Nathan and I registered today. More accurately...Today Nathan and I BEGAN the process that is "registering." We registered (possibly, unnecessarily) at two different stores- Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond. The contrast of the experience at the two stores was surprising.
We started at Target and the lovely people who worked there had the general attitude of..."here's what you need, here's how you do it, have fun!" And it was fun!! We walked around scanning the items we wanted without anybody else's input and we laughed a lot and worried only a little.
Then, we went to Bed, Bath and Beyond. One of the first things we were told when we arrived was that this was a process that would take 5-6 hours. Unfortunately, that process started with Natalia sitting us down and slowly going page by page through a magazine of the items in the store that we really MUST own. She had personal anecdotes illustrating the importance of owning the high quality merchandise at their store. And... if we already had them, even if they worked well, this would definitely be the time to upgrade and get better things. During this 45 minute "introduction" to the process of registering at Bed, Bath and Beyond, it was mentioned that for every invitation we are planning to send out, we really should register for 2-3 times as many items. Natalia also mentioned the importance of owning china (which, contrary to popular belief, is actually much more durable than any other dishes). We filled out a form by hand, which the sales lady then entered into the computer during which time we were instructed to decide on which china pattern we could both agree on. I called my mom, instead. (Not because I wanted her advice on which china to register for, but because I really had no intention of registering for china at all and wanted more practical advice.)
The next 2 hours (no, we did not spend the suggested 5-6 hours looking) Nathan and I wandered aimlessly around while three different attendants continuously checked in with us, even offering us water bottles (for endurance, perhaps) at one point. We were often reminded not to forget the china. Because the cost of the items at Bed, Bath and Beyond were higher, I think Nathan and I were more reluctant to register for as many of the things we wanted there. Some of them just seemed too pricey. It's hard not to worry about asking too much of people by putting what we consider to be expensive items on the registry. We finally had to stop for the day, knowing that we would need to do more registering, but that most of it would probably happen back at good ol' Target!
For those of you out there who have been through this, if you have any recommendations on what is practical and useful that we should include in our registry, we would welcome the suggestions... And if we really DO need china, please let us know.
