Guest Post: “Hip” Tips for Wedding Registries
(Photo Credit: Crate & Barrel)
Guest Post by Amy from Belles on a Budget
You’re getting married! Congratulations! One of your first wedding planning tasks will be to register for gifts for your new life together. Wedding registries are great because guests will know for sure that their gift will be loved and used and there is a reduced chance of duplicate gifts. Not all guests will use the registry, but it is nice to have it as an option for those who prefer to purchase gifts this way.
With that being said, not all registries are created equal! When considering what store or stores to register with, you’ll want to consider: a) which stores have products you like and the type of items you need for your home, b) the price point of the items- make sure you have a variety of price ranges to accommodate all budgets, c) the store’s convenience to your guests- even if online shopping is available, it is nice to have some brick and mortar stores that guests can visit so they aren’t forced to pay shipping fees, and d) the perks the registry offers to you and your guests.
Here are some of my favorite wedding registries because of all the extra goodies they offer to either engaged couples or wedding guests purchasing gifts. These benefits can really add up and could mean hundreds of dollars in savings and some quality freebies for your married life!
Bed Bath and Beyond
My favorite thing about Bed Bath and Beyond is that they are incredibly coupon-friendly! They send tons of 20% off a single item coupons or $5 off $15 coupons to everyone on their mailing list. (Tip: Make sure to have your parents or wedding party spread the word about the coupons to other guests. One recent bride told me she assumed everyone knew about the coupons and then felt badly when she found out her future mother-in-law paid full price for her gift!). Free gift wrapping stations at each store, with boxes, wrapping paper, gift bags, tissue paper and ribbon allow guests to wrap their gifts right after they make their purchases. This definitely helps with the cost of wrapping paper! Bed Bath and Beyond also offers a 10% registry completion discount, but I would recommend using your 20% off coupons instead for the most bang for your buck. Plus, their registry referral program gets you a $25 gift card for every friend you refer who registers there.
Crate & Barrel
Did you know that Crate & Barrel offer wedding events for brides and grooms?! At this events (which are closed to outside customers!), you’ll snag free food and free gifts like toasting flutes, and you’ll be able to browse and select items for your registry.
Plus, you get a 10% off completion discount on any items you buy from your registry within six months after your wedding which can include furniture. (Tip: Consider adding furniture to your registry, especially if you plan on buying it after your wedding. This will qualify the furniture for the completion discount!)
Dillard’s
Dillard’s offers brides and grooms a hefty 20% off completion discount on all items left on their registry for 60 days after the big day.
Kohl’s
Kohl’s has several free gift offers that will get you some nice freebies if you register for certain products. Guests save 15% off a $50 in-store registry purchase when they present one of your registry announcement cards at checkout. You also get a 15% completion discount for items left on your registry.
JCPenney
When you register, make sure to sign up for the free registry rewards program. This program gives you points based on how much your guests purchase off your registry which means you can earn up to a $50 gift card for free! Plus, you can snag free gifts when you register for certain products too. In addition, all couples receive a free engagement portrait session when they register.
Guests receive free shipping on any registry purchases of $69 or more- perfect for all of those online shoppers! JCPenney offers a 10% completion discount on registry items for 90 days after your wedding date.
Macy’s
Macy’s is one of my favorite places for registries because of their Star Rewards Program. Here’s how it works: You register at Macy’s and after your big day, you get a gift card worth 5% of all the gifts purchased from your registry and an additional 10% of any purchases you make with your Macy’s credit card during that time. You do need to have a Macy’s credit card to participate in the program, but it is free and you can always cancel after your wedding. There is a lot of potential here to score a substantial free gift card! Brides get a free tote bag when you register (Fun and very useful for hauling your wedding binder to vendor meetings). Macy’s even hosts Sip and Scan events for brides and grooms where you can enjoy free drinks and appetizers while you register. Sounds like a fun cheap date night to me! You also get a 10% completion discount for items left on your registry that is good for 90 days after your wedding date.
Pottery Barn
Pottery Barn gives you a 10% completion discount on any items left on your registry or any items that you wish to add to your registry for six months after your wedding day. This could help you save big on large items like furniture!
Target
Target offers couples a 10% off completion coupon for items left on your registry. Make sure you also pick up the registry welcome kit when you visit the store- it includes bonus coupons!
Williams Sonoma
You get a 10% discount on any registry items or additional items you would like to purchase within six months after your wedding. Couples receive free gifts for registering for certain products depending on vendor offers, such as gift cards or free items.
Knowing each registry’s perks will help you make the best choice for the two of you and for your guests. Do what works for your lifestyle and register for the things that you really plan on using- no one wants their gift to be stuck in a cabinet forever! And have fun with it! Revel in being showered with a little love at the stores and enjoy planning your future together. Congratulations!
