Registry and Gift Forum

Why do people register so early?

I'm getting married this Oct and wasn't planning to register until this spring -- a few people I know are really surprised that I haven't registered already. I can't say I'm sure what the big deal is... but then I hear that Amanda just registered at Crate and Barrel for her Sept 2016 wedding and Nicole just registered at Macy's for her May 2016 wedding. Is there a purpose behind registering so early? 
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Re: Why do people register so early?

  • Excitement or if they are moving in with their FI now, they may be using it as a registry for house warming gifts too and then will add more to it later.
  • I chalk it up to people being excited. 
    What did you think would happen if you walked up to a group of internet strangers and told them to get shoehorned by their lady doc?~StageManager14
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  • People like stuff.

    Conventional wisdom is that it's a bad idea to register more than about 6 months in advance because of rotating stock and things getting discontinued, but a lot of people do it early anyway.

    You're perfectly fine to wait until the spring. You don't need a registry until your shower.
  • edited February 2015
    I started registering in December for my July wedding.  I just wanted to get a head start so I could take my time and not feel rushed.  I add items as I realize it's something I need or want.  I went to a party this weekend and saw a serving set the hostess was using.  I knew they had the same one as Macy's, so I went home and added it to my registry.     I think registering more than a year out is a little excessive, but some people do buy gifts early.   I actually had someone buy something off mine already.  The item was on sale and I'm guessing they wanted to get a good deal.  
  • I assume people get excited and forget that retail inventory tends to change every six months for most items. 
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    Anniversary
  • We registered 9 months before the wedding because (1) I was excited, and (2) people kept asking where we were registered/what we had registered for.

    So far our vegetable serving bowls have been discontinued (none of the other pieces of our everyday dishes or serveware... JUST the vegetable serving bowls. WTF.).

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  • We registered fairly early, since my FMIL was adamant that people would buy gifts off the registry for our engagement party. We did get some gifts, but they certainly weren't off either of our registries!

    To be honest, I'm sort of glad that I did it early since it was one less thing to worry about in the last couple of months. If you're registering for small kitchen appliances, everyday dishes and glasses, etc, those items are much less likely to be discontinued between now and October, especially at larger retailers. Décor items are more likely to turn over.

    For some reason, the serving bowl and platter for our china pattern are no longer being carried at the store where we registered. We can order them from the States, but seriously??? WHY? @charcoalandblush I feel your annoyance.

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  • Sometimes people ask really early- we registered early in part because our parents hinted they'd like to be able to shop our registry for birthday/christmas gifts before the wedding.  It also gave me time to research products before guests were really looking at the registry- I dropped a few things that looked good in store once I read the reviews and picked a different brand/model.

    I hear about inventory turning over all the time but found it to depend what you pick- there is going to be some turnover as new models come out, but if you're registering for classics like a KA mixer and calphalon pans, that doesn't happen every year.  We had some WS kitchen tools go out of course but at Macy's all I had to rechoose was an iron.
  • We weren't even going to have a registry but family members and guests kept asking us where we were registered, and some people flat out told us they prefer to buy physical gits for newleyweds. So we threw together a quick registry of some items we don't have and could definitely use. That was a week and a half ago. Our wedding is November.

    Came home to find two big boxes from BB&B outside of our door.

    Then again, it is one less thing to have to do later. And doing it online is great. If we're cooking dinner and something cheap of ours breaks, or we don't have something....to the registry we go!
                                     Wedding Countdown Ticker

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  • Maybe for engagement parties? I didn't even have one but I had relatives asking my mother if I was registered anywhere less than one month after I was engaged! She said no, but many went ahead and picked out some great houseware-type gifts for us. I also worried about registering too early and having things be discontinued or gone. Or us forgetting and buying it for ourselves during that time, lol
  • We had an engagement party and people kept asking so we registered. It worked out well though, because I had a birthday around the same time and then we had Christmas so people liked being able just to pick from that and know it was something we really wanted.
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  • My old boss was demanding to know where I'm registered the second I got engaged (it's been a long-ish engagement, will be 1.5 years total) and told me if I didn't register she'd buy me something ugly, ha!

    I believe I'll do a tiny little registry for a few upgrades but honestly we don't need much shit and have nowhere to put it. The idea of registering super early was too much pressure for me.
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  • julieanne912julieanne912 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited March 2015
    I registered a week after we got engaged because I felt like I needed to get SOMETHING done relating to the wedding, and that was easy to do online in my PJs late at night.  And, it's fun! Our wedding is Sept of this year and we got engaged a little over a month ago, so it's not that early.
    Married 9.12.15
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  • We started in January for our September wedding because it was an easy, low-stress thing to check off the list when I was anxious to start getting things done. Then we had plenty of time to think about things and make edits before the shower invitations went out. (And it took a preposterously long time to decide on dinnerware.)

    The white wine glasses bounced between discontinued and available a few times (just the white!) but that wasn't until July. The only thing that got rotated out of stock completely due to registering early was a set of dish towels; everything else was classic, long-standing kind of things.

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  • We registered at the end of July for our June wedding. My husband and I work opposite shifts, and we have different days off. We were on vacation at that time, so that worked for us. 

    Some people bought off our registry for Christmas that year.

    Macy's didn't have much turnover, but Crate and Barrel did. I just would change out things if they were discontinued. 
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  • I started my registry already even though my wedding isn't until Oct. 2016. We wanted to take advantage of the perks at Macy's. After our wedding I'll get a gift card for 10% back on purchases I made up until the wedding and 5% back on what my guest spend when they purchase something off my registry. I should get a gift card just in time for Christmas shopping! :) We just have classic things on there that probably won't go out of stock like china. 
  • We had a lot of requests for a registry almost right off the bat (within a month of getting engaged)! Turns out that on my FMIL's side, a lot of family and friends like to send engagement gifts. This isn't something that my side did much of, fwiw. But we went and registered within maybe three months or so, and sure enough, we received a good number of gifts in the mail, long before a shower. Very kind and generous people, and it made me feel very much welcomed into the family.
  • We registered 11 months out.  Honestly it was because it was the only time DH and I were together at BB&B.  We lived in the islands and we didn't have one there (or any national besides Kmart).    DH wanted to play with the guy.   DH didn't return to the states until a week before our wedding.  It was then or never.






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
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