It’s an exciting time! You’re getting married, you have all the arrangements to make, all the rules and etiquette to keep in mind. Don’t forget, though, that it’s also a great time to receive. Those big ticket items can certainly be more financially manageable, if each wedding guest buys one china place setting, for example.

The trick is to consider the number of guests you are inviting with the amount of items you will ask them to consider buying from your wedding registry. If you sign up for a few wedding registries, and you have a lot of things chosen, you might not get enough of the china selection or silverware, for example, to serve dinner guests, so it’s time to be strategic. Think carefully before you join a store’s bridal registry, and consider what you really want in your new home.

The typical bride has a lot of questions; the obvious one being “Where do I register?” At how many stores should I register? How many wedding registries are too many? Do I focus just on real stores, or should I include online stores? Where will I be living in three years? Will I have enough space for all these things? Will the things I am choosing now fit in with my décor as my tastes evolve? Will my husband or wife to be appreciate the choices I am making for our wedding registry?

If you go into a bridal registry with a strategy, you won’t be led around by sales staff, whose only goal (and let’s be honest here), is to increase store sales. They may not have your happiness as their main concern, no matter how nice they may be. For them it may be about a nice commission, or meeting their sales targets for the month. This is not a bad thing. It is merely something you should keep in mind. Yes, they might be genuinely and truly nice, but you need to know your own mind. You need to know what you and your future spouse are really going to put to use in your new home. No one knows your likes and dislikes, your preferences better than you. So, go alone or go with an ally such as your best friend or your mom, and make sure you have done your homework, so you know without a doubt what your wedding registry must haves are.

Are you a bookworm who prefers a good book to a good party?

Then maybe a selection of barware with crystal stemmed wine glasses and various cocktail and highball glasses are not the way to go for you. Think about the kind of life you have lived and whether this lifestyle is something that will drastically change now that you are two, instead of one. It might well be, but most people do not suddenly become wall flowers after being party animals, or vice versa.
Your wedding registry must haves are the things that will truly add value to your lives together. Keep that in mind before you sign up for a bridal registry and you’ll be just fine.