New HomeRegistry Checklist
One exciting thing about weddings is the number of presents you get. As a mark of affection, family and friends will want to buy you a gift. Sometimes unknowingly, they may buy you a gift that someone else has already bought you.
For couples who have been working for sometime and are living together, they have probably acquired most of what they need.Most couples find it difficult to balance the desire of their guests who want to buy them their carefully chosen gifts, which have to be received with appreciation, with their desire to receive gifts that they need in their home. No one wants to end up with an armful of unnecessary duplicate gifts and those that don’t fall in with your lifestyle.The answer to this problem is a wedding list also known as a gift registry. This is a list of all the gifts that you feel you need and would like to receive. Guests pick items to buy from the list according to their means and generosity.
A wedding list can take one or two forms. In the first, you make your list and give it to those who ask to see it. Once a gift is chosen, it is crossed off the list.
The second form your wedding list can take, is where a shop or store holds your wedding list. Stores like Eve’s Bayou, Zawadi Outlets, Hot point and Nakumatt among others provide a wedding list service where you make up your own list from their stock. The store will manage your wedding list so that when your guests call or visit the store the item they’ve bought is crossed off the list. Remember, this is a free service in most stores.
While drawing up a wedding list consider a wide range of items to cater for all budgets. Where the gift is expensive your friends and relatives can pool together to buy it. Ensure you have an excess suggestion of gifts so that even the last one to get the list still has plenty of options to choose from. Some stores may deliver your gifts to you once they are bought but mostly when a guest has purchased an item, they take it away with them and give it to you on your wedding day.
You can have your gift registry in two or more places. Shop around for the most suitable and convenient store, bearing in mind the types and styles of gifts you want and where your guests will prefer to shop.
HOW TO REGISTER
Step 1
Make an assessment of what you need in your new home from the kitchen to the bathroom. Mark your room colours and home planning schemes so that there is a matching colour scheme and a harmony.
Whether or not your home will have a permanent setting, decide what you need.
Step 2
Visit the registry store. Set aside at least an hour for your visit. Once you are there you get to fill out a form and have your queries answered by an attendant. To help you along with wise choices, the shop attendants might assist you to choose items that compliment each other.
Step 3
Let people know that you have a registry. This is a matter of choice depending also on your family background. The most common and popular way is to give the information together with your wedding cards. This will save time, but just a word of caution that though gift lists are very popular in the west, we are yet to catch up on this. Some guests may feel that some gifts are not appreciated. The other way is to let people know by word of mouth or tell them if they ask.
At the end of the day, though, the bridal registry idea may not completely rid you of duplicate hassles, but at least it will save you getting 10 toasters! If you are lucky you might just get 3 toasters like Cynthia who’s featured in our Real weddings issue!
