Married gals: registry items

Ms.BriarRose · October 2010

DH and I are trying to decide what we should buy to "complete" our registries, and what we should cross off and not purchase.

So, that being said, I need some help from you married ladies. What items did you buy/recieve (say, a spice rack) that you didn't need or use? What did you buy/recieve thinking you would use alot and haven't? What did you buy/recieve thinking you would not use much and used a lot?

Any suggestions on this type of thing would be wonderful.

For a glimpse at our registries, here are our links. Feel free to puruse, then suggest. One note on the registries, we have returned certain items, so you may suggest and we may have already read your mind!

BB&B: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/regGiftRegistry.asp?wrn=-213741661&

Macy's: http://www1.macys.com/registry/wedding/guest/?registryId=1728745

William-Sonoma: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/registry/2472039/registry-list.html

Thanks for your help, ladies! Y'all are the best.

EDIT: I fixed the BBB registry.

nicole8586 · October 2010

Not sure if you have a decent set of knives but I would invest in some. Makes cooking a whole lot easier!

ButtonsPepper · October 2010

Williams Sonoma - I'd get the spatula's, the spoons, etc. We use those a lot to cook. All of the little things, bagel cutters, strawberry huller, etc. are all things you won't really use much at all, I'd hold off on getting those. We also use our potholders a lot. I'd honestly not get all the specialty things. How often will you use a tomatoe press, or a pepper corer? Waste of money if you ask me, a knife will do most of that stuff. Potholders are always g ood to have if you don't have any, we use ours all the time.

Macys - The things for turkeys you will only use once in a while, but are stuff you need. Thermomitor, baster, I'd get those...

Things we use most offen are our ladles, spoons, spatula's for cooking, our great pots and pans, our fantastic knives, our mixing bolwes, baking sheets, and oven mitts. Towles are also big, make sure you have good towles. I'd make sure you get good one's of those, and leave out all the item specific things (minus turkey stuff) as it will really just sit in your drawer. You may use the strawberry thing once, but pulling out a knife will be easier and you'll default to that. Hope this helps!

miguelhilary2010 · October 2010

Disclaimer: I haven't perused your registries

The items that I know I won't use a lot, but am keeping them anyway are the KitchenAid Mixer, Fryer (I just picked it up this weekend), Food Processor, Food Saver (vacuum seal thingy) and apple peeler. Our new apt has a lot of storage space, so I don't feel bad holding on to these things.

Things I don't use much and could do without are rice maker, zester, cake plate, serving dishes (we don't have space to host holidays yet, I could have picked them up later), a wok and a blender.

jlb734 · October 2010

If you've never used Silpats, I'd totally suggest getting them from your BBB registry. They're fantastic for baking cookies (holidays coming up!)--less mess on baking sheets, and they distribute the heat soooo evenly. You get perfect cookies! Also very helpful for rolling out a pie crust.

Ms.BriarRose · October 2010

Thanks BP. Really great advice. That was my thing- I didn't know what we would only use once in a while but was something we should have anyway, and stuff that we would only use once in a while and shouldn't buy. Really helpful insight!

Is it really worth it to pay the money for the WS spoons and stuff? We have one (gift from registry), but are they really that worth it?

Anyone have any other suggestions? How about towels- how many of each should we have? I was thinking 3 blue towels, 3 brown towels, 3 blue hand towels, 3 brown hand towels, 3 blue washcloths, and 3 brown washcloths. I was going to do 1 of each color in the bath sheets. Thoughts on that amount?

What about our dishes? Right now we have a setting for 8. Should I stay there, or go for a setting for 12? We have to get the cereal bowls, as well (you can never have enough bowls).

What about electronics? Hand mixer, electric skillet, bread maker? Thoughts on that kind of stuff? Iron, Ironing board? We want things that are going to last.

In terms of baking, we have one cookie sheet (with sides, so it could double for other stuff), a mini muffin pan, and a regular muffin pan. What else do you think we need? Anything at all, please- DH is a huge baker!

When it comes to knives, how much should we be spending? We don't have a ton of money, but I don't want to buy knives that are cheap and going to break in a year. Right now, we have Martha Stewart ones on our registry.

What about bathroom stuff? Is all those accessories (tumbler, toothbrush holder, etc) really needed?

