What you should register for when you’re getting married

What SHOULD you register for when you’re getting married?!

You said, “Yes!” Congratulations!!! Now comes one of the fun part of planning your wedding, and registering for gifts that will be useful, meaningful and awesome to have. If you haven’t seen my post, “How to Plan a Meaningful Wedding Day in Less than a Year” go check it out for tips on planning your BIG day in phases to cut down on stress, and make things more manageable. As promised, I am expanding on Phase 5- The Wedding Details to Wrap up all of the Planning (But are Pretty Straight Forward). Being in, or invited to around 15 weddings in the last decade of our life, we know our way around a wedding, and can give you some great insight!!

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So, what should you register for when you’re getting married? That is a great question, and one that you and your future spouse should take some time to think about the following items:

• Take inventory of what you do have that you want to keep
• Talk about a rough idea for plans for the future-are you going to have livestock, children, buy a house, live in an apartment, garden, etc.
• What things would be awesome to have if someone were to gift it to you, but that you wouldn’t necessarily buy for yourself?
• Where are places that you frequently shop and/or that have great return policies for no receipts, past the 30 day return it for full price, etc. 

We chose to register for some items that are typically out of the ordinary, but would be useful for our future life. We are so thankful we did, and we were surprised and overwhelmed by peoples’ generosity to buy us gifts to start our lives together. My go to gift for a couple for a bridal shower is a personalized, metal 9×13 cake pan with lid with the bride’s first and NEW last name. They usually run in the $35-$45 price range. We have a cute shop in Humboldt, Iowa, that makes these pans for us, called Humboldt Engraving. I’ve done a variety of different lids with different designs, or different colors to fit the bride’s style. The first time I saw my whole new name together I was brought to tears thinking about THIS is my new life. It’s a sentimental gift, and one a bride can use forever! Then for the wedding day we get a gift card for the couple to a restaurant in the area and put it in the card. After having our own wedding, I cannot tell you how grateful I was to get cards and gift cards instead of presents at the wedding. That was one extra thing to think about packing up at the end of the night (*** PS – Have a game plan for this, and have someone designated to pack up your gifts and bring them to your place the next day!!!*** You’ll thank yourself later for planning this extra step ahead of time!) 

This wasn’t a thing when we got married, but looks like a great option to combine several registries into one place-Zola. This looks like a similar way to link registries from places like Amazon, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc into one place…cool! This is how Babylist was for our baby shower, and it was amazing!! It is so much easier to say, we’re registered on Zola, vs. saying we’re registered on Amazon, Target, Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, Menards, Home Depot….you get what I’m saying. 

Here’s one that might shock you about what you should register for when you’re getting married…Menards and the Home Depot have wedding registry options! I’ll include a list of things we registered for that we use all.the.time., and that we’d highly recommend registering for. You never know…men get REALLY excited about shopping at Menards and the Home Depot, and will go out of their way to get something awesome, if it’s tools and equipment. I would recommend registering for all of the things you would like, even if they’re big, because often after your wedding you can go in and use a coupon code for 20%+ off at that store. 

What you should register for at the Home Depot, Menards, or another home improvement store when you’re getting married:

• American Flag
• Flag Pole
• Pruning Shears
• Spade 
• Shovel
• Gardening Hoe
• Loppers
• Garden hose
• Garden hose nozzle
• Clothes line
• Clothes pins
• Leaf Rake
• Bow Rake
• Tarps
• Ratchet Straps 
• Hammer
• Screw Driver Set
• Level
• Battery Powered Drill 
• Paint brushes
• Paint Roller
• Paint Pan 
• Chainsaw
• String Trimmer
• Gardening Gloves
• Large cute pots that you like for your front porch, patio, etc. 
• Matching patio furniture set 
• Fire pit 
• Grill and/or Smoker

 Again, I’m going to say this…create your registry at each of these individual places and link it into Zola. It will be much easier than listing all of the places you’re registered, or limiting yourself to one or two places. 

Here’s maybe a no-brainer, but we registered on Amazon to allow for our out of town and out of state guests to still order and have items delivered to us. 

