How many to have

GardenMaven

FI and I have narrowed down the locations where we would like to register.  However, the dishes we like are not widely available from many places.  They have them at Macy's and BBB, but we did not want to registry with Macy's.  The issue with BBB is that they don't have all the choices online.  We haven't gone into the store to talk to anyone, but I would assume if I can't see it on the website, then it is not available to add to a registry.

Another option would be to do the dishes directly from the manufacturer.  They have a registry feature on their site.  My mom is convinced that if we do that then we have to get rid of one of our other choices for registries.  Right now it is Target, BBB and Amazon.  I am not sure if 4 would be too many or not.  I guess I figured it would be ok since one is dishes only.  Most weddings I have gone too only have three.  

I am also trying to figure out how many items to register for.  Or at least what the minimum should be.  Two showers are planned and we have a guest list of 178 for the wedding.  (77 families, couples and singles that get their own invite.)  I am not sure why this is proving so difficult for me, but it is!  Thoughts appreciated!  

Simply Fated

About the amount of registries:
It absolutely depends. My circle tends to side-eye more than 1 registry place. Maybe two places is okay. I have members of my family that side-eye registries in the first place. I personally think 2 is enough for anyone. You can always use cash gifts for other places. That's just me, though, so take that with a grain of salt. For some areas and circles, they can go as high as 5 or more places.
You know what you might like? Websites that combine registries. I think myregistry.com is one a few people on here use.

Amount the amount of items:
You can always add more stuff to your registries, so don't worry about getting the number right. As your showers start happening....if you notice the gifts from certain price points getting bought up, I suggest adding more items to those price points.

hoffse

Simply Fated is right - the number depends on circle.  New England tends to give boxed gifts at showers and cash at weddings. So those registries can be small.  Southerners tend to give boxed gifts at both - so our registries are often larger and include multiple stores to offer more options to guests.  It's been a long time since I've been to a wedding with fewer than 4 registries.  Most I see have 6 or more, usually with 3-4 or so national chains and a local china shop in each of the bride and groom's hometowns.

If three is the norm in your circle, then I'd limit it to 3.  Since you already have a registry at BBB, just register for the pieces they carry and then use any cash you receive to buy the rest at the manufacturer website, ebay, or replacements.com (I've had great success with ebay and replacements).

Out of curiosity, why don't you want to register at Macys?  If they carry all the pieces and have pretty much the same items as BBB, then that seems like an obvious choice to me.  I know I'm biased because we registered there and our guests have almost wiped it out.  It's been by far our most popular store.  But I'm still wondering why you would eliminate it out of hand if they carry all the pieces?

mlg78

Why don't you keep it at 3 and then just purchase the additional items that BBB doesn't offer from monetary gifts you receive on your own?  You could also talk to BBB about the other pieces.  They may also be able to order it for you or something...

french_mani

I registered for Lenox at BB&B. There were pieces I wanted on my registry that they did not have in store or online, and they were able to add them for me! They went out of their way to help me on this!

GardenMaven

Thank you all, I had a long day, so wasn't able to get back here as quick as I wanted.  

"Out of curiosity, why don't you want to register at Macys?"

The reason is my FI.  Basically walking through Macy's he was constantly saying, "You can get this WAY cheaper somewhere else."  He pretty much said that to everything and the dishes were included in that.  

"Why don't you keep it at 3 and then just purchase the additional items that BBB doesn't offer from monetary gifts you receive on your own? "

At BBB they only sell in sets instead of individual pieces.  That would be fine normally, but this particular collection has different patterns that you can mix and match, so we either have to pick one pattern or do individual pieces.  It may boil down to picking one pattern.  Right now we have mismatched dishes that came from a consignment shop.  We picked them out when we first moved in together around 9 years ago, so we have never had matching dishes.  It is probably one of the most memorable and notable things about eating at our house.  You never know what plate you'll end up with!

french_mani - Looks like we may have to go into the store this weekend.  Maybe they can help us add things individually.  That would be great!  