Anything else that wasn't on my registries that you would recommend? We just want to make sure we get the right items. Thanks so much!

nicole8586 · October 2010

I have the Martha Stewart knives and I love them.

I also have a tooth brush holder, we don't have any attached to the wall.

Bride_to_be_2011 · October 2010

8 inch round cake pans? Do you have 9 by 12 or whatever they are?

And I would get a hand mixer if you don't have one.

I put 10 place settings on my registry but the flatware is for 8... i just wanted extra settings in case I break or whatever. I might end up buying a back up set of flatware after the wedding to have extra.

For towels, I put 6 towels on my registry in two diff colors (12 in all). So that when we do have a guest bathroom I would have a lot of towels to split up.

ButtonsPepper · October 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-philadelphia_married-gals-registry-items?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:105Discussion:e9d7439e-99fc-4e99-a622-ab1ba54d7af3Post:e4137715-4ef8-4e2d-9daa-3e961950277b">Re: Married gals: registry items</a>:
[QUOTE] How about towels- how many of each should we have? I was thinking 3 blue towels, 3 brown towels, 3 blue hand towels, 3 brown hand towels, 3 blue washcloths, and 3 brown washcloths. I was going to do 1 of each color in the bath sheets. Thoughts on that amount? We have 8 towels, and about the same for wash rags and hand towels. We don't use half of them, but will be nice once we have kids, we won't have to buy more, and they will still be new (on the towel end)

What about our dishes? Right now we have a setting for 8. Should I stay there, or go for a setting for 12? We have to get the cereal bowls, as well (you can never have enough bowls). We have a serving of 12, we use 2, and the other 10 sit there. To be honest even when we have kids, 12 is a lot as we don't use the dish washer. If you plan on having a big family, and plan on having those dishes for a very very long time I'd say 12 only so you can use the dish washer, otherwise, the 8 are more then enough.

What about electronics? Hand mixer, electric skillet, bread maker? Thoughts on that kind of stuff? We use the hand mixer and our kitchenaid mixer at least once a week. Really depends on the person. Electric skillet and bread maker I dind't even register for, I just use the stove top and the oven to make bread, just get loaf pans, and the kitchen aid to kneed the dough and you are good to go.

Iron, Ironing board? We want things that are going to last. We have both, and a steamer, all still in the box/wrapping unopened. I guess it's good to have though if we need it?

In terms of baking, we have one cookie sheet (with sides, so it could double for other stuff), a mini muffin pan, and a regular muffin pan. What else do you think we need? Are you a baker? I am, I have 4 cookie sheets, 2 of the following: Muffin pans, pizza pans, circle cake pans, square cake/brownie pans, pie pans and one of the following: Spring foam pan, bundt pan ( the one with the hole in the middle to make angel food cake etc.). If you are not a baker, you may want less.

Anything at all, please- DH is a huge baker! When it comes to knives, how much should we be spending? We don't have a ton of money, but I don't want to buy knives that are cheap and going to break in a year. Right now, we have Martha Stewart ones on our registry. We got our knives for about 400 I think. They are well worth it. Knives were very important to me, as I cook every night.

What about bathroom stuff? Is all those accessories (tumbler, toothbrush holder, etc) really needed? Nope, other then TB holder if you don't one in your BR, you just need a trash can.

Anything else that wasn't on my registries that you would recommend? We just want to make sure we get the right items. Thanks so much! Just think about what you used when at your mom's, or what your mom uses when she normally cooks/etc. The little things aren't necessary, just focus on your main staples (pots pans knives spoons spatula's etc.) and you should be fine. Worst comes to worst, you go to do something and don't have it, and you run out and pick it up.
Posted by Ms.BriarRose[/QUOTE]

Amerbutt81 · October 2010

Wow, you registered for a lot of.... stuff.

You will never use a bread maker or an ice cream maker. A calzone mold and three bottles of WS dish soap? I'm totally down for registering for fun stuff you would never buy yourself, but I think you got a little carried away.

As far as towels go, we have three sets, each with three towels (one for him, one for me, one for my hair). I like having three sets because you have one in use, one in the wash and one for a guest. I also don't think you need three shower curtains-- one will suffice.

Measuring cups are always a good thing to have, and maybe grab one more baking sheet if you only have one.

