All about Online Bridal Registries

In This Section:

Common complaints from brides and wedding guests about department store registries, all about online gift registries and what to look for, which ones to use.

Why you should start your bridal registry online

Don't waste valuable time waiting for a store clerk to set up your registry, create your wedding registry on the store's web site without leaving your house. Then you can immediately start to populate your wedding gift registry if you decide to visit the store. Select your bridal gifts in the wedding gift registry online and build your gift list. Then if you decide to head to the store to see China patterns in person, half your work is done, no more hunting for wedding registry clerks and wait a half hour while they create your bridal registry and type in all your info that you could have done yourself online from home. Think harder, work less!

Potential downside of department store wedding gift registries

Up to 70% of wedding gifts a bride and groom receive were not from their wedding registry, because there are too many logistical roadblocks in the path to your wedding gifts. For our wedding, we got several glass candle holders, none of which we wanted as we had plenty already, nor were they on our gift list. So why did we get all these items? Because our guests could not find the items on our list at the very store where we registered. There are advantages to registering your wedding gifts with online sites. First of all, everything is in writing, all the prices are clearly marked, and it's fast and convenient. Convenience is the secret to getting all the gifts you want. With online registries, the gifts are mailed to you house so the guests don't lug them to the reception, leaving you with a pile of wedding gifts to deal with at the end of the night.

Online Bridal Registries

The better stores usually give you an online bridal registry for guests to logon and print out your bridal registry gift list from home to take to the store with them. Your online bridal registry gift list allows your wedding guests to buy your wedding gifts and ship them directly to you without having to visit the wedding registry department at the store. This saves your wedding guests plenty of time, and works our better for everyone, as etiquette has trended away from guests bringing wedding gifts to the reception placing undo burden on the bride and groom. By printing our your bridal registry gift list online, your wedding guests who want to shop at the bridal registry can instantly hit the floor shopping for your wedding gifts without fighting a clerk's attention to print out your bridal registry list.

One of the sites we recommend: See what's On Sale at The Knot Wedding Shop

Make it convenient for your guests, and they won't ditch your registry and go elsewhere to choose a gift you might not want. Most of the items in your registry have pictures online so your guests can access your gift list, see all the items, click on a picture of the item so they know what they are buying, then add the item to the online shopping cart. For the bride, it's so easy, just open your registry online, and start checking off the gifts you want, to build your gift list. The better sites have consultants that can work with you to setup your gift list as well. The online sites usually list the quantity you have chosen, and what's left that has not been bought yet.

By registering in some store bridal registries, you are automatically entered into databases where guests can access your wedding site, buy your gifts, and have them shipped to you. Then they don't have to bring them to the reception where you run the risk of it being lost or left behind. I can speak for that, the hotel sent our gifts to another bride & groom's room by mistake and we could not get them back until the next day.

Online registries have the same great products found at department stores and you can register for china, flatware, barbecue, electronics, DVD players, and more, just like you are standing in a store, only you're sitting at your home PC enjoying a nice cold drink while you're shopping for the items in your registry. While you're doing this, imagine how you would feel if you were standing in a mall with tired aching feet waiting for a sales clerk to come help you. The key is to shop the different sites to compare price, and more important, make sure both the bride and groom work together to choose the gifts so there's no surprises. In addition to getting your china, and the other typical "wedding fluff" gifts, make sure you choose useful items that you'll really need like tools. I can't stress how important having good tools are when you move into a new home.

On better online registries, your guests see at a glance the prices for every item on the list. They don't get that from department store registry gift lists. In seconds they have found what gift fits their price range. The better registries have bridal consultants and you can email, fax, or call in your order toll free, in case you have no computer or internet access. The better online registries have good price guarantees in writing, not the verbal "promises" given to you by department store clerks. The better online site guarantees will match any price that you see lower anywhere, as long as the registry can verify the price is indeed lower.

The Reason For Online Bridal Registries
The way we have been registering for weddings in department stores and buying gifts for brides and grooms for years is old school and a waste of time for everyone involved. Let's review some of the drawbacks of registering for gifts and buying wedding gifts in the old brick and mortar mall stores, and why brides are switching their registries to online sites.

Complaints From Guests:

They wait a long time just to get a clerks attention to get a printout of the bridal registry gift list.
Once they get the bridal registry gift list, items are impossible to find, can't get a busy clerk's attention from other wedding guests and brides who are signing up new wedding registries.
Prices often omitted on store's bridal registry gift list printout, guest must decide which gift might be in their price range.
Too many items on the gift list are out of stock.
The quantity of items left on the gift list are inaccurate, as guests buy gifts from different stores in the chain, the stores forget to deduct the quantity from the list.
Guests are often charged full retail price for a place setting, even though the store promised the bride it would be at their "every day low price".

Complaints From The Bride & Groom:

Waited a long time to get bridal registry clerk's attention to start gift registry.
Items aren't priced, difficult to get a clerk's attention to lookup the price, then it's too expensive to feel comfortable adding it to your gift list.
Often nothing in writing, bride is often told one thing and experiences another when it's time to collect. This usually happens on china place settings.
Due to inaccuracies in the quantity of items on gift list, brides don't always get what they ask for.
Items on gift list not in stock, guests buy something not on the list that the bride did not want.
Bride registers at bridal registry in one store, but guests shop at another store in the chain that does not have inventory. The bride misses out on some items she asked for.

With online sites like the Macys bridal registry, gone are the days of fighting traffic, find a parking spot in the rain, then wait around forever in the department store until a bridal registry clerk is freed up long enough to print out an inaccurate gift list. Your guest has lost an hour and has not even begun to pick out a gift yet.

Warning About "Lowest Price Guaranteed!" Claims
Don't think you'll get the lowest price just because a store says they have the lowest price guaranteed. The "lowest price guaranteed" does not always mean the lowest price, it just means they guarantee they'll beat whatever price you can find. Usually their prices will be good, but sometimes you'll find a few items that are not as low priced as you expected. Be ready for this when it happens, and present them with the lower price, and they must be able to verify it to beat the price you found. Online registries are popping up everywhere, as these businesses realize it's a better way for brides to receive their gifts. The bride's guests can all shop from the ease and comfort of their own home, and maybe the bride will receive more of her gifts too. There are less errors, there's no absent minded clerk to forget to subtract the gift from your gift list, because online it's done automatically. It's just a much better way to handle the impossible logistics of wedding gifts.

Here are some tips to save you money and reduce the aggravation you may encounter:

See if the online registry has a written policy online that you can print out and save.
Now you won't be stuck with any empty verbal promises. If there is a problem, you will always have something in writing to fall back on that they cannot get out of. If they quote you a price for the china, get it in writing. If they say the bride gets a discount, get all the details in writing.

Use gift money you get to go buy your remaining china place settings after the wedding.
Use the gift money from your wedding, login to your online bridal registry and finish off your place settings or other unfulfilled wedding gifts.

Don't register until 2-3 months before your wedding, just before you send out the wedding invitations
This will reduce the chances of the online bridal registry not having items on your list when the guests go to buy your gifts. The online sites tell you to register 4-6 months ahead to give your guests plenty of time, but don't worry about guests that will go to buy gifts 3 months before the wedding because that just does not happen. Most guests wait until the day before the wedding, or the day of the wedding on their way to the ceremony to buy the gifts anyway, so 60 days is plenty of time.

Go on to the next chapter:

Department Store Bridal Registry Tips And Avoiding Scams

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