When to register and dishes...

bribri21 · September 2013

When would we need to register? Our wedding is Oct. 18, 2014 so we have awhile yet. It is super exciting to go to the store and look at things we would want in the future. I love kitchen stuff haha

Also, I was talking with my stepmom and wondering if there is a need to register for Fine China. She said many of her friends still have their Fine China in the same box from 20 years ago. I bought a really nice set of dishes at a church rummage sale for $5. Dinner and salad plates, bowls, cup and saucer 8 place settings. It would be like our everyday dishes. I like the design for the most part and would hate to get rid of it, it was such a deal!!! Just wondering other's thoughts

MobKaz · September 2013

There is no hard and fast rule about when to register. There are a few things to keep in mind, however.

Some family members may want to use your registry to get a jump start on their holiday shopping for you. If you would enjoy getting some registry gifts for the holidays, then you could begin. The problem with early registering is that what you include on your registry today may no longer be available closer to your wedding date. You run the risk of someone purchasing some of your dishes now, and being unable to "complete" the purchase if that item becomes discontinued or changed. If you decide to start a registry now, perhaps start small with very classic or long standing items that tend not to change with trends. You can slowly build it over the months.

Personally, I think true fine china is no longer necessary or worth the cost. I have at least two complete sets (I am a MOB/MOG). It is a pain to bring it out just for holidays. I bought two sets of inexpensive dinnerware; one is white and the other clear glass. I much more enjoy "dressing it up" with current table trends from year to year, than dragging out the old china.

bribri21 · September 2013

I heard someone else say that it is a good idea with the holiday season to do a small registry. Always completing it later on as the time gets closer. I do not think I have ever been to a formal dinner party. As for family get togethers we usually use paper plates and such.

courtneythesquid · September 2013

If you want to register now and think some folks are ready to start shopping, there is no harm in starting a registry now. But I would focus on stuff that can “stand alone”- trust me, my dinnerware set got discontinued 3 months prior to the wedding, this does happen! You will also need to do a complete review/ overhaul about 3-6 months before your date to remove items that have been discontinued/ add the version currently in stores. But it sounds like that shouldn’t be a problem, clearly you’re excited!

Regarding the china, there is no right answer to this. You either are the type of person who loves to entertain and wants to do so on china, or you aren’t. My grandparents are giving me their wedding china (24 place settings- egad!!!) so I skipped this, and once word got out, a few other family members have offered to give us a set of their china. It seems like lots of folks have multiple sets of china that they don’t use much, but that’s just in my circle.

One thing I would think about- if you have a ton of guests, and are having trouble finding enough stuff that you need to fill your registry, that might be a reason to register for china/ a holiday place setting. If you’re just starting out and don’t have much stuff, or if you’re having a smaller wedding, you might focus on the stuff you really will use every day and buy the china in the future.

fre3doms · September 2013

I have almost 2 sets of dishes that I bought at dollar stores for college. I will be registering for another set of dishes to be my little bit nicer set. Making sure they are dishwasher and microwave safe. I have some fine china that was my great-uncles that I might use occasionally.
My family has a set of china that we use for our everyday. It is white with blue flowers and able to go in the dishwasher. We have another set of plates my mother does not like using and also a green set of plates the previous owners of our house left.

My wedding is Feb 15th so later this month my fiance and I will be registering. I think it will be fun.

Xstatic3333 · September 2013

If you're registering for lots of kitchen gadgets, I'd go ahead and get started with those. Stand mixers, all clad/Calphalon pans, etc. aren't going anywhere. You can add linens and place settings later on. We did our WS registry about a year out because FI was super excited about it, and had very little turnover.

SP29 · September 2013

We did not register for china, but instead registered for a very nice, high quality set of dishes that we will use for everyday, but are "nice enough" to use for guests (Noritake).

I don't think we would ever use china unless we ended up throwing fancy dinner parties, and if we could afford that, we could afford to buy the china at a later date. BB&B will advertise that you *should* register for china, but you have to think- will you use it? Is it a price bracket friends and family would purchase a gift in? Are you prepared to complete the set if you don't get as many place settings as you desired?

We registered about 6 months in advance.

silver0319 · September 2013

We started our registry about over a year in advance at Kohls and BBB. In hindsight, it wasn't the best idea because many of the items that we registered for at Kohls are no longer available and a few things at BBB are discontinued. The upside is that we've had lots of time to discover what we actually need or want to replace.

southernredandwhite85 · September 2013

We registered in May/June 2013 for our April 2014 wedding and have had to do a bit of updating because some items are no longer available. We were wishy washy about whether or not to register for fine china. We didn't know if we'd ever use it, our parents both have china we'd inherit one day, etc. Ultimately, we decided to register for it because although we may not use it immediately, we'd love to have it available to us if we want to use it down the road.

hoffse · September 2013

I'm a china person, but my thoughts on it are this: if you ever think you might want it, now is the time. We got literally every single piece of ours, including the teapot. It's lovely, and I look at it every day. H and I also make a point to bring it out when we go through the effort of cooking a nice meal. We don't use it exclusively for holidays, and people who do are wasting the quality dinnerware they have. China is very very hard-wearing. It is a lot stronger than stoneware or porcelain. It's fired multiple times at higher temperatures than any of the other kinds of dinnerware, and that makes it more chip and scratch-resistant. Truly, you can find casual bone china that is absolutely worth its price, just in terms of the quality item you are buying.

I think it also depends on the size of your guestlist and whether your circle is made up of box givers or cash givers. My circle is almost entirely box. And we invited 300 people. I got rid of a lot of hand-me-downs and garage sale finds, and we were able to build a nice collection of serving pieces, dinnerware, etc. that all make sense together. We did a casual set and a formal set, and then we registered for extra serving pieces (platters, bowls, app plates, etc.) that could be used with both. Despite my huge love of china, we really have nothing extra that doesn't go with other stuff - we got rid of all that and were really careful about the items we selected. We've only been married 5 months, but we have had plenty of opportunities to use nearly all the items we registered for. If it were me, for $5 I would have no problems getting rid of a set of dishes that you sound only slightly enthusiastic about and registering for what you AND YOUR H really want. That's because I think a registry is an opportunity to get rid of "my" stuff and "his" stuff and start a marriage with "our" stuff.

Just my $0.02.

ashleyep · September 2013

I think I'll be registering for China just because we already have a great set of every day dinnerware. We don't need a ton of stuff, so since we'll have room on the registry I figure I'll add that.

southernbelle0915 · September 2013

Register whenever you want. You can build your registry and keep it private until you're ready for people to be able to search for it. Ask how to do this where you register.

As far as dishes, stores like BBB and Macy's are pretty good about telling you when/what stuff will be discontinued. I'd talk to them.

kiwikiss56 · September 2013

We decided to register for this instead of china as our "fancy" dinner settings: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/Mikasa-Italian-Countryside-45-Piece-Dinnerware-Set/1013958459?Keyword=mikasa+italian

It's less than 1/4 of the price of some of the china I actually liked and the matching serve-ware (also has matching candlesticks and a number of other pieces). I know this isn't as nice as china and will be more likely to chip but at least it is not as expensive to replace! The pattern has been around for 20 years so hopefully it's not going anywhere!

We also just registered as family may want to buy things from the registries birthdays or Christmas even though we aren't getting married for until next September.

When to register and dishes...

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