Registering without a house?

BillyBob321

So this may sound like a dumb question, but I just want to make sure I'm on the right page. It's normal to register when you don't exactly have a house/apartment with your FI yet, right? He made a comment the other day asking why I'm in such a hurry to register when we have nowhere to put the stuff... so it made me think... that's true, but hopefully by the time of the shower we'll have a house, if not be really really close to having one. I'm not sure if he meant how would we know what we need or what.But you dont need a place to decide on basic registry things... right?? Obviously you need towels, plates, etc no matter where you live... so am I crazy?!?!

MissSarah786

We don't have a house. We registered for dishes, vacuum cleaner, kitchen applicances, bathroom junk, etc. No, you're not crazy.

sucrets4

So, you're not living together now?  Do you have plans to after the wedding?Since your wedding is over a year out, I wouldn't register now.  Things might be discontinued by the time your wedding rolls around.A general response is that yes, it is appropriate to register for gifts because one would assume that you would be needing those things after you get married. 

sucrets4

btw, the guy at BBB told us that sometimes people register for just white towels if they don't know what they want and then exchange them for a color later.  I thought that was a neat idea, and I wouldn't have thought of it.

temerityjane

We're in the same situation, in a way. We don't own anything, the... person... we live with does. We hope to move out by the time we get around to registering, but we have no idea where or when. We're going to register for what we need and it will go into storage if we're not out of this house by then.

anna.oskar

Don't register until a few weeks before your shower or wedding(whichever happens for you first) I made the mistake of registering a tad too early and have been dealing with discontinuations ever since.

BillyBob321

No we don't live together now, but of course we plan to after the wedding... or maybe a few months before if we find somewhere. I think he's just confused because we have NO idea where we're going to live. We both want to find jobs out of our state and move, so I'm not sure what he's thinking.I like the idea of getting white towels and exchanging them. I already had an idea of how I wanted to decorate my bathroom, but then again once I have a certain bathroom I may want to change it.And thanks for the tips about waiting. I wasn't going to register right away, I just think it would be good to take some afternoons and check out what we might be interested beforehand, but everytime I suggest it, FI seems like he's not interested. Maybe it's stressing him out to know that a year from now we need to have somewhere to live!

DavidsRaindrop

We went and did what FI calls a Prelim Registry.  We fully realize things will be discontinued.  But we kept a copy of the printed reg.  That way if something is discontinued, we have time to locate something similar.

ac_in_dc

We registered about 4 months in advance, but typically you don't receive any gifts until invites go out either for the wedding or the shower, so you have plenty of time. I've noticed with FI that over the course of our 7 month engagement he's become progressively more interested in helping...I think some guys just don't like to think about this stuff so far in advance. I think that especially b/c you don't have a place yet you should register for all sorts of household essentials...completely appropriate. Just make sure you have a place to store everything.

carrieoz_76

The 2009 Real Simple Weddings magazine (got it at B&N) has a really nice list of basics to register for in each room of the house, and then a list of things for each season to register for that are if you already have some basics.  I'm definitely going to use it.  It says that if you don't have a space yet, this is normal, and hopefully someone has a basement or garage you can use until you do have space.  You can show this to your FI to prove you're not crazy.FI and I live together, but we STILL don't have space - too much junk!  I can't wait to replace it with nice stuff instead of the mishmash of handmedowns we currently have.  :)Carrie

thesuninherhead

Isn't the idea of the shower to get all of the things you'll need for your new house as a couple (from times of old when no one lived together)?

banana468

With your wedding over a year away, there's really no reason to register right now.Wait until after Christmas and then go for basics.  You'll want simple towels, pots, pans and kitchen appliances in any home. 

kloesk

If you don't live with your FI right now, you're not allowed to register for anything, ever. nooooo. you're right. no matter where you live, you need kitchen stuff, towels, shower curtain, etc. We stored our gifts from my showers in my parents basement and moved it all in when we got the keys to the place we are going to live in after the wedding. Although for you, I would still wait until a few weeks before your first shower.