Guest Post By: Susan Bertelsen, GVP of Macy’s Wedding & Gift Registry

Registering for gifts can be a daunting task – but knowing what’s in style can help narrow down the array of options. We’ve compiled a list of the hottest trends in registry items – housewares that are fashionable, but will still look gorgeous years down the road.

Prints

This season, it’s all about modern twists on classic prints, to create a fresh and young aesthetic and bring excitement to the everyday.

Bands of gold add richness to navy-and-white, paisley-adorned bone china.
Lauren Ralph Lauren Dinnerware, Round Hill Collection 5-piece place setting, Find It Here

Create a beachside getaway in your bedroom with this soothing coral bedding.
Trina Turk Bedding, Coral Trellis Collection comforter set, Find It Here

Create a retro design statement with these dishwasher-safe place settings.
Echo Design Dinnerware, That 70’s Floral Collection 4-piece place setting, Find It Here

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What do you and your fiancé really need? Something BIG, perhaps? Wedding registries often include items at price points within the budget of friends and family members, but this leaves no place on the registry for the big-ticket items you really need. So how can you get the big stuff you want? A cash gift registry let’s guests contribute to gifts in a simple way. No one has to collect funds, organize money, or make the actual purchase. So what are some of those big items that finally have a place on your registry? Here are a few ideas…

1. Electronic Gadgets: Computers, televisions, and tablets will run at least a couple hundred dollars and are often out of the price range of one guest. But these days, they’re much more important to married life than dishes or linens and they certainly deserve a place on the registry.

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Guest Post By: Susan Bertelsen, GVP of Macy’s Wedding & Gift Registry

1.  Be sure to register not only with your needs but also your lifestyle in mind!  Do you entertain often?  Travel frequently?  How would you describe your style? Do you like bold colors or soft tones?

Answering these questions will help you get a better idea of what to register for. Need more help? Check out our registry guide’s advice and quizzes!

2.  When planning the wedding, many brides create “inspiration boards” or use Pinterest to gather ideas. Your registry should be no different. Find images of products you love and photos of rooms that inspire you. It won’t feel like “registry research” when you’re looking at beautiful images and seeing yourself sitting at that gorgeous table.

3.  Register for a wide variety of items – from smaller gifts (perfect for bridal shower presents!) to larger, big-ticket items that friends or family members can purchase as a group. Just be sure you have enough gifts to give your guests plenty to choose from – and at a range of price points so that everyone’s comfortable.

For more tips and tricks, check out Macy’s brand-new Registry Product Guide featuring quizzes, images, checklists, and much more.

“Do we really even need a registry?” It’s the question many couples ask when they start to get fed up with the registry process. Hours spent in department stores, arguments over china patterns, and unsolicited advice from guests are not the ingredients to a happy experience. Especially for couples who don’t even need anything found on a traditional registry! But forgoing the registry will cause more problems than it solves. Here’s why you need one.

1. Make it easy on your guests: It’s a celebration, and guests are going to get you a gift whether you ask for it or not. And they don’t like roaming through department stores any more than you do! Guests want to make you happy, and they can only do that if they know what you want.
2. Make it easy on yourself: So what happens when guests buy you gifts that you didn’t ask for in the first place? You end up with a whole bunch of stuff you don’t want! You’ll face hours of time making returns and exchanges, and you’ll inevitably end up with junk that you just don’t know what do with.
3. Plan for the future: Sure you might think you don’t need 12 fancy table settings or multiple sets of guest towels, but just imagine all the circumstances that come with married life. There are so many things you can prepare for with a registry. And if you really think you’ve got everything, your honeymoon and future experiences are the perfect items to add.

