Kitchen Registry 101: any questions or advice?

I get quite a few emails and questions about wedding registries pertaining to the kitchen.  And after my experience, I love nothing more than trying to share the little info I know on the subject because let me tell you, it was a train wreck at times for me.  Whether you are really into cooking or not, let's face it, you will most likely get more stuff for your kitchen when you are getting married than any other time in your life and if you do it right, you will have things that last you a life time.  So I am going to put together a few posts about things I'm glad I knew when registering and things I wish I had known.  If you have any questions or things you would like me to cover, leave a comment or send me an email.    I am by no means am an expert so if you have any tips you learned along the way, I'd love to include them so shoot me an email.

This is where my registering story began, three years ago... 

When you get engaged, some girls start dreaming about the dress they will wear and the flowers they will carry.  Me?  I started having dreams of Le Creuset dutch ovens and 12 cup food processors.  Getting to pick out shiny new kitchen gear and then receive these gifts at parties and in the mail from dear friends and family seemed magical.  Am I alone here?

Mr. Hungry and I took off for the registry event at Williams Sonoma that takes place every Sunday before the store opens because in my mind, this store was a must.  This is where I almost lost my mind.  I quickly realized that the endless types of fry pans to the 6 options for zesters was more than I had expected.  I mean, I liked to cook, but when it came to brands and materials, I didn't really have a clue.

And then I had to deal with what I had not even thought about... Mr. Hungry having his own ideas as to what we needed in the kitchen.  As I am stressing over trying to educate myself on nonstick pans vs. stainless steel pans, I start to hear this little beep beep... beep beep.  I realized this was the sound of the scanning gun we had been given and quickly put it together that I could not see Mr. Hungry who was armed with the gun.  I turn the corner to see him scanning some drinking glasses.  I thought no, no you don't just pick random glasses.    I wrestled the gun away and went back to trying to find a normal cheese grater instead of this gourmet one that cost $40.00.  Apparently I had set the gun down while looking at different options because before I knew it, I was hearing those beeps again.  I go searching for him again and found him crouched down in front of an industrial size meat slicer. Yes, apparently Williams Sonoma sells these and apparently Mr. Hungry thought it was a must have.  I laughed until I realized he was serious.  He said, "Ash, of course we need this... I will cut fresh meat for sandwiches all the time."  Besides the fact that the actual machine would take up a whole counter, I said... REALLY?? You think we are going to keep slabs of meat around that could feed an entire army??  We left.

This began our troubles with registering.  Between being overwhelmed and coming to the realization that there would be two of us doing this, we left.  I needed to figure a lot out before we even thought about going to another store.

Looking back it was comical, but at the time, I was just stressed.  So, from picking out everyday dishes to what types of pans to invest in I will share the world of registering according to me, which like I said, I'm no expert, but I feel like I've learned a lot along the way.

Leave a comment or email me, ashleaktaylor@gmail.com with questions you would like me to cover or advice you have to share.


Stay tuned...