Need help deciding what to do...

stephc314

My fiance and I are eloping in June.  It will be the two of us and that's it. 

Today, a tricky situation arose. His dad asked if we are registered anywhere, and honestly neither of us even thought to do that because we already own a home together and don't need anything.  Plus, personally, I felt it would be weird to elope then assume that people would send gifts and register somewhere.  Hopefully that makes sense.

Has anyone else run into something like this?  Should we register for those who do want to send a gift, or just politely thank them for thinking of that and letting them know that we don't need anything other than their support and love?  I know sometimes people want to send gifts, but like I said, we really don't need more towels or kitchen appliances.  

Thanks in advance!

Ausome13

I am debating on the same issue. My travel agent said many brides send out a save the date type of card with the travel agents info so people can contribute that way. An excursion on your honeymoon sounds much better than a toaster! I haven't figured out exactly how that works but it sounded like an avenue I'm at least going to consider. 

stephc314

Ahh that's a good idea.  I think we are leaning toward sending a card type thing after we get back to announce that we eloped and something along the lines of "we have enough but love & prayers are never turned down"....maybe.

princessleia22

If people want to get you a gift, they will get you something.  If you don't need the typical items, it may not be a bad idea to put together a registry (I'm a big fan of doing one on Amazon since you have such a variety of items and you can link to items on other sites also).  That way those people might actually get you something you will use.  But, you don't need to advertise that you have a registry or even tell anyone.  If people really want to get you a gift, they may look for a registry on their own.  If they find it, good for them.  If they ask, you can tell them no gifts needed or direct them to the registry.  But, for those that really want to give you a gift, a registry will at least help you get something you will use, rather than another towel or something.

FI and I are lucky to have a lot of long marriages in our families (from 10-50 years and no divorces).  My favorite response is to tell people that we don't need any gifts, but their advice and words of wisdom for a long lasting, happy marriage is always appreciated.  That's more valuable to us than any tangible gift.  But, we also have registry, with only a few items on it, to direct people toward useful items, just in case.

Knottie37373131

We are doing the same thing May 2015. However, we will be having a small "celebration of our marriage"/reception when we return. We are going to register just at bed bath and beyond for a few small things that we still need as we live together as well and have slowly accumulated everything we need. Some people will want to buy gifts regardless and I rather give them the choice to use the registry if they would like.

stephc314

So we ended up registering.  It's just easier since we've had quite a few people ask us/ask our parents where we are registered.  

If people hadn't asked, we wouldn't have registered, but we figured we might as well make it easier for people if they want to send something.  

Thanks for the input & happy wedding planning everyone!