When It Rains It Pours

Our bride-to-be looks forward to many showers on the horizon.

By Sara Cardace

With my showers on the horizon (yes, that's showers, plural--if you'll recall I'm somewhat ridiculously having both a "non-traditional" shower, which is only non-traditional in the sense that it's happening in Brooklyn, and another in New Jersey with all my relatives), I'm told that it's time I figure out how I'm going to approach the registry issue.



At first, John and I planned on standing firm we absolutely did not want to register for anything at all. While our apartment isn't tiny, it is in New York City and so we have to be somewhat. . .judicious about what we bring home. And since I love to cook, I tend to ask for big-ticket cooking items (chef-grade knives, fancy appliances, etc) for Christmases and birthdays, so our kitchen is already pretty well-stocked. So on the space-necessity continuum, registering for a bunch of junk--much less china, for which we really have no use, as we don't even have a dining room table--just seems unrealistic. (I have to confess the whole thought process does make me a bit envious of all the people living elsewhere who have big sprawling homes with plenty of space for china cabinets and such...)

My mother has already told me that just demanding cash payouts would be unacceptable. Alas.

So now that we've given it some more thought, we're realizing that there are a few things we could use: A nice set of wine glasses for when we have people over, a case of everyday plastic ones like these, a new set of dinner plates, a fancy sauce pan. And I have been coveting a mandolin ever since I saw the beautiful one that my parents use. . .

So now the question arises, where and how to register? I've been totally delinquent in my wedding-planning duties ever since starting my new job, to be honest--thankfully my sister took charge and figured it out for me.

Apparently, there are all kinds of websites that would do the trick: Wishbin, MyGiftList, and so forth. Unfortunately, while many  of them allow for cash gifts to be given via paypal (which I suspect is going to come in handy), she tells me they also often charge a hefty 8%, which seems kind of absurd. My sister figured out that MyRegistry.com only takes 3%, in the form of a Paypal transaction fee. Much better! And MyRegistry.com also allows you to add gifts from basically any store in the world (any one that's online, at least)--unlike many registries, which restrict you to the stores with which they're affiliated. So it looks like we're going to go that route, and now all we have to is sit down and figure out exactly what we need.

I'm SO relieved to have that one off my plate. I'm also making good progress on finding a photographer that won't break the figurative bank. I hope to have that all sorted out by next week. Fingers crossed!