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Small registry - how many items?

mandm111mandm111 member
100 Comments
in Registry and Gift Forum
We are looking to create a small registry. We've been living together for more then 2 years and pretty much have all the household items that we need. Approximately how many items should we put on our small registry? I know that guests will want to give physical gifts no matter what, so I want to create something small and "hint" that we don't  need alot of items.

Thanks :)
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Re: Small registry - how many items?

  • librababylibrababy
    500 Comments
    How small is small... you want enough stuff on there so people have options.  I think my registry is too big but i have a variety of stuff on there in different price ranges so people can pick and choose.  You won't get everything off the registry so it doesn't matter how big or small at the end of the day.

    How many guests do you have (like how many households since people might go in on a gift).  Go by that.  If you are sending 50 invitations, make sure you hava at least 50 items on your registry.  100 to be safe.  That's my non experienced advice. LOL.
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  • aragx6aragx6 member
    2500 Comments 5 Love Its Combo Breaker
    It depends how big your wedding is and if you're having a shower.
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  • egm900egm900 member
    500 Comments
    edited May 2012
    We're sending 200 invitations, having 2 showers, probably 60-70 invites being sent between the two, and have registered for 330 "gifts" (I'm counting 8 bowls that cost $1.99 a piece as one gift, etc.).  We have both lived on our own for a while, but that fact won't stop people from buying gifts (the majority of our family and friends prefer to give gifts at weddings).   

    My MOH has agreed to watch the registries and has a list of things to add if a price point gets wiped out, or if one store gets wiped out, what is also carried there that we were registered for at a different store.  You can always do this yourself, but I've set a deadline of a month before the first shower I will quit looking at the registries.
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  • JoanE2012JoanE2012 member
    5000 Comments 500 Love Its Fourth Anniversary 5 Answers
    Great question.  I'm trying to determine how many items to register for too as we will be leaning towards a smaller registry hoping for cash instead!  Money is usually given for the wedding, but I don't want to chance it with the shower.  I would expect probably about 40 women to be invited to the shower.  I'm thinking maybe a dozen items?  Then hopefully if people buy them all up they'll move to cash gifts (and not buy random picture frames).
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  • Ali092011Ali092011 member
    1000 Comments Second Anniversary 5 Love Its
    Definitely depends on how big your wedding is. I consider 30 items or less to be an extremely small registry, but if you're having a 50-person wedding, that is more than one item per couple--so, not small.

    Also, is someone throwing you a shower? Keep in mind that showers are for physical, boxed gifts, so there needs to be enough on there for at least the shower (unless you're comfortable with most people going off-registry). If you don't even want enough stuff for a shower, consider declining a shower or doing an alternative shower, like a recipe or lingerie shower.

    We don't need a lot of registry-type items (what we need is furniture and decorative stuff like rugs and curtains, which I would feel icky registering for), so we didn't make a big registry. If everything is bought out at my shower, we will not add anything else.
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  • Ali092011Ali092011 member
    1000 Comments Second Anniversary 5 Love Its
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_small-registry-how-many-items?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:e9029c43-7348-46a4-b95c-17bf7f7e5ab4Post:1b889fdc-a6e6-45cd-9a61-b95b2cdddafc">Re: Small registry - how many items?</a>:
    [QUOTE]Great question.  I'm trying to determine how many items to register for too as we will be leaning towards a smaller registry hoping for cash instead!  Money is usually given for the wedding, but I don't want to chance it with the shower. <strong> I would expect probably about 40 women to be invited to the shower.  I'm thinking maybe a dozen items?</strong>  Then hopefully if people buy them all up they'll move to cash gifts (and not buy random picture frames).
    Posted by JoanE2012[/QUOTE]

    I wouldn't recommend this. People enjoy bringing physical gifts to showers and seeing the bride open their gift. I personally would never bring a card full of cash to a shower, and I think most people agree. Just the invitation to a shower implies that the bride needs stuff for her and her H's household. So if there is no registry or the registry is bought out, most people will resort to bringing whatever they want to bring. In that situation, I would probably give linens, towels, or something else generic that you can't have enough of. It seems extremely unlikely that you will get a lot of cash gifts at your shower.
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  • JoanE2012JoanE2012 member
    5000 Comments 500 Love Its Fourth Anniversary 5 Answers
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_small-registry-how-many-items?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:34Discussion:e9029c43-7348-46a4-b95c-17bf7f7e5ab4Post:a652807d-07d2-4cb1-8ed4-a2657fb83b06">Re: Small registry - how many items?</a>:
    [QUOTE]Definitely depends on how big your wedding is. I consider 30 items or less to be an extremely small registry, but if you're having a 50-person wedding, that is more than one item per couple--so, not small. Also, is someone throwing you a shower? Keep in mind that showers are for physical, boxed gifts , so there needs to be enough on there for at least the shower (unless you're comfortable with most people going off-registry). If you don't even want enough stuff for a shower, consider declining a shower or doing an alternative shower, like a recipe or <strong>lingerie shower</strong>. We don't need a lot of registry-type items (what we need is furniture and decorative stuff like rugs and curtains, which I would feel icky registering for), so we didn't make a big registry. If everything is bought out at my shower, we will not add anything else.
    Posted by Ali092011[/QUOTE]

    I've never heard of this before!  I think it would be too awkward though.  Poor Grandma would probably have a heart attack.
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  • Ali092011Ali092011 member
    1000 Comments Second Anniversary 5 Love Its
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_small-registry-how-many-items?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:e9029c43-7348-46a4-b95c-17bf7f7e5ab4Post:69ef77d6-09f4-47e1-967e-d0f67569a090">Re: Small registry - how many items?</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: Small registry - how many items? : I've never heard of this before!  I think it would be too awkward though.  Poor Grandma would probably have a heart attack.
    Posted by JoanE2012[/QUOTE]

    I've never been to one, but when I first heard about them I thought the same thing!
    I think they're more common in some circles than others. From what I understand, they're not as awkward as they sound. Some guests buy true lingerie, the kind that makes you blush in front of Grandma, but a lot of people bring pajamas and bathrobe-type stuff.

    I think it's a nice alternative shower idea.
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