"She's Not Buying You Two a Garbage Can"

Early last week Peter and I went out for dinner with his parents. Inevitably, the conversation turned towards the wedding. Peter's Mom was fielding questions from his relatives about our, ahem, bare registry list.   

"Your Aunt Marg called... she said to add some stuff to your registry, because she's not buying you two a garbage can. Also, she said she couldn't find your registry at Kitchen Stuff Plus. Have you not registered there yet?" 

We hadn't. In fact, after posting about our initial foray into the registry world, we decided against it. Feedback to that previous post was that we should stick to 1 store for our sanity, and that we should allow ourselves to have some nice things. 

Anyway! Not wanting to disappoint Aunt Marg, we spent this past Saturday cruising the aisles of The Bay looking for stuff to add to the registry. It was smooth sailing until it came to dinner sets. I won't bore you with the details, but after much back and forth Peter and I had finally decided on a set. Well, we decided on a set until a Bay representative came by. 

He picked up the plate we were looking at and began aggressively scratching the surface with a fork. Where he got the fork I still have no idea. 

"Let me give you one piece of advice. Do NOT buy stoneware. Just because it's heavy doesn't mean it's good. See these scratches? This is what will happen to your set in a year or two. Stoneware doesn't last. Porcelain, china and bone china are the best and will last a lifetime." 

And with that, he went into a 5 minute lecture about the different types of dinnerware you can buy, and what that means for the wallet. For someone who had never considered the differences between earth ware, stoneware and china, I was confused/intrigued. Also, bone china? What is that? Turns out, it's actually made of bone. Gross. Out of the question for us. 

We ended up going with a porcelain set, but in three different colours (another compromise I won't bore you with). Am I happy I added stuff to our registry? 100 per cent. I just hope Aunt Marg likes our selection! 

Didn't take a photo of us shopping for our registry, so here's one of us on a segway instead. 

We Currently Only Have One Item On Our Registry...

Is it vacuum? Patio furniture? Cookware set? 

Nope! It's a garbage can. Here's what happened. 

The Appointment 

Early last week I contacted Hudson's Bay to set a bridal registry appointment. I was assigned a bridal registry consultant (a position I initially thought was superfluous) and asked to set up an online account.

I did the latter and showed up to our appointment 15 minutes early with my partner, Peter. Did I feel underdressed? 100 per cent. The bridal registry at The Bay on Queen Street is located beside the chic and pricy bridal boutique, Kleinfeld's. I had come straight from work, wearing my Chucks and MEC backpack. I expected the Kleinfeld crew to blast this when they saw us coming: 

TLC's official music video for 'No Scrubs'. Click to listen to TLC on Spotify: http://smarturl.it/TLCSpotify?IQid=TLCNoScr As featured on Fanmail.

Luckily, that didn't happen, and my anxiety subsided when I met our bridal registry consultant, Jessica*. 

Jessica was incredibly friendly, and explained the dos and don'ts for registering, which I will share with you now: 

1) Register for items at all different price points. This seems obvious, but when you start scanning it's something that becomes forgettable. 

2) Don't be afraid of registering for expensive items. While this seems like an obvious suggestion from a sales person, her logic was pretty sound. People will buy items on your registry when they're on sale. As someone who has recently purchased a few gifts via a registry -- I can definitely attest to this. 

3) You can always add and delete items. There is no pressure to choose your entire registry in one night. 

4) Think about what you need vs. what you want. Kitchen gadgets are nice, but what about sheets? Towels? Throw pillows? Tools? 

Finally, Jessica explained the whole registry gift delivery process. Guests have the option of sending gifts directly to your home. Great, right? It saves a trip to The Bay. Plus, who doesn't like opening packages? The downside? If you're not home to accept the package, Canada Post LEAVES IT ON YOUR FRONT PORCH. That can be changed, but for a fee. Couples planning their weddings have a lot on their plates -- visiting their local Canada Post to change the delivery method is just one more unnecessary step. 

After a quick lesson in how to use the scanner, Jessica left us to our own devices on the housewares floor. I pulled out our registry list. 

"We need a frying pan... but what kind?" 

"A pepper grinder would be nice... $40!?!?!?! What the hell????" 

"Do we really need a soda stream?" 

After wandering around the floor for 45 minutes we had scanned one item -- a kitchen garbage can.

Another reason we didn't scan a lot of items? The Bay is expensive! I'm a bride on a budget -- I know the money struggle is real. While we do want to invest in quality cookware, I don't need a $40 pepper grinder or $35 champagne flute.

We returned to Jessica, defeated. She assured us we weren't in the minority and that a lot of couples leave their first appointment with only and item or two on their registry. After leaving The Bay, we decided to also register at Kitchen Stuff Plus. We'll use The Bay for our bigger items, and Kitchen Stuff Plus for glassware, cutlery etc. Is it smart to open up two registries, or is it annoying for your guests? I'm about to find out -- I'll let you know. 

*Names changed to protect the innocent. I've always wanted to say that.