"1-3 registries is the norm.  4 wouldn't raise too many eyebrows if they're specialty stores. You're fine."

Thanks Retread.  I was sort of looking at the dish registry as a specialty and not an entirely separate registry, because you can only get the dishes from it.  I'll definitely look into seeing if someone at BBB can help us out, otherwise we'll probably go with 4 registries.  Or maybe eliminate Amazon, but that one is mainly for FI.  He shops on there all the time!

Xandy417

Amazon has a universal registry feature where you can add things from other sites to your amazon registry. Use that to add your dishes.

sparkles776

I am inviting a few more people to my wedding than you are and I have 3 registries. 2 are pretty large and one is way smaller. I definitely side eye more than 3. So far, Macys has been our best registry experience. It appears that their stuff is more than BBB, but it is almost always on sale for usually the price of stuff at BBB. If you are doing China or everyday place settings instead of boxed, I would go the Macys route. Their deals they offer on this stuff cannot be matched. They do buy one get one free, my china recently was buy 3 get one free. They also run specials like buy a place setting and get a free soup bowl. They also do stuff like this with the silverware and stemware. I also like that if you have a Macys card you get a giftcard after your wedding I think with 10% of what people bought you on it? Bottom line: Just because in store things appear to be more expensive than BBB, that is not always the case.

I am also registered at BBB, and everytime I go in there I just feel so pressured to add things I do not want and the first time we came home from registering there were things on there that we did not scan.

TwiceBride

Agreed about registering at Macy's.  My daughter wants to register at five places for a wedding for 300+ guests.  Thanks for the info.  I really don't think that is too much now!

GardenMaven

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_how-many-to-have?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:653340b6-19fa-4345-9e8c-6bcbdc878c59Post:4586b158-83bd-410f-a788-f380715a88d7">Re: How many to have</a>:
[QUOTE]1-3 is the norm.  Anything over that is pushing the bounds of etiquette, unless you have a very large guest list, or all of them are specialty stores. Ignore the "advice" the stores give you about "registering for x number of items per guest."  That's to get you to be pad your registry. Don't register for anything you don't want or need. Guests will usually write you a check or get you a gift card to the store if the registry has been completely purchased. The stores will also "add" anything the guest buys to your registry at the same time they bought your gift, so it's important to check the registries now and then.  Remove things you don't want. They'll also add things your eccentric Aunt Edna bought, which misleads your guests into thinking YOU registered for the item. I worked at JC Penney back in the 80s, during that horrible farm animal kitchen craze. Someone bought duck mugs on clearance, and the registry automatically added them.  I felt sorry for the bride, because people thought she wanted them and bought more of them.  Those ugly duck mugs!
Posted by RetreadBride[/QUOTE]

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</div><div>Thanks for this information Retread!  I was planning on monitoring our registries, but I think I will have to check more often than I had planned to make sure we don't have strange additions.  </div><div>
</div><div>Just an update, the universal function for Amazon has been very helpful for the dishes problem so we only have the three registries.  Thanks to everyone who commented.  I had a feeling I was making it more complicated than necessary, so this helped a lot!</div>

mmi102581

I registered for 4 myself with a guest list of 256...BB&B, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, and Belk.  There are certain items at each store, that I am interested in and I fought back and forth with myself over and over and just thought what the heck...the most that can happen is you don't get everything, so what, It gives your guests the chance to pick where they want to go  or shop online.  My china is at Beck because it is local for my hometown guests and much cheaper than Macy's, nothing against Macy's, as I almost went with them instead before researching.  BB$B- mainly some kitchen and bath towels, accessories, Williams-Sonoma all the bakeware and specialty items as well as Pottery Barn.  I LOVE these two stores and knew from day 1 I wanted to have a registry with them years ago.  Have fun and happy planning!!