I personally think 8 sets of china is fine, unless you plan on hosting a lot of holiday dinners. And don't think to yourself "Omigawd.. I might". You either do, or you don't.

How often do you really think you'll use a fondue kit? If you return that you can almost buy all of your cereal bowls.

Here is a list of things I don't think you need:

Italian Countryside footed bowl
Italian countryside Coffeept
The 7 peice cocktail set or the cocktail shaker
The fondue set
the pairing knife set (a good cutting knife set will have a pairing knife included)
Coffee grinder
Margarita Machine
Bread maker
Ice cream maker
Jerky dehydrator (really Brittney? heheh)
mango splitter
I have no idea what a brown sugar bear is
the tissue box cover
the soap dish (personally, everyone I know uses pump soaps anyway)

You look like you were pretty reasonable with Macys.

As far as the WS stuff, I think you can scratch all of it except:

garlic press
good set of spatulas
Skewers
a good colander (personally, I prefer plastic-- I fee like less stuff gets stuck)

Amerbutt81 · October 2010

Oh, and get a rolling pin.

miguelhilary2010 · October 2010

I actually use my fondue pot enough to keep it. Since one of your fav restaurants is the Melting Pot, I say you should keep the fondue kit. It's much cheaper (and comfy) to do it at home.

I got JA Henkels knives and they are awesome! I highly recommend investing in some good knives. I think the block we registered for was around $150-175.

ButtonsPepper · October 2010

See I use the coffee grinder at least once a week for DH... so that's something inexpensive that we use OFTEN. It's what will you use, and what will you not? But I agree, most stuff isn't needed that's on the list.

And I thought you were talking about every day plates, not your china. Stick with the 8. Maybe get one more in case something breaks.... but 8 is plenty.

Amerbutt81 · October 2010

I'm down with a coffee grinder if you have a regular coffee pot. It looks like she's got one of thoes Keurig one cup thingys, in which case, I don't think you can put ground coffee in. Don't you have to have those little cups?

Ms.BriarRose · October 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-philadelphia_married-gals-registry-items?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:105Discussion:e9d7439e-99fc-4e99-a622-ab1ba54d7af3Post:50c70511-19f9-496c-ade7-e53d51aeb55c">Re: Married gals: registry items</a>:
[QUOTE]Wow, you registered for a lot of.... stuff.

You will never use a bread maker or an ice cream maker. A calzone mold and three bottles of WS dish soap? I'm totally down for registering for fun stuff you would never buy yourself, but I think you got a little carried away. In my defense, ALOT of that was DH. He's the one that is really into cooking and baking, and he got carried away in WS. Not only that, but we were told (and stupidly listened) to put lots of little stuff that we wouldn't buy for ourselves on the registry. Most of the stuff you mentioned (the calzone mold, the tomato press, the bagel slicer) have been crossed off (just not deleted yet, I crossed off on my paper copy).

The WS soap? That, I am in love with. And we go through so much soap, I figured why not?

As far as towels go, we have three sets, each with three towels (one for him, one for me, one for my hair). I like having three sets because you have one in use, one in the wash and one for a guest. I also don't think you need three shower curtains-- one will suffice.
When you say sets, you mean towel/handtowel/washrag? I think I am going to go with 4 sets, 2 in each color. And the reason we have several shower curtains on there is 1) we do the clear liner with fabric on the outside, and 2) we were trying to plan for when we have two bathroom/kids, kind of like what BP and B2B said.

Measuring cups are always a good thing to have, and maybe grab one more baking sheet if you only have one.
We actually already have alot of the basic stuff- peeler, ice cream scoop, measuring spoons and cups, etc. They are all KitchenAid and pink (to match my pink mixer and to feed my addiction to anything pink), and were gifts from MIL at Christmas, as well as several items from Aunt at the shower. We also got the pink melamine (plastic but strong) colander and mixing bowls, which you mentioned below. I crossed off the colanders on my paper list.

I personally think 8 sets of china is fine, unless you plan on hosting a lot of holiday dinners. And don't think to yourself "Omigawd.. I might". You either do, or you don't.
That's what I wanted to know. I may buy extra bowls because we go thru bowls (and spoons) like crazy. Plus, we are getting DH's grandmother's complete set of china for 12- the china that is on our registry is our everyday china. We went with that for everyday stuff because it's lightweight and easier for me to lift a stack of that instead of stoneware.