What you should register for on Amazon when you’re getting married: 

• Corn holders – yes, what an Iowa thing to say. I think you should have someone get these for you, for the one time of the year you eat sweet corn
• Cookie Sheets (Sheet cake pan)
• Stackable Cooling Rack
• Rechargeable Lantern
• Wireless Driveway Alarm
• Foldable Laundry Rack for Air Drying
• DSLR Camera 
• Sodastream
• Countertop Ice Maker
• Crock Pot
• Instant Pot
• Coffee Maker
• Coffee Grinder
• Pots and Pans
  • I would recommend getting something of better quality than I got on my registry. I went for the cute pans that matched what I wanted the vibe to be like in my kitchen, and now five years later I’m regretting it because the non-stick enamel is chipping off. I would recommend getting either the:
    •  The Lodge Carbon Steel Pre-Seasoned Skillet 
    • Stainless Steel (make sure you don’t have an induction stove) or
    • Cast iron 
• Nice liquid measuring cups, dry measuring cups (get a heavy duty set that won’t dent if dropped, the numbers won’t wear off after many washes, and the handle won’t break off), measuring spoons
• Everyday dinnerware set of plates, bowls, etc. –white or black are such classic colors, can be dressed up or down and looks great on any table setting for any holiday!
• Everyday drinking glasses with short and tall glasses
• Wine glasses
• Beer glasses, I’d recommend this one, if you drink a variety of beers, or this set if you don’t really care which beer glasses go with which beer
• Silverware 
• Pot Holders
• Toaster-get one with long slots if you’re into making and eating sourdough, you’ll thank me later
• Blender
• Spice rack
  • We had a couples shower (the night before the wedding for our out of state guests) where the guys brought a seasoning or spice for grilling and the girls brought their favorite family recipe. It was so sweet and simple!
• Dish Drying Rack
• Dish Drying Mat
• KitchenAid Mixer 
  • If you’re looking to give a mixer as a gift, I highly recommend looking into getting a refurbished/renewed KitchenAid mixer, they’re drastically reduced, and often nothing is wrong with them besides cosmetic issues (a scratch or something of the like).
    • On Amazon each one says, “The product is refurbished, fully functional, and in excellent condition. Backed by the 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee.” 
  • Several ladies that were throwing a shower for me went in on the mixer and attachments together. This was such a thoughtful and surprising gift!! I was planning to use all of the coupons, gift cards and any money for returns for duplicates to have enough to pay for this bad boy. I do use it a lot, however, after using it I would recommend getting one with a tilt head. Maybe just because the mixer I had growing up and learning how to use had a tilt head I miss that function. Given that information, I would probably choose the Artisan Stand Mixer, 5 qt 
• Kitchenaid Attachments-these are all things that you can add later, after you for sure have this mixer
  • The Meat Grinder and Slicer Shredder is well worth it’s money if you do any home butchering or hunting
  • If you love carbs, you’re into making your own pasta, working with bread and the like, the Pasta Roller and Cutter is pretty awesome
  • The KitchenAid Blade Spiralizer Attachment plus peel, core and slice has come in handy for using zucchini, and getting apples done in a hurry 
• Mixing bowls-I like using clear bowls, they can be used for anything and can be used as serving dishes for any holiday. I regret not getting bowls with lids. I got you covered though with the ones I have listed!
• Nice towels:
  • Kitchen
    • Hand towel, flour sack towel, to dry dishes with 
  • Bathroom
    • Bath sheets are where it’s at!!! Especially for taller, larger people. 
    • Hand towels
• Comforter 
• Sheet and Pillow Cases 
• Board Games
  • Monopoly
• Yard Games
• Card Table and Chairs

Target

• Pretty much all of the same things as Amazon!
• Board Games
  • Life, Scrabble, Sequence, Telestrations After Dark, Watch your Mouth, puzzles

That’s pretty much it! What you should register for when you’re getting married is an “easy” step in the wedding planning process. You are beginning your life together, and getting what you need and want is exciting. I am excited for the life you’re about to build together. Enjoy this step! For updates like this one, and others dealing practical gardening tips for families, beekeeping, tips for raising a family on a budget, do it yourself projects, cooking, raising livestock, event planning and young entrepreneurs, sign up for the “Dirty Fingernail Club” so you don’t miss a post. Have fun wedding planning, I’m cheering you on!

If you registered for your wedding, and registered for some unordinary things, or have purchased something for something that you thought, “oh wow, I’m getting this for them, that’s a great idea!” Please comment and let us know what you think future brides should register for when they’re getting married.