How Early Did You Start Your Registry?

Llikotdesserd

How early did everyone start their registry(ies)? I've heard of people doing it 5-6 months before so that it is done when invitations are sent out, but I've also heard of people doing a year or more so that engagement gifts/ birthday/christmas etc could be purchased from a registry. We haven't done ours yet (June 2015 wedding is still quite a ways off) but i've started a written list of things I'm planning on including.

manateehugger

I wouldn't register until closer to 6-8 months out. Stuff goes out of stock all the time and you'd just end up having to re-do your registry if you did it anytime soon. 

People typically don't purchase of the registry for engagement parties/gifts in my experience. And you could register before the Christmas before you get married. If someone asks you what you want for your birthday, just tell them. Your close friends and family have managed to get you presents without needing a registry for years, you know?

courtneythesquid

I registered 7 months in advance, because that is when you are "supposed to."  I don't think anything got purchased off the registry until a month or so before my first shower, and then once invitations went out.  I did have quite a few items go out of stock and then I had to swap them out for the version currently available in the store.  And that was just over 7 months!

If you think people might want to shop off the registry, it won't hurt anything to go ahead and get started.  But I would focus on items that can stand alone.  If you register for things that are part of a set and the set gets discontinued, you don't want to be stuck with a serving platter that matches nothing, and the dishes were discontinued.  You can always add items 6 months or so out.

fre3doms

We started ours last month-- 5 months before our wedding. My shower isn't until January but I figured in case people want to get me something for Christmas or my birthday in November.
I agree wait until a few months before your wedding.

kap05

We registered 9 months in advance.

annathy03

We registered last week, which for us is 6 months out. I wouldn't do earlier than 8-9, the only people who are likely to use it for birthday/Christmas are your parents.

chibiyui

We registered about 8-9 months out (our wedding is in May) No one has bought anything from our registries yet. We'll probably have a fair amount of updating/reworking to do since some of the linens might be seasonal (Target and Crate and Barrel). Not a big deal, just a bit of upkeep. You could register for things like China, everyday dinnerware, small appliances, and other items that tend to not get discontinued. 

tammym1001

I am getting married May 17, 2014 and I'm registering this Saturday. I'm mostly registering this early so that it is out there in case people want to look at it for Christmas. I'm assuming nobody will look at it until my shower in March though because they aren't really going to know where I'm registered, unless they ask, until they get the shower invitation.

katieg520

I am getting married March 1 and I did my registry this past weekend.

erinlin25

I started looking and noting things I liked around oct/nov (for a June wedding) but wanted to wait until the new year in case anything got discontinued/or new designs came out.  Some things I had on my radar to start did get discontinued so I am glad I waited.  We actually registered at the end of February/early March. My shower was in April.  Once we registered nothing was discontinued.  

casey8784

I'm getting married in October 2014, and made a small registry during the last few weeks. In maybe 4-6 months I'll add more items to it, but we put some on now cause we've had some family friends ask us if we'd done a registry cause they want to get us engagement/holidays gifts off of it.

itzMS

As soon as we got engaged. It's so easy to manage registries for most stores online (Macy's, BBB, etc)
I would check it and add/delete things weekly.

hoffse

We were early and did it 13 months out - but I was graduating from law school and some people were asking about graduation/house-warming for my big girl apartment gifts.  So we went ahead and registered.  We had already been engaged for about 8 months by then, so I had time to really research before we started it.

I started doing research soon after getting engaged - it takes a loooong time to make sure you are registering for quality items that are also priced well, but I think the time spent is well worth it.  H comments all the time how happy he is with all our selections (he gets overwhelmed easily so I did most of the legwork and gave him 2 or 3 options for each item... and let me tell you, finding 2 or 3 quality options for some items is a real challenge).

I also spent a very long time comparing stores and deciding where to register.  And I registry-stalked some friends to see where they were registered and how bought out those various registries were.