How often do you really think you'll use a fondue kit? If you return that you can almost buy all of your cereal bowls.
Way ahead of you- we are returning that item. We thought long and hard about it, Hil, but I don't think we will use it often enough to justify us having it, when there are other things that we need more.

Here is a list of things I don't think you need:
Italian Countryside footed bowl Crossed off
Italian countryside Coffeepot Crossed off
The 7 peice cocktail set or the cocktail shaker Crossed off the set, but we kept the shaker because we do use that (we had an older one that leaked, but we still used it all the time)
The fondue set Returned
the pairing knife set (a good cutting knife set will have a pairing knife included)Good to know!
Coffee grinder I want one, but it's one of those I won't buy it now and just keep it on the "want but not right now" list
 Margarita Machine I think this one will wait until we get a house
Bread maker Actually, both MIL and my mom use their breadmakers quite frequently, and I will probably use it as much too (we like to do baked goods for gifts). But with the pink mixer having the bread hook, for right now, we will use that, and when we get more storage space (ie when we buy a home), then I will think about it.
Ice cream maker that was a wish item, we aren't going to buy that
Jerky dehydrator (really Brittney? heheh) That wasn't me! That was DH- he is really involved in Boy Scouts and backpacks quite a bit, and they take dehydrated food on the trips all the time. Will it be bought right now, probably not, but it is something that we, surprisingly, would use quite a bit.
mango splitter I haven't decided on this one, because we do eat mangos alot, and every time I go to peel one I cut myself.
I have no idea what a brown sugar bear is LOL, it goes in your brown sugar and soaks up the moisture so that your brown sugar doesn't get all hard and lumpy! Since we cook with brown sugar quite frequently (when we bake especially), it's a must
the tissue box cover the soap dish (personally, everyone I know uses pump soaps anyway) That all got crossed off

 You look like you were pretty reasonable with Macys.

As far as the WS stuff, I think you can scratch all of it except:
garlic press Yeah we are keeping that one
good set of spatulas Do you mean the rubber or silicone ones you scrape stuff with, or the ones you turn things with?
Skewers These and the firewires are going to wait until we have a house and get a gas grill; the other grilling stuff that was bought was bought on the get rid of it rack and we got it all for less than $40 (since it's seasonal, they didn't know if it would be back next summer)
a good colander (personally, I prefer plastic-- I fee like less stuff gets stuck) We got these for gifts, in plastic
Posted by Amerbutt81[/QUOTE]

Ms.BriarRose · October 2010

I have both a regular coffee pot and a Kuerig.

With the Kuerig, you can buy this:

http://www.amazon.com/Keurig-K-Cup-Reusable-Coffee-Filter/dp/B000DLB2FI

Which you put your own coffee in. Since I love Dunkin Donuts whole bean coffee, that's why I wanted the grinder. It can wait, though I eventually do want it.

Ms.BriarRose · October 2010

And for everyone, though it says "china" on the registry, it's actually our everyday plates (call it china if you want).

We went with that for a couple of reasons. One, I did my research and bone china (which is what it is) is less likely to break than stoneware- it's actually more break resistant. Two, stoneware is heavy, and I can't lift a stack of plates or bowls to put it away in our cupboards (I'm still working on gaining muscle back, but it's gonna take a while); this is really light and I can lift it. Three, when we priced it out and all, with coupons (since macy's price matches and the 20% off your registry starts Wednesday and BBB sends out 20% coupons), it was actually about the same price as the other, heavier stuff we were looking at.

So, it's not our special china, it's everyday dinnerware.

miguelhilary2010 · October 2010

I just bought a fryer, panini pan (grill pan with press, won't be used for just sandwiches!), measuring cups and spoons, a cutting board, shower curtain and bathroom mat/rugs this weekend between Homegoods and Macys.

A good cutting board is missing from the thread above, but is very important to get. I bought mine at Homegoods because they're 1/2 the price of a regular store like BB&B. I also got a nice fabric shower curtain for $14, and bath rugs for $12 and $5! I'm such a sucker for clearance items.

Long story short, shop around because even with the store registry discount (20% or so) you may find some of these things cheaper at another store.

