Adventures in Registering

So I think I mentioned before that Allen and I had been working on our registries for the wedding. I've heard mixed reviews from different couples about their registering experience - some love it, some hate it, most are overwhelmed by it, some knew exactly what they wanted to get going in, and some did it all from home. I think we were a combination of all of those.

Most of our concern lied with the fact that we don't plan on being in our house in the next year or so. We would like to move, but anywhere we move in the short term is going to be a rental - aka, not permanent. So to pick out stuff for our future house together, without knowing what our future house looks like, was a bit challenging and really limited what we registered for. For example, we registered for very generic bathroom hardware in two different schemes since we don't know what a future bathroom could look like for us. Boring? Maybe. Practical? Yes.

I think the unknown made registering a little difficult, but overall we had a really good experience with it. Allen did drag his feet the first time at BB&B, but after he got that scanner in his hand...well...let's just say we ended up with a few gems like this:

Everyone needs a Haier 16-Bottle Wine Cellar, right?

By the way - that's totally staying on the registry. Somehow, now, I can't picture our future married life without it. But we've done other editing (3 sets of plastic containers in multiple sizes? Where would we even put that?) and I think we have narrowed things down to stuff that we know we'll love and use and share with everyone - yes, including the french onion soup crocks. I will totally make people soup in those things, I am so excited.

The other side effect this has brought on now is my stalking our registry. Normally I wouldn't even consider doing this, but I was editing some stuff on our registry when I noticed that items have been purchased for us already! Not only does this make me insanely curious as to who the early bird was that found our registry and purchased, but it has also made me stalk our registry every day to see what else happens on there. Don't lie, every bride does it, but no one talks about it. I'm talking about it, and I can't help it. One of the many perks of being a bride-to-be :)

Checking off the To-Do's

My my my, it has been a while.

But can I just tell you - we have been so, SO productive!! Through the holidays, the time off of school (which I'm now back into), and everything in between. Productive, productive, productive.

A few highlights of items checked off the to-do lists:

• Bridesmaid Dresses - check! Since we have such big bridal parties, I'm letting my lovely ladies pick their own style of dress. They'll all be from the same manufacturer, the same length, and the same color, but the style is all completely their own. I want my ladies not only to be comfortable in their dresses, but if they feel comfortable they will look even more fabulous than they already are. Plus, I love how everyone is going to look unique. Woo!
• Groomsmen Tuxes - check! We were able to get our account set up with Men's Wearhouse, and all of the men will be looking dapper in their tuxes. The guys have it so easy - they just get measured and it's done.
• MY Dress - check! Yep, you heard right. I have a dress. But that's all you're going to hear about it ;)
• Wedding website - check! I was finally able to take