Again, this was time well spent for us.  We received about 95% boxed gifts and our Macy's registry was completely bought out except for 2 things.  PB and WS were both about half-way bought out.  So we chose well and we didn't make any returns due to poor quality.  We only had to return for duplicates.

kitty8403

About four months after getting engaged (once we had a confirmed date). This kind of project takes a ton of time and research for me, and I spend a lot of time rethinking and changing selections -- best to start that process early. I was careful to only register where I could update things online and see my selections/changes in real time. FMIL and my mom have the registry names, but that's it for now. They know it's a work in progress and I don't really want it to be common knowledge right now.

ETA: I know people think a lot of brides are into registries for gifts, but in all honesty, I am finding them to be a wonderful organizational tool for just figuring out what we need and want in our future home without buying a bunch of random stuff, taking it home, and deciding we don't like it. We want to buy a house in the next year, and since I don't know what that place will look like yet, I am working hard to coordinate everything and create a cohesive, relatively neutral look that will move well. 

daveANDkristen

We registered in May for our September wedding.  Nothing was purchased until a week or so before my shower, which was in July.  I have never thought to look at someone's registry for non-wedding-related gift ideas, and as PPs mentioned, items are discontinued, so I think it would be silly to register really far in advance

melbelleup

We just registered for ours at the 8 month mark. I mainly did it because we're not stressed with other things currently, so we had time to just browse and see what's out there. A trip to the store means an hour drive one way so it was a nice day trip. I know things will change- but we can go back and change things if needed. It's a bonus to be able to tell people they can use our registry for christmas gifts. I know my SIL and my FI's aunt are going to use mine for christmas gifts and I'm perfectly fine with it!

lizandmark2014

I did 8 moths out. FYI Walmart tuts over their stuff every 4 months and things will be discontinued.

Good Luck. Great idea with the list. It will make registering faster and easier.

lizandmark2014

Auto correct. Tuts= turns

muenginerd

We registered right after we were engaged (15 months out) for a few of the basics.  We did this, like you said, because people were asking for gift ideas for engagment/birthdays/holidays. Also we registered at Macy's early because of their rewards program.  I knew I bought gifts and most my work clothes as Macy's so we wanted to be racking up those rewards. 

If you do register early I would recommend keeping it minimal as there is alot of turn around at stores. 

aruizmargenot

I started mine and I'm a year out. I mainly registered for the stuff that my FH could care less about, like kitchen tools. We'll wait on registering for the other stuff until next year. It's true that some things could go out of stock, but I highly doubt things like a vegetable peeler or a slotted spoon will. Like others have said, people ask for gift ideas and some people want to give you something for your engagement party or other occasions. Plus, it took so long to register for a lot of the stuff on our list (just the process of choosing) that I'm glad I started early. 

LydiaJoy12

My fiancé and I just registered this past Saturday (a little less than 8 and 1/2 months away).  I was originally going to wait until after the holidays, since new stuff would be coming out, but our families wanted to give Christmas gifts from our registries.  I am also having knee surgery in December, and won't be able to be on it too long for about 3 months, so we decided to get it out of the way!

naymerica

We registered about 8 months in advance.  They said if anything is going to be discontinued it'll probably be after the new year so we're waiting on adding a few certain things, but for the most part stuff stays the same.  We registered 8 months out because we wanted it ready when our Save the Dates went out, and we gave our guests lots of time with those because most of them will have to travel.  Some of our registry items have already been purchased and I'm not having a Bridal Shower, and we're still 7 months out now, so I'm glad we did it so far in advance.

Kenyayyy

I registered last month and we're getting married in May 2015

slgirl21

I started mine at about 7 months before, so I would no earlier then that, you can always print out your register and make changes before sending out your invites to guest, just make sure you make your registry final before sending out your invites so you get what you want/need with no duplicates ( if you register at multiple stores ) .  

dxavierah

we registered about 14 months out...pretty much just a few weeks after we got engaged.  Be prepared to maintain your registries a lot if you do them that far in advanced though.  I'm very set on the things I want, so I also use my registries to shop for items I really want as the stock becomes low.  Since I hate being in a store seaching for items, being able to pick them directly from my registries at will makes my life much more enjoyable.  Several of our guests have begun shopping the registries, so now I'm just monitoring them and deleting the items I won't need if  a similar item was purchased from another registry.  The wedding is February 1st, so with the engagement party, bridal shower and christmas, I should be pretty busy updating the registries.