well…yes and no. I quickly learned several things while registering:

First, 

WHY ARE THERE THAT MANY SIZES OF CONTAINERS?!?

Second, 

Do YOU know what makes a knife a good knife? Is it something special? 'Cause I picked based on "which block is prettier?"...

Finally,

Which is better? I don't know! Stop thinking. JUST SCAN ALL THE THINGS AND GO!!!

Guys, registering is...well...hard. You're probably thinking, “Oh, poor you. You got tired asking for presents.” I know it sounds like I’m complaining, but I mean this more as friendly advice for y’all about to go do it – it’s not as easy as it looks!

I mean, going in, this is how we felt:

But then: 

And by the end of it:

So, in hopes of making the process even more fun for y'all getting ready to do it, here are 

A few things I wish I’d known going in:

1. It takes a lot longer than you think it will

We started at…11am? We finished our last store at 8pm. Now, that’s with a lunch break, but still. It’s a long day and you’re on your feet most of the time. So, wear comfortable shoes, plan to take the whole day so that you don’t have to rush, and pace yourself.

2. You’ll have to take breaks

If you’re trying to accomplish three stores on the same day like we were, plan to take breaks in between. You’ll need them both mentally and physically. You see A LOT of stuff while you’re registering, and you’ll need time to process between stops. You’ll also want water Sonic (and food) breaks, so strategically place your stops.

3. Scan more, think less

Paul was much better at this than I was. I have a tendency to overthink things – Where will we put it? Do we really need it? When will we ever use that? Don’t we have something like that? Does the color work? – you get the picture. The thing is, this is the only time you can reasonably ask for some of these things, might as well go for it. You never know, you may need the watering can with flowers on it someday. Paul’s philosophy of “just scan it, we can delete it later if we want,” made the process a lot less stressful. Go with his method.

In addition, here are some things I’m glad I did:

1. Take a notebook

There were several things we thought of while we were registering that the store didn’t have in stock and there were a couple times that we found stuff cheaper at the next place. I made notes as we went from store to store so that we could make changes later that night. I also took notes at each of the store on how the system worked so that I could keep everything sorted in my head.

2. Shop before, not during, the process

I made Paul go pre-shop several places so that we knew where we wanted to register (I’m picky about towels,  y’all…I probably made him feel 20 different ones before I picked one out). Since we’d seen what most of the places had to offer, I kinda knew where to register for what we “needed,” which gave us more freedom to explore each store for stuff we just “wanted.” Remember, scan more, think less. 

Don’t shop while you’re registering. Just scan what you like.

3. Go early

We have a relatively short engagement, so it makes sense for us to go ahead and get stuff done (especially since someone is moving to Oklahoma this weekend). Even if you have a longer engagement, however, it’ll take some stress off to just go ahead and do it. There’s really no point in waiting since you can edit everything online if you change your mind. And, this way, if someone wants to throw you a shower earlier than you’d planned, you don’t have to rush it.

4. Check for incentives & policies

Almost all of the stores have some sort of incentive system – free gifts, a certain percentage off left over items, etc. Check the wedding boards and store sites to figure out which ones will get you the best stuff – for instance, we registered for china at Dillard’s (rather than Bed, Bath and Beyond) because their incentive program gets us something free with our set. Look around and see what you can get. While you’re at it, go ahead and check the return policies to make sure you’re happy with ‘em. Most are “store credit,” so just be aware.

Other tips:

The guy at Bed, Bath and Beyond told us we needed to register for three times as many items as planned invites.  That’s a LOT of stuff, y’all. We did NOT register for that much (I didn’t want to add stuff just to add it…seems silly), but we did try to get into the one and a half to two times as many range by picking out things we might not normally buy ourselves.  

The Target guns are persnickety. We didn’t check the screen each time we scanned something – just assuming, you know, that the bar code for a lamp would register us for a lamp (silly us). Most of the time it was right, but we also got home and were accidentally registered for a mystery blender I’ve never seen before and this:

Check your list after you’re done.

If you register at a department store, call and make an appointment with the head consultant. They’ll know the system better than anyone else, will be able to advise on those incentives I talked about, and you’ll need them to be able to include everything on your list (e.g. we could not add the 5-place setting of our china without her adding it manually…there’s no code to scan.)

All in all, we had a good time. Paul looked ready to pass out at the end of it (he’s a shopping rookie compared to my skills…I almost wore him out), but he didn’t complain once. It was fun to plan out OUR house and decide what OUR guest room will look like and all that warm-fuzzy togetherness stuff.

Another big thing down, still many more to go. So glad I get to do it all with this crazy kid. He makes absolutely everything better.