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When you’ve decided to go in a different direction for a wedding registry – by registering for something like a home or a honeymoon – questions about the shower are sure to come up. After all, the point of a shower is to “shower” the couple with gifts. But what if there are no physical gifts yet? A couple shouldn’t miss out on the fun of a shower because their gifts aren’t being handled in the traditional way. In fact, it’s an opportunity to get as creative with the shower as they did with the registry! Here’s some inspiration to get your juices flowing…

• Presenting the Gift Certificate: When guests make a purchase on your cash gift registry, they have the option to print a gift certificate, which they can simply put in a card or have a little fun with: For a tropical honeymoon gift, maybe include the certificate in a basket with a beach towel and sunscreen. For a home renovation gift, try wrapping the gift around a screwdriver. Possibilities are endless!

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For those of us who love handmade, thrive on doing it ourselves, get a kick out of antiquing and can’t get enough of Etsy and local stores, the traditional wedding registry process may come as a bit of a shock.

What’s a gal to do when what you really want is nowhere to be found at a big box store?

Lucky for you it actually is possible to register for exactly what you want, not ‘stuff’ you don’t – be it a new sewing machine, materials to build a stunning porch, or the means to nab the latest flash sale gem. (Or as one of our users exclaimed on their registry site: “Turns out you actually can register to remodel your bathroom!”)

No matter where you register, every registry has a theme, whether it’s house wares or a honeymoon, so why not a DIY registry to enhance your home and life with your handiwork and the crafts of others? With a cash wedding registry you can create a fully customized gift list of exactly what you want without being tied to any particular store or vendor – perfect for the flexibility to buy what you want, when you want it, from wherever you like.

A little inspiration…

Register for the supplies you need to kick off your personal creations.

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Weddings are very traditional affairs – almost every aspect comes with its own history and ritual.  Though tradition is one of the most special parts of marriage, it sometimes blinds couples to all the possibilities open to them.  What’s always worked for generations past may not make sense for many couples today.  Case In Point: the wedding registry.  How many couples really need or even want table settings for twelve or crystal bowls and vases? Especially in a city, where extra space is hard to come by, the typical registry just doesn’t always make sense.

This is where a non-traditional wedding registry comes in.  It allows couples to register for cash over goods in a tasteful way that abides by etiquette and is sure to please guests because it looks just like a department store registry – this way you get exactly what you want, not ‘stuff’ you don’t.  If you can dream it, you can add it!  From honeymoons to home down payments, electronics to a Broadway show, even date nights and charity. Yes, it’s true, a non-traditional registry can include all that and more!

Register For Your Honeymoon

Modern minded couples who aren’t looking for more household items are absolutely loving honeymoon registries!  A honeymoon registry allows you to give guests the option to contribute to your honeymoon.  Instead of dishes or towels, friends and family can give you nights in the honeymoon suite, flights to your dream destination, romantic dinners, and all the memories that come with them.

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Gifts are a part of every wedding, but it seems like we still have to tiptoe around the fact that guests would like to give them and couples are more than happy to receive them!  If you don’t share your wishes, guests will be frustrated and left to guess what you want, but some people fear that communicating what would be most helpful to you at this time in your life can come off as greedy.

That’s why registries make so much sense and have been a welcome way to communicate your needs since 1924 (yes! they’ve been around for quite some time). But it wasn’t until the 90s that they went online, and ever since then putting this information at people’s fingertips has never been easier!

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Weddings come in all shapes and sizes, and these days, late-in-life weddings have become very common.  Older couples are typically already established financially and are combining households, which means they probably don’t need any more ‘stuff.’  Guests might be at a loss for what to get the newlyweds, but there are still plenty of options to put on your registry — especially if you go the alterna-route!

Hobbies and Experiences

You might already have all the stuff you need, but you can never have enough experience!  Take up a new hobby or learn a new skill together by signing up for cooking classes, golf lessons, or yoga.

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Yippy skippy! One of best parts of being engaged is getting to wander around stores selecting lovely items for other people to buy for you … the wedding registry! (I am definitely a fan.)

But as the bride, navigating the different stores’ registry rules and tricks (and believe me, there are many!) can be daunting. To the rescue comes this fabulous post over at Hip2Save by Belles On A Budget putting all of their hip tips for optimizing the registry perks of all the major stores!

Head on over to Hip2Save and check it out, then come back and share with us your hip tips for the wedding registry.