Amerbutt81 · October 2010

>>When you say sets, you mean towel/handtowel/washrag? I think I am going to go with 4 sets, 2 in each color. And the reason we have several shower curtains on there is 1) we do the clear liner with fabric on the outside, and 2) we were trying to plan for when we have two bathroom/kids, kind of like what BP and B2B said.<

We have three random hand towels that get rotated out when they need to be cleaned. They don't really "match" our towel set. We have this really bad habit of wiping our toothpasty mouth on our hand towels (gross, I know, but no is perfect;) so we just switch in clean ones when they are needed. We don't use washrags (we are loofah people) but if you are wash cloth people, I would rotate them in with each towel set-- so maybe two in each color.

As far as kids and extra bathrooms go-- JEGs and I aren't planning on having kids in the next 3 or so years and our first house is probably only going to have one bathroom, so realisticially we don't need to stock pile towels. Even if we had a kid RIGHT NOW, they aren't going to use a full size towel until they are at least 2, so what is the point of storing towels now that you aren't going to be using for a couple of years. But that's just mean and I only have 900 sq ft to work with right now

Oh, and I totally LOL'd at the idea of you going through bowls and spoons like crazy. My first thought was "are they eating them when they are through with the cereal?" hehhe

As far as spatulas go.. both the flippy kind and the silicone kind. I use both kinds on. the. daily.

Ms.BriarRose · October 2010

Yeah Hil, we have a good cutting board on there, and we are planning on purchasing them. We have several nice cutting mats from WS that "grip" the counter (they were a Christmas gift to DH two years ago), and I decided I want boards with grips on the bottom, so things don't slide around. A good wooden cutting board is a must, though, you are right.

We definitely shop around, especially at Marshall's/homegoods/TJMaxx. I love those stores

I grew up buying on sale and with coupons, so I am used to it.

In fact, DH and I play a game where each time we go out shopping, be it to the supermarket or the mall, we see who can get the best deals overall. We base it on the amount saved off the original amount. The best ones get put on the fridge, and we totally brag about them to everyone

Ms.BriarRose · October 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-philadelphia_married-gals-registry-items?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:105Discussion:e9d7439e-99fc-4e99-a622-ab1ba54d7af3Post:a082860b-f163-470c-bb75-838bd2c04f0d">Re: Married gals: registry items</a>:
[QUOTE] />> Oh, and I totally LOL'd at the idea of you going through bowls and spoons like crazy. My first thought was "are they eating them when they are through with the cereal?"
Posted by Amerbutt81[/QUOTE]

You would think we do! 99% of the time, we are eating out of bowls- I don't know why, we just do.

As for spoons, I will put it to you this way. We registered for two sets of 45-pc silverware. Each set came with 16 teaspoons, and 8 tablespoons. We run out of all of those in less than a week. Yeah, we probably need to run the dishwasher more often, but like you said, no one is perfect LOL.

And we have that bad habit too. We never seem to have enough hand towels, though- I think we may end up buying them just because we go thru them so often.

ButtonsPepper · October 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-philadelphia_married-gals-registry-items?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:105Discussion:e9d7439e-99fc-4e99-a622-ab1ba54d7af3Post:01f2a2ce-4168-48fd-bdb8-cb8e33c989ee">Re: Married gals: registry items</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm down with a coffee grinder if you have a regular coffee pot. It looks like she's got one of thoes Keurig one cup thingys, in which case, I don't think you can put ground coffee in. Don't you have to have those little cups?
Posted by Amerbutt81[/QUOTE]

We have both a Keurig and a regular coffee pot. Pot for morning, Keurig for the course of the day. And no, they have this little thing, and you can actually put your own ground coffee in it, and then pop it in the Keurig.

LaRositaMonita · October 2010

I feel like I should also point out that you shouldn't be in a rush to get anything unless you think you will abolsutely need it within the next few months. Our first Christmas after we got married my family was big on buying us leftovers from our registry. On top of a few items, we also got some BB&B gift cards. Not saying you should necessarily expect this...but it'll make life easy in December when people want a list of things you'd like.

ooodsie · October 2010

Dont go overboard with kitchen appliances unless youre sure you have the countertop space or room in your cabinets to keep the stuff... we have limited space and actually still have one or two items we havent opened yet in the basement because we have no where else to store it.

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