Gift registry lessons learned

Does this look like a wedding gift? Hooray for the modern age!

It's amazing how those gifts keep on coming, post wedding!

We've received several in the past couple weeks. Perhaps people got busy with the holidays, and then started the new year by crossing things off their To Do lists. I know I've always been one to stretch the idea of "a full year to give a wedding gift" to - and beyond - it's breaking point. And you know what they say about birds of a feather...

Those etiquette books that tell you to register for more things than seem reasonable are right - much to my surprise, nearly everything on our registry, except for the $600 set of fancy cooking pots, has been bought! When we were registering, I resisted Eric's efforts to continue adding things. I thought we'd look greedy. Turns out our friends and family are ridiculously generous.

In addition to lovely china, flatware, a bubbly water machine that allows us to forgo plastic bottles, and other home goodies, we ended up with a new climbing rope, bouldering crash pad, and tent!

Lesson learned: register for what you want, at a variety of "price points" as they say - you'll be surprised at what people want to give you for your wedding. And think of those cool little things that you'd love to have, but never get around to buying yourself. Like a set of upgraded tent stakes - or whatever suits your hobby.




We were also honored by several generous donations to our favorite charities. As somewhat established people with our own towels and knife sets (albeit cheapo grad student ones that could use upgrading), we didn't need that much stuff. Along with the gift registry information, we described our favorite causes on our wedding website, with links to the donation pages on the charities' websites. I was surprised, and honored, by the number of people who chose this route.

Another modern wedding gift, here

I was happy that our wedding could raise awareness of some important issues (we are passionate about land conservation and education for girls in the Himalayas), and be of benefit to the larger world. Some people gave both a gift to us, and a donation to one of our charities.

The princess and the pea, and the elusive organic cotton sheets

Once there was a princess who was both sensitive and thoughtful. When it came time for her to wed, family and friends asked what kinds of gifts would please the blissful couple. Linens to stock the new household was the answer.

But not just any linens. Because of her sensitive skin, the princess insisted on sleeping on sheets that had a count of at least 500 threads per inch, and towels that felt soft to the hand. And because of her thoughtfulness, she wanted linens that would create the least amount of pollution in their production.

She and the prince visited a large emporium to caress all the linens until they found sheets and towels that met their needs for both softness and sustainability, made of organic cotton.

They conveyed this information to their friends, who generously gifted the perfect organic cotton towels to the happy couple.

The couple was so pleased with the towels that they returned to the emporium to purchase a few more for their houseguests to use. They were then dismayed to learn that the organic line had been discontinued, and towels in their color were no longer available.

Through the magic of the internet, they were able to find other organic cotton towels, but some were the wrong color and others appeared poorly made. Sadly, they left the store with conventional cotton towels, disappointed that it was so difficult to find the type of sustainably produced towels they sought.

{Anyone got a good source for soft organic towels???}

Dish on dishes

Mr. Barefoot and I spent Sunday in the bowels of Bloomingdale's and Macy's learning about all the things we didn't know we needed. Let me tell you, those Registry Consultants -- and their paper swag -- are very good at upselling. The booklet we got from Bloomingdale's advised us to register for twelve - 12! - place settings!

Blissful Couple: We'll take six of those place settings.
Registry Consultant: Don't you want eight? Or ten? You can never have too many place settings. Now is the time to stock up.
Blissful Couple: uh...
Registry Consultant: What if you host Thanksgiving? Do you come from large families? How many siblings do you have?
Blissful Couple: um... Not that many actually.
Registry Consultant: Ok, I'll put you down for eight place settings.

As we've learned with All Things Wedding, it's best to

• be prepared,
• know what you want ahead of time, and
• go in with a plan.

Also, shop around. Bloomies and Macy's had the same dishes - but they were 25% off at Macy's! Can we get our friends to buy gifts this week?!??!

Maybe it was Mr. Barefoot's lawyerly ways, or the fact that we pre-shopped the department, and made a list, before sitting down with the consultant, but we were able (for the most part) to avoid being talked into too many extras. And I'm already dreaming of the classy dinner parties we can have with these...

Artful registry

What better way to start a new shared life than with beautiful handcrafted art from giveArtfully?

If you've got the dishes and necessary housewares - or even if you don't* - you can register for gorgeous art to warm your abode.


I love these California poppies (of course). I kinda want them decorating the reception space, actually...

... while guests sign this handcrafted guestbook, made with Nepalese fiber paper (I <3 handmade paper).


I'd love to have our wedding date - which, coincidentally, is also our address (cool, huh!) - in these ceramic tiles...


... and serve delicious fruits heaped high in this bowl.

Right now, giveArtfully is sponsoring a "Jumpstart Your Art Collection" contest, offering a $100 gift certificate to one lucky winner. Check it out here, and enter by July 22 for a chance at gracing your home with free art.

*"Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul." -John Muir