One of the most fun you’ll have when you get engaged is registering. I will be flat out honest with you guys, this is one of the things Ive been looking forward to before getting engaged. For along time. However, I am hear to say, it is not all fun and games. Thankfully, Jace and I didnt get into a big fight over thread count or something like that. He was a very good fiancé and let me hold the gun, the whole time. THE WHOLE TIME. I know, right? Hes a keeper. So let me give some tips when someday you find yourself with a pretty sparkly ring on your finger which for some reason makes people want to give you gifts (and I am so thankful for that notion).

First tip, research where you plan on registering. We had a pretty good idea where we wanted to go, but after researching a couple of stores, we went with completely different stores. The two stores we didnt go with (cause Im all about honesty here) are Target and Macy’s. Here are the reasons Target didnt work out. It simply boils down to the crappy return policy. Ive heard its different where you are in the country, so check your local Target, but here? It sucks. The dirt on Macy’s is, well, we didnt really find things we couldnt find at other places. Then there was the sales lady. The sales lady who saw my pretty sparkly ring on my hand then hounded us why werent already register at Macy’s. Then wanted us to open a Macy’s card. And yeah, she was a bit obnoxious, so way to make it easy on us to not register there sales lady.

Places we ended up at: Bed Bath and Beyond, Sur la Table & Kohls – heres some tips for those stores:

Sur la Table – Make sure a manager is around when you register. Seemed like most sales associates dont know how to work the registry so it takes a bit longer to get thing going and ending. So if you have the time, then thats fine. But when the manager was there, it went much quicker. Main appeal for us to register here – they have my pretty red dishes I have been collecting for years. Now its time to fill in the missing pieces of my beloved dishes. Sur la Table is also a smaller store but dont be fooled, it is filled with lots of really neat things. Fancy things. Which, according to the basic laws of registering, you need a fancy store in your mix. Im not totally sure why, but that always seems to be the way it goes.

Kohls – Jason and I really like the Food Network, a lot of our dating time was spent learning and enjoying the many folks and shows on there. Alton Brown, who is one our favorites, actually has a great rule on items in your kitchen – no uni-taskers. We took this rule with us as we registered for things and tried to stick to it. The Food Network, however as a lovely line of serving dishes and glasses that we love. The only problem per say with Kohls is that, there really isnt much help there. You have a while for someone to get you the fun registry gun. Which, at Kohls its actually a gun shape, the other two places were not so much guns as just scanners. Gold star for Kohls for having an actual gun.

Bed, Bath & Beyond – I know, I know. Who HASNT gotten registered at Bed, Bath and Beyond, right? I kinda hated registering there for the sake of that, but you guys, they have a lot of decent stuff. At reasonable prices. And if you sneeze you seem to find one of their 20% coupons lying around the house. Doesn’t matter if they are expired, they take them! I want my guests to get a deal, heck, its nice of them to be giving us a present so our little thank you back is the beauty of the 20% off coupon. However, BB&B does like thier add ons. We didnt register for China, we are just not China people. I believe the sales girl thought there was something wrong with us. We have two sets of dishes – fancy and everyday – so whats the problem? We wont use the China because I might turn into Monica and never want to use them. And then she wanted to register with us. Jason and I gave each other stares filled silent messages of “How do we get this girl to go away?!” She isnt part of our marriage, right? Do we need her to help us with the pots and pans? It took a lot of “Thanks but I think we got it.” to be rid of her. And she kept checking up on us. You guys, I am all about some good customer service but COME ON.

Highly recommend registering if you need a break from the stress of wedding planning. It can be a lot of fun to be with your man picking out stuff for your new life together. Talk ahead about is so it doesnt take you two hours just to pick out what color your sheets will be. Plan a head, call some stores to ask policies and such. And have fun clicking away!