How Much is too Much?

Re: How Much is too Much?

• feliciakaye13

  

  February 2013

  I'd say its never a bad idea to purchase things you know you love and want. However I'd say keep it to things you can use now or for the wedding (I've bought some cute dishes and linens I'll be using for my wedding and will be useful at home later) or anything that is super special and unique to your style and tastes (it's hard to register for a beautiful antique coffee table that you fall for at a flea market). Otherwise keep in mind that most places will give you a discount to complete your registry after the wedding. So unless a sale is better than that discount, you might as well wait.

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• ohmrs2014 mod

  

  February 2013

  So then is it safe to register for literally everything that we need and take it from there after the wedding in terms of completing the registry?

  
  

  The thought of regsitering for so many items makes me feel horrible and gift-grabby and thats not me at all.  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

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• HobokensFury member

  

  February 2013 edited February 2013

  We moved in together 1 year before the wedding. Instead of registering for big ticket items when our families asked we told them we would like gift cards to a furniture store for Christmas.  We were able to get our couches with that. TBH we furnished our entire house - 2 spare bed rooms, dining room, coffee tables, desk, entertainment center etc for about $1500 at IKEA.  Their stuff isn't going to last forever but it's lasted us 2 years without any problems and we can upgrade little by little.  It's great when you need a lot of stuff for little money.

   
   

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• ohmrs2014 mod

  

  February 2013

  FI has an Ikea bed frame and matching end tables that we are taking with us.  I actually don't mind Ikea furniture.  It seems as though we are going to be renting so I don't want to spend crazy amounts on furniture right away.  I figured when we buy we can then upgrade little by little.  But asking the gift cards isn't a bad idea.  I'm very picky about certain things so I would much rather be able to buy certain things myself than rely on someone else to hopefully buy the one I wanted.  I know that people in my family for registries by something similar if the item requested isn't available.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

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• hoffse member

  

  February 2013

  OP, since you have about 5-6 months before you are going to register, this is what I would do - pick some stores and start your registries under a different name or make a wish list if the store has that feature, so you have a list of items all in one place to track prices.  This might sound strange but hear me out.

  
  

  We set up registries a few months early under "Jane Smith & Jack Smith" because we just wanted to have everything in one place so we could see when items went on clearance or on sale.  While we do live away from our parents, virtually everything we both have are hand-me-downs, and we decided to purchase things slowly as they went on a really good sale... but there's no good way of knowing if the sale is really good unless you have everything in one place and you can check every now and then to see if the prices changed a lot.  It's just easier to see everything on one screen, and that's why we did a "registry" even though it wasn't under our own names.  I would do that at least for the items you know you will buy even if people don't get them for you.  We were still able to go register with the scanner gun and all because we only added the items we knew we were going to get regardless, and the scanner gun was for everything fun. 

  
  

   All that said, since you are getting married and will likely be flooded with gifts, you need to make sure there's enough for people to have options.  I really would only buy stuff if it goes on clearance or is a truly spectacular sale.

  
  

  I did buy several items using this method - some plates we really wanted, some bedding, some appliances.  Appliances are priced best on Black Friday each year - I got my $150 food processor for $60 and my $100 blender and $100 steam mop for $40 each.  And the $80 crock pot for $10.  I'm totally serious.  I just went ahead and got those because the prices were so much better than I knew my guests would be getting for the rest of the year.  By then we had a "real" registry, so I just marked them as complete so that my aunt wouldn't buy me a crock pot because I "forgot" to register for it.

  
  

  As for the quantity and price of gifts, don't feel bad.  Lots of brides on here (myself included) tell couples who have everything to make small registries as a hint for cash.  Personally, as a guest, I HATE small registries because I don't give cash and I like having plenty of options to choose from in my price range.  From my perspective, large registries are a blessing, particular when there are several dozen options in each price bracket.  That lets me mix and match.

  
  

  We have invited 320 people (about 160 separate invitations) and my shower has 20 guests.  We have registered for about 275 items, and they are starting to go fast.  Many people have been buying things in pairs or sets, so we may actually need to add more (on Sunday, one family actually bought 2 place settings of china plus the matching salt & pepper shaker set - I was totally blown away).  All of this is to say that you don't need to worry about looking gift grabby with a large registry.  It may actually do your guests a favor.

  
  

  

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• ohmrs2014 mod

  

  February 2013

  Hoffse,

  
  

  I actually really like that idea.  We actually bought a waffle maker on Black Friday for like $20 original price was like $60-$70.

  
  

   Thanks so much for everyone's help and suggestions!

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

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• LibBea

  

  February 2013

  In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_how-much-is-too-much-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:c293629f-dc1a-445b-99bc-46736b367af4Post:ac579e7a-52d6-4064-a0f8-850f61bfc8cb">Re: How Much is too Much?</a>:
  [QUOTE]Hoffse, I actually really like that idea.  We actually bought a waffle maker on Black Friday for like $20 original price was like $60-$70.  Thanks so much for everyone's help and suggestions!
  Posted by 50ShadesofMe[/QUOTE]
  
  I am glad you asked this because we just got engaged and are having a small wedding and I felt wrong not registering, or registering for items that might be too expensive. My fiance and I live together and have most things we want. But I would never go to a wedding and give cash, I prefer to give a gift of some kind, and I understand now it makes sense to allow guests the option too. We will just had to add a registry to our to-do list. Anyway, for the things we buy ourselves, we always try to get a discount via Groupon Goods, Google Offers, Slickdeals, or just go to fatwallet.com.
  
  If it's not too late, 50 Shades, use fatwallet.com to get discounts for items you are buying anyway, and cashback for items if you are buying online. I just got a $60.00 check back. I prefer to buy online via Amazon.com, for example, which has 3% cashback right now, than going into the store and paying tax and then getting nothing but the item I need.
  
  Hope this helps!

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• ohmrs2014 mod

  

  February 2013

  I love Groupon and Living Social.  

  
  

  I think I was just too scared to register for literally everything since we have nothing going into our future living situation.  We have picked up various items that we use now and we just keep it at my parents or at his parents.  

  
  

  All of these are great suggestions and ideas.  Thank you so much ladies.  You guys def put my mind at ease.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

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