The wedding gift registry. I was really looking forward to this part. I had visions of having an awesome time going to town with the scanner gun like a kid in a candy store.
Only it wasn’t a candy store. It was a store with dishes and bedding and kitchen gadgets.
Out of nowhere I was struck by a wave of really heavy existential conflict. It’s hard to even explain. Like deep “possessions own you,” “needs vs. wants,” “stuff for stuff’s sake” …stuff. Way worse than my usual “that’s nice but I don’t really need it” routine. I found myself really not even wanting it.
Let’s take plates for an example. It was really difficult to pick any out. Why? We already have plenty! We have four different sets of differing vintages, colors, materials, and patterns. Some are pretty ugly. Some look ok. Certainly none are fancy enough to be considered fine china or even grown-up plates. But the food tastes the exact same on all four.
And all the latest and greatest kitchen gadgets. Some lady was putting the full court press on us for some sort of state-of-the-art panini-press/griddle/heart-rate-monitor/GPS-unit, and knowing how I’d survived my whole life without it, I was having a really hard time imagining how much better my life would be with it. (To be fair, I said the same thing about the Kitchen Aid mixer, which Bryn has used to create a number of life-bettering treats.)
Yes I’m a party pooper and hard to shop for. I get it, and I’m sorry. I think we’ll publish a couple registries and you can laugh at the limited selection, but seriously I don’t want anyone to feel obligated to get a gift.
So funny story about Macys. They gave us two champagne flutes as a thank you gift for attending their registry event. Um, hello, enjoy shooting yourself in the foot much? That’s two less that people are going to buy from you now! We also got a $25 gift certificate to Restaurant.com, which should last quite a while.
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Tags: weddings
Hey, I completely get it, especially if you had a few years of acquisitions under your belt!
oops, sorry about the plates. Maybe this year for your birthday I’ll just pack up some of that stuff I hauled out of your old room and send it down to you! Coke bottles??
Haha, hysterical! My fiancee and I registered at MyRegistry.com though…and not only can you shop online and add items from any store in the world to your registry…but they have an iPhone app so you can pretend your iPhone is a department store scan gun!! This sounds like it would be right up your alley!!! But since my fiancee and I have already been living together for almost 2 years, MyRegistry.com’s universal wish list gave him the chance to add some gift items that he really wanted (aka TOYS) to our registry.
A suggestion if its not too late, try http://www.weddingrepublic.com. Its an online, cash gift registry. Great if you want less traditional stuff and perhaps not “stuff” at all (think trips, house down payment etc) – no “registry hangover” as you basically get the cash value for the items you post. You can see a sample at http://www.weddingrepublic.com/sample – good luck!
I know the exact feeling. It sounded like a good idea until we got there, and then it was zero fun. Even though we didn’t have much stuff I was stressed because I knew I didn’t need or would use a lot of the stuff. On top of that, I didn’t feel like I had much choice. I’ll be eating off whatever Crate and Barrel thought was cool in the Summer of 2010, for the next decade.