With our wedding just six months away, Corey and I are starting to feel pressure to knock a few more things off our wedding "to do" list. Making a registry was something I had sort of been dreading because it feels so greedy... Like making the longest Santa's wish list ever! Since we've lived together for years already, we've also been trying to brainstorm things that we actually need/can fit in our house. When you've lived together for any length of time, you find that you already have SO MUCH STUFF! I loved the idea of a cash registry... until I said it out loud and it sounded sort of... well, greedy.
In the end, we decided on a combination of a cash registry (which allows people to choose what sort of purchase their gift helps with, like another greyhound or a kitchen reno) and a more traditional registry at a store people would recognize and be able to access.
We ended up choosing Crate and Barrel, because so many of their accessories match our eclectic style and blend seamlessly with the vintage and locally-made pieces we already own. I also really love that they work with artists to design custom lines and they offer many unique handmade pieces. I recall the classic registry advice: Look at what you already have and where you purchased it. If you recall our living room in the condo (below) you'll see that two of the only four items which were not handmade or vintage were the vase (which I use for staging all the time) from Crate and Barrel and the butterfly throw pillow, from sister store CB2.
So, as far as finding new items for our home, C&B was a pretty obvious choice.
We attended one of the "Wedding Parties" at the Yorkdale location and were excited at the prospect of having our registry questions answered and actually getting to hold all the cutlery. The feel and balance of cutlery is very important to us and we knew we could never choose a new everyday set just based on aesthetics.
We arrived two hours before the store opened to the general public. Isn't there something sort of decadent about shopping privately? It made us feel sort of fabulous.
Talented manager, Tina Dennis, had styled the "goodie table" beautifully. The food looked almost too good to eat... Almost!
We sipped fruit juices and espresso and giggled as we learned to use the scanner. I can see how people get trigger happy with that thing! Something about it makes you want to just scan everything and it's easy to find yourself debating about exactly how many ramekins or cheese knives you'll actually use. Corey, how many fancy cheese parties do you think we'll host next year?
In order to avoid the pitfall of over-zealously registering, we used the following few questions before scanning each item:
1. Have we discussed buying this before today?
2. Do we have a place to store this?
3. Will we use this more than twice a year?
4. Would we consider purchasing this on our own?
If we can answer "yes" to all four questions, we scan away! Note- We really did find that we needed ramekins. ;)
One of my favourite things about the Yorkdale C&B is that it's so beautifully styled. There are colourful vignettes everywhere that I'd love to copy in my own home. We had fun browsing the eye-candy.
We ended up registering for several items (a few large, but mostly small) but I think we're most excited about the Essential Dinnerware Set. We already have four place settings at home and we are in love with this set. It's durable, the lines are clean and modern, and the white dishes make food look great! We've been wanting to buy more place settings for a year, but we've held off because we knew it would make a good registry item.
We also found some great linens, kitchen tools, decor items, storage baskets and even containers for Corey's lunches. Love this store!
After my DIY Terrarium post, you can imagine my excitement at finding these jars of pretty rocks and glass!
Corey and I both loved the Span Gateleg Dining Table. The way it tucks away would make it perfect for apartment dwellers, but we imagined tucking it away in the family room, to unfold on occasions when we need the extra table space. Wouldn't it be the perfect "kids table" at family gatherings? We liked it so much, in fact, that we added it to our list.
Finally, we arrived at the flatware and probably spent an hour weighing each set in our hands, examining matching steak knives and pairing them against our dinnerware. We finally settled on a set that we are really excited about. It's modern (but not crazy), feels great in your hands and the proportions are perfect. If you're curious, it's the Stanton Satin Finish.
We returned home exhausted, but we were both surprised by how much fun we had! The staff were all so nice and encouraging and a wedding chore we had been dreading turned out to be quite easy. What are your "must have" wedding registry items? I'd love to know!