Go to Belles on a Budget for more tips, deals, inspiration, and advice for planning a wedding on a budget!
LOVE this! Great tips, just shared on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/itsajaimething
Macy’s was phenomonal to work with to complete our registry after the wedding. For any purchase over $50 we made over the phone with someone at the registry department of the store, they gave us free shipping plus the 10% off.
Thanks so much Belles on a Budget for this list! I love discounts!
Another tip I got from Bed Bath & Beyond when I made my registry is that the 20% coupons never expire! Even though they have an expiration date, they will take old ones with no questions asked. This was awesome when we went to use the giftcards we got – we were able to get 20% off every item we bought!
I have a hip tip based on personal experience. Please, please, PLEASE do not buy a personalized gift for a couple unless a) they registered for it, b) you know them very, very well, or c) you have asked them about it. We received a gift that, um, did not really fit our taste… and our names and wedding date are engraved on it.
I realize that some people do not like to purchase from registries. They want to do something more personal. I get it. I was one of those people until I got engaged (now married). Couples register for items that they DO want, and giving them one of those gifts is incredibly meaningful and appreciated.
(Yes, all gifts are appreciated, *and* those who are unable to give gifts are ALSO appreciated and understood. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful–just want to share a wedding gift tip.)
You’re totally right!
I have had more friends & relatives get married and end up with tons of stuff that people spent money on and they just have no use for it. I can’t complain, though, I’ve been the recipient of several wedding gifts that friends didn’t want/need that were things they knew I could use. 🙂
I always buy from the registry unless I absolutely know it’s something they will want and use. For example, I’ve bought tickets for attractions they were going to on their honeymoon that they didn’t register for but I knew they would need to buy. (And, of course, told them far in advance that that would be their gift so they wouldn’t buy them and then have too many tickets!)
Seeing some of these deals with the free gifts and completion discounts makes me want to register…but I’m not engaged! LOL
We just got married and Macy’s was the best! Not only do you get 10% on everything on your registry after the wedding, you get 10% off on ANYTHING. If you print your own registry and bring it, they say you can the discount on get anything in the store! Also, they had a promo where they bumped the 10% up to 20% a few weeks ago! Remember, the % off for completion is in addition to any other sale or discount you may get! Macy’s was perfect because they have items in everyone’s price range, you don’t need a receipt to return, and you can shop the crazy sales they have! They also have goofy looking little shopping carts that they only give out to registered customers. Having that was really nice when completing our list so we didn’t have to juggle a bunch of stuff.
We also did the sip & scan, which was tons of fun. They were giving away prizes from a drawing throughout the whole thing!
Macy’s all the way!
I love the little freebies you get when registering at various stores. When my fiance and I registered at Macy’s, we also attended a Sip and Scan event (so much fun!), and when we left , they handed us a gift bag that contained all kinds of useful information, a water bottle, and a $25 dollar gift card to restaurants.com!
When we registered with Target, we also got a gift kit with coupons and a $20 dollar gift card to Shutterfly! Creating your wedding registry is already super exciting, but I love it when stores go the extra mile to make it especially fun for the couple. It’s worth keeping in mind and doing a little extra research before choosing your stores!
Get ready for this: I registered at Bed, Bath and Beyond, and for every gift I got I took the gift receipts into the store and checked to see if my guest had used a coupon. If not, I took one of my stash of 20% off coupons (acquired from the trash can at our apartment complex’s mail room over a few months- you’d be shocked and how many people throw them out!!) and applied it each item on the receipt that needed one. I got all the money back as store credit gift cards. Hundreds of dollars. Which I used to fulfill my registry after my wedding, with the remainder of my 20% coups and the 10% completion discount on the rest.
Wow, they let you have the discount back as if they’d used a coupon when they bought it?!? That’s awesome!!! 🙂
That’s allowed? It sounds kind of questionable.
It was the employees of the store who told me to do it! And I wasn’t bringing 20 receipts in at a time. I spread it out…
Nice! I’ll have to remember that 🙂
A lot of stores do that. If you buy something and later find a coupon or it goes on sale, they will give you a credit for the coupon/discount amount. It’s a little known fact, but in situations like this, it can be awesome!
yeah, that’s really pretty cheesy IMHO. Be happy with the gift you got and the $ they spent – don’t abuse their policy or we’ll all lose it! They should credit it back to the person’s credit / debit card that was used if anything…you don’t deserve the bonus because they didn’t use a coupon.
