How to Make Your Wedding Gift
Registry Checklist

Make your wedding gift registry checklist based on how you and your fiancé live your lives now and plan to live together once married.

• Are you a gourmet cook? Do you hate to cook but like to throw parties? (Register for barware and serving trays)
• Pay attention to your daily routines on weekdays and weekends – what items would make your routine smoother or more pleasant? What do you own that will need to be replaced soon?
• What about recreational gifts? What do you do for fun? Throw backyard barbeques? Go to the movies? Go camping? Play sports?
• Will you be moving into a new house? What will you need for the home, garage and yard that you don’t already have?
• Don’t forget about electronics like digital cameras, video cameras, iPod mixing boards and speakers, DVD players, and sound equipment

You and your fiancé may want to consider creating separate lists of gifts before combining them into one.

This will allow you to discuss why you desire certain items, help you to eliminate unnecessary items, and perhaps reveal items that were forgotten.

Once you have your master wedding gift registry checklist, visit several online retailers and registries before spending time and money driving to a variety of stores.

Learn how bride Lisa Spooner saved $22,000 on her dream wedding

Specialty kitchen items that only do one thing, take up space and are rarely used – pasta makers, fondue sets, espresso machines (takes longer to clean it than to drink the coffee), French fry cutters…. Skip them.

• Register 6- 9 months before the wedding (the date should be on your wedding planning timeline). You can keep your registries open for a year after the wedding (guests have this long to give gifts)
• Register at 1-3 different stores, no more. That includes charities you may link to on your wedding website for gift donations



• Choose national chain stores with trackable registries, shipping, and generous return and exchange programs. Ask about “completion discounts.” After the wedding, some stores will offer you a discount on the remaining items on your registry
• If possible, allow gift cards as a registry item
• Careful not to duplicate items on multiple registries
• Make sure you cover a variety of price points. No more than 10% of the gifts should be over $100, a majority should be between $25-75, and around 10% below $25
• Avoid sale and clearance items; often times items are no longer available for purchase by the time guests are shopping
• If applicable, try to ensure that items are available both in-store and on-line. Many people wait until the weekend before the wedding to buy gifts, only to discover all that is left on the registry is only available online

Be subtle, wedding registry etiquette dictates that the links should not be in-your-face on the site.

After you register for wedding gifts, always double-check your master list and the address where gifts will be shipped.

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