All online registires

natalieervin

My FSIL is getting married in Jan. and our church threw a shower today for her. So, yesterday me and my mom went to town to get her a few presents. First we went to Macy's to see if we could get her china. We werent really surprised when you had to order it, bbecause they normally don't keep a full set there all the time but she literally had 3 items you could actually buy in store!

Then we went to Bed Bath and Beyond, we found nothing there that you could buy in store! So we went to Wal-Mart, once again there were a few items that were available in store but they had already been puchased. So we finally went to Target and got the last 3 items that were on her registry that you could purchase in the store.

There is nothing wrong with registering online especially if it is more convenient for you but please look and see if the majority of your items can be purchased in stores and online! Because it is a major pain to run around town to get presents! If she wasn't my FSIL I would have just given up and gotten a gift card but I really wanted to get her something she could open since our church is small and not a lot of people would be at the shower. Anyhow, just thought I would tell of my experience so maybe it would help other brides!

megandjay

Yes, and this point comes up when people want to do less traditional online registries, it is important to remember that especially for a shower, people like to get you a gift! Some guests might not have been as dedicated as you were, and just went off the registry all together when they couldn't find something at one store, much less 2 or 3!

caseyandlizzie

There's also the point that what's available at one chain store may not be available in another location of the same store. Unfortunately there is no way to know ahead of time which store's location is carrying what. I'm sorry you had to travel everywhere, but she may have had no idea that this happened.

natalieervin

What happened was she created all of her registries online and never went into a store. So all her stuff was not available in any of the stores. When we printed off the registry it just said beside the item "only available online" . But it is true that some of the things that were available in store just weren't in stock. It wasn't a big deal, I just wanted other brides to try to make sure that if they did register online only to chack that the items could be purchased in store also.

kellya01

Thanks for sharing your perspective!  We have had the same trouble when shopping for family and friends wedding registries in the past too -- either it was just a totally uncommon item (and the registry was full of uncommon, hard to find items), or it was something not typically available in the stores.  Makes it SO hard to shop for people that way! 

Some of the stores websites now have a feature to "check availability in store" and you can usually type in several zip codes to see if it's available in the areas your F&F would be shopping.  It's tedious, but it's less tedious than going to the store all the time if you're just going to add a few items. 

garcias1

Wow, I can't believe she registered at 4 places, first of all.  I recognize that it is convenient to do the registries all online, but I wouldn't want to only choose things online.  I made sure FI and I carved out time to visit the store and do our registry.  I added things online later on, but I wanted to see a lot of the items in person before I decided whether we wanted a specific item or not.

natalieervin

She actually registered at 5 or 6 places.. I am registered at 4 places but two of mine our small local places, then I have two big registries. I understand adding things online and even having a few items that can be purchased online only, But only having a few items available in the store is making it really hard on your guests. Another thing I didn't really understand was that none of her registries really had much on them. Target was kitchen utensils, Macy's was her China and flatware and bedding, Wal-Mart was kitchen applainces, Bed Bath and Beyond was towels and then there was a few more places that were just decorative things.. It was weird..

Simply Fated

Is there a way to see the registries online before going to the actual store? This way you can even call up local stores in advance to make sure they have the items in stock.

bdriley

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_online-registires?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:d922aef9-8588-4a77-afef-0dc6a3ea88e7Post:b86c8f68-c7eb-471d-8243-4eed7cc99ce8">Re: All online registires</a>:
[QUOTE]She actually registered at 5 or 6 places.. I am registered at 4 places but two of mine our small local places, then I have two big registries. I understand adding things online and even having a few items that can be purchased online only, But only having a few items available in the store is making it really hard on your guests. <strong>Another thing I didn't really understand was that none of her registries really had much on them</strong>. Target was kitchen utensils, Macy's was her China and flatware and bedding, Wal-Mart was kitchen applainces, Bed Bath and Beyond was towels and then there was a few more places that were just decorative things.. It was weird..
Posted by natalieervin[/QUOTE]

Putting only a few items on your registry is a recommendation people here give to couples who don't really want traditional gifts and would prefer cash.  Maybe making registries difficult to buy off of was the message she was trying to send.

shlni

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_online-registires?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:d922aef9-8588-4a77-afef-0dc6a3ea88e7Post:248730ee-7820-46aa-9736-21655b2be135">All online registires</a>:
[QUOTE]There is nothing wrong with registering online especially if it is more convenient for you but please look and see if the majority of your items can be purchased in stores and online!
Posted by natalieervin[/QUOTE]

It doesn't matter where you register, all stores are different. So even if you order a china set that you saw your home store, Aunt Millie living across the country might not have it at hers. Registries are supposed to be "suggestions" anyway. I'm sure the couple won't mind if you buy something else for them.

If anything, ordering online is more convenient for the couple since it gets shipped directly to them.

(I used to work for Bed Bath & Beyond for three years.)

Fbrandye

I personally am hoping most of our gifts get shipped to us. 90% of our guests are from out of town and it would be easier and on top of that then we don't have to figure out how to get everything home. Most of our family has already said they will be shipping it, even if they buy in store they are going to mail it to us before hand.
I know personally I'm going to have to do alot of my registering online because we don't have much here. If I were to go to the store it would be a whole weekend trip which we can't afford.

balasj

Ditto PPs - just because your local store didn't carry it doesn't mean hers didn't.  Or perhaps they stocked out or changed their seasonal merchandise.  If there are a lot of holiday items in right now, perhaps they aren't stocking as many other items at the moment.  Agreed, though, that its best to have a good amount of items that are available in a store.  A common china pattern or everyday cookware etc should be.

singingjessi14

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_online-registires?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:d922aef9-8588-4a77-afef-0dc6a3ea88e7Post:ebfebc7c-c641-42f3-8020-994d05d551b5">Re: All online registires</a>:
[QUOTE]Is there a way to see the registries online before going to the actual store? This way you can even call up local stores in advance to make sure they have the items in stock.
Posted by Simply Fated[/QUOTE]

Yes. Many stores (our regestries, at least) allow you to search for the bride and/or groom in their regestry section online. The website will pull up there complete regestry, and, in some cases, list what is an online or in store exclusive.

I know Target, Kohl's and Bed Bath and Beyond do this, I'm sure others do too.

natalieervin

She lives in my same area, so that isn't the problem. And if she didn't want to get gifts, then why register at 5 places?? I was just saying there wasn't much on each registery. But like I said before, it was just very inconvenient for my mom and me. I was just going to pass on the info to other brides, that way their guests would not be inconvenienced. Thanks for all the feed back!