If the STORE is telling her to, then go for it…
Registering at BB&B is wonderful — they do not require any receipts for returns! Our plates chipped within the first week, and they took them ALL back (even the ones we had used) without a receipt and gave us full credit. They were wonderful!
Target on the other hand was terrible. They would not take back anything without a receipt (even if it was on my registry). I got 4 coffee makers and 3 crock pots, and I literally had to argue with them to get them exchanged.
I second this — even with people buying off your registries – you’ll still end up with duplicates (when it fails to come off) or are given a similar item you didn’t register for, so need to return the registered item — so my only added “tip” would be to read the fine print about returns down to the last detail — Target is just ok and only if the guest knew and remembered to include a gift receipt and it’s within the 90 day window (which could be a problem in itself if your engaged for a longer period of time and the gift was purchased early and given late), but BB&B was amazing with the ease of returns and they even refund everything with cash, not gift cards or credit like the other stores! That meant when I needed/wanted an item to set up our home from another store, I could use the return money from BB&B. I liked them before my engagement and marriage, but the wedding registry process made into a huge fan!
I was just getting on here to say almost the exact same thing. I had the same experience. I wish she would have also commented on each stores return policy, because I had such a horrible experience with Target’s return policy I stopped shopping there for awhile.
UMMM… I just registered with BB and B and I’ve been saving every coupon I can find. This is wonderful to learn that they will honor the coupons based on the receipt! WOW!!
When my daughter got married right out of college they needed everything. They registered at Bed Bath and Beyond and Dillards. The Bridal consultant at Dillards was willing to help them decide what they would really need. They got everything they needed to set up a household. Both are great places. Dillards even changed her registry after the wedding when she decided on a different pots and pans set so she could still get the completion discount.
I recently got married and I agree Target was awful. We got multiple items of almost everything and when you want to return something they will only give you the sale price (even if your gift giver paid full price) and its such a hassle. They where really rude. Bed Bath and Beyond on the other was the best!
I’ve bought gifts for people from Target and I think part of the problem is that you have to actually ask the cashier to scan the barcode on the registry print-out. I wonder if it might just be that they’re not used to asking if it’s for a registry but I know I always end up standing there with the printout in my hand so it should be obvious. They’ve never asked me to see it so they can scan it and have it marked as purchased on there.
I used Target for my baby registry & regret it!!! I ended up deleting my entire registry after my 1st shower due to their horrible return policy. (this was 2.5 years ago)
Their policy would NOT let me return an item over $20 if I did not have a receipt/ gift receipt, even if it was on my registry. So, someone prints my registry, buys me my $80 high chair & does not bother to give a receipt since I asked for it anyway. Another lady does the same thing before the registry is updated & I am stuck with 2 $80 high chairs I cannot return unless I go back to my guest & beg for a receipt so she knows I am returning her gift!?!?
No good!!! I always want to warn people who i see registering there.
brides! please remember to put something that costs less than $100 on your registry (besides individual towels)! i have been to a couple of weddings in the past few years where i spent so much to attend the ceremony (travel, hotel, etc.) and then i had a hard time finding something on the registry that i could afford (besides those darn towels)!
Two words: Gift Card.
The best thing about registering at Bed Bath and Beyond…you can return your gifts for CASH! Most stores just issue store credit. Plus, you can use as many 20% coupons as you want for each transaction. When I bought 12 napkins (individually priced), I used 12 coupons. Since they mail out so many coupons, I asked people at work if I could have any they weren’t using. I still have a huge stack 3 years later.
Totally agree – Target is AWFUL! We had a skillet that (in a sealed box) was defective, it had two left handles, no right. They only allow 2 returns per year on your lisc., even though this was on our registry it was defective and took it as one of our returns in the year! I even warn friends not to do a baby registry there.
Now TRUE story about Bed Bath and Beyond – yes to using 20% off certificates. Keep it up, whatever you dont get you can buy later or have people use it as christmas or birthday gifts. So on our registry we registered for a very expensive bathroom set – $25 bathroom garbage cans, $20 toothbrush holder, etc. We had three of each, its a 2 sink bathroom, plus a guest bathroom. A year and a half later, my cup, tb holder, etc looked fine and my husbands’ looked like he had chewed on them. I constantly complained he wasnt taking care of our stuff. I went with a friend to get a wedding gift for someone nearly 2 yrs after our registry expired. I was telling her the story of how my husband destroyed our stuff, the BBB associate heard me. She said “Oh, was that the Saturn bath set???” I said yes it was. She then tells me to return ALL of it for a FULL REFUND nearly 2 yrs later because it was defective. My husband wasnt destroying it, they rotted!!!! Nearly 2 yrs later, I returned $500 of bath items for a COMPLETE refund!!!! I I got much cheaper bathroom sets, one of those 6 jet “spa” shower full body jets, and had enough cash to take my dear hubby out to a nice dinner and apologize for complaining he was ruining our wedding gifts. 🙂 Bed Bath and Beyond is FANTASTIC!
