When to do?

hkb18

When do you think it is a good time to start registering? I don't want to register to early in case things are discontinued. Thanks

Summer2011Bride

You're right; if you register way too early, you can risk discontinued items or items that were only seasonal. We married last July and registered the previous Nov. We personally registered a tad early because people were asking about a registry for christmas presents, and we did get some things off our registries for Christmas. About April we went back through and made sure everything was still on them, plus tweaked the lists a little more. I think by about 4 months out you should registries set up, but definitely by the time you start having showers (if you're having any).

egm900

We only had a couple of things discontinued, and we registered a year in advance (gifts are given at e-parties where we are from), both were things that were discontinued by the manufacturer.  Bedding cycles in and out of stores fairly frequently, but a lot of kitchen stuff is fairly safe.  

It probably took me 5 months to get the registries "right" (making sure there were options in all the price ranges, distributed over all the registries instead of all concentrated on one, make sure we actually wanted what we registered for, etc.).  I agree that you do need to register at least 4 months in advance, but we found it difficult to figure out what exactly we wanted, so I'm glad we registered early.

mbatzlaff

We registered in February for our wedding in August. We had a number of items be discontinued, especially at Macys. I think that no matter when you register its a good idea to double check the registries shortly before invites go out to double check any discontinued items.

hoffse

We registered in March for our April 2013 wedding because I graduated from law school in May.  I got some very generous gift cards, etc to places where FI and I had registered, and we're holding on to them until after the wedding is over.  We probably won't get anything else until our birthdays roll around this fall or until Christmas.

That said, we've had almost nothing get discontinued.  Bedding and towels do get discontinued at large chain stores, but in-house brands are usually pretty safe, and places like pottery barn have a core inventory that is almost never discontinued.  We registered from that inventory - you can tell whether something is seasonal or core by looking at the customer reviews (which you should do anyway) and see when they date from.  Our bedding at PB has reviews from like 6 years ago.  It appeared on the cover of their magazine for this season - so we think it's going to last at least another 9 months.

You may still have a few things get discontinued even if you register close to your wedding, but if you use the review trick I just mentioned, odds are most things will be around.  And if you don't like the available items that are around all year, then hold off until the stuff arrives for the season of your wedding and look again then.  I was eyeing a lot of this stuff before last Christmas, but I wanted to see if it survived the after-christmas clearance before registering for it- it all did.  I think people get screwed by the discontinuation thing when they aren't careful.

spartybride3

It depends on where you register, too. Places like crate & barrel & pottery barn will have seasonal items that may not be available. They usually come out with the same or similar stuff, but in different colors or designs. We registered in Feb. at C & B & they had spring merchandise & they just came out with fall stuff the other week. 

coraloc

Macy's has incentives that are helpful for couples who have active gift registries for longer periods of time.

Just be aware of what you register for ahead of time as the previous posters mentioned the "seasonal" items.

Bedding, towel, colorful everyday dinnerware, luggage and some small electrics (like breadmakers) are seasonal since colors change often.

Fine china patterns are generally around for years as long as you don't register for a newer pattern.  Plus there's standard bedding like down comforters, pillows, mattress protectors which are going to be around regardless of the season.

If you don't mind tweaking your registry or having someone keep an eye on it for you, then register about a year in advance.