What a great story…I bet your husband was happy to get an apology dinner. 🙂
I had a friend who registered for dishes from BB&B. About a year after she got them several of them had chipped pretty badly, so they let her return them for cash. Hands down the best return policy ever.
Collin, This was a very helpful guest post – good topic!
Thanks for this! I sent it to my best friend who is getting married in January!
Thanks for this, Collin. Brides need to remember to be respectful of their guests’ financial limitations. You would not believe the wedding registries I’ve heard of from friends. One went to a relative’s wedding, and the couple had not registered for anything under $200! What was worse, the couple and most of their friends had just graduated from grad school and were all just starting their careers, if they could find a job in this economy. They ended up getting a lot of off-registry gifts because people had no other choice.
I was a somewhat unconventional bride. I know people may not approve, but I registered at Amazon.com. The best thing was the ability to add items from any website! We had a few Bed Bath & Beyond items that we wanted and Amazon didn’t carry, but we didn’t have to make separate registries. Plus, Amazon’s prices were usually less than the bricks-and-mortar stores. Amazon also has a lot of free shipping options, and returns were easy.
Very helpful post! I love the fact that Bed Bath and Beyond has the free gift wrapping stations – wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows can really add up!
I got married less than two years ago and choose to register only at JCPenney, Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond. They all had their ups and downs. Target was tricky because of all the changing merchandise. If your registry is going to be up for more than 6 months plan to go back several times. We also found out that the Targets in our area differed greatly on merchandise availability. I was so frustrated by the third time I had to go register for more items that I sent my mother to register for me. Bed Bath and Beyond was hands down the best. The registry updated very quickly so I only had one item that I recieved two of. JCPenney was easy also and I would never think to register there had my mother not told me to. I was surprised how many people (especially my grandmother’s age) went there to get gifts. It seemed the non-tech savy generation favored Penney’s over the other two. One gift we received was broken when we got it and I took it back and they replaced it with no problem.
AMEN TO TERESA! Try to get items for everyone’s budget. Also, make sure you have enough (but not too many) items on the registry.
When I got married in June we skipped the traditional registry since we purchased our house three years ago and already had all of the house/gadget items we could ever want. Instead, at the advice of a friend, we created a honeymoon registry and it was the BEST thing ever. We enjoyed a 7-day trip to Key West and did not have have to pay for a SINGLE thing. Everything from our hotel, flight, meals, and excursions (we went snorkeling, on a sailboat tour, and jet skiing) was “gifted” to us by our friends and family. Several of our guests commented that they liked having this option instead of simply giving us money. I would highly recommend it to anyone getting married. We used honeymoonwishes.com but there are several different websites that allow you to create a honeymoon registry – Traveler’s Joy and Honeyfund are two other popular ones.
Can you please do this for baby registries too??? Thanks.
Amazon.com is awesome because you can add anything from any store online to one registry! The problem I encountered with it though was my relatives felt more comfortable buying something in the store so my Target registry got WAY more action, but I did get a few things on the Amazon I really wanted. It is also nice because you can get things at a fraction of the price of the BedBath&Beyond or Macys out there
Belk although incredibly regional was the best place to register for my husband and I. Not only did we get a gift card for registering, the also hold completion events throughout the year. Most items are marked down plus you get an extra 20% off anything on your registry.
Also the time of year you get married can help too. I got married in January and everything… I mean everything on my registry was 50% off or more. I was able to get more than I thought I would have been able to get because of this.
This is fantastic! I just got engaged last weekend — PERFECT timing!
I don’t recommend registering at Target. They don’t allow returns on duplicate items which isn’t very fair because they don’t update their systems enough!
I had problems @ Target too. BB&B was totally awesome, though—LOVE that store! 🙂
My daughter is engaged and we recently had a discussion about possible places to register. Thanks so much for this guest post, Amy. I love your Belles on a Budget site, too. You have so many great ideas!!
Thanks so much everyone for the tips! I just got engaged and this was very helpful. I didn’t even know what a “completion discount” was…and I can’t wait to try a sip & scan! 🙂
bed bath and beyond also offers a registry event after your wedding. we were invited to one at our local store about 3 weeks after where they close the store and you get to come in after hours. they had free snacks and drinks and we got 20% off anything!! it was great for all those little gadgets and stuff!!
I love the ideas of registering with Amazon and the honeymoon registry fund instead of a traditional gift! Wish I would’ve thought of that when I got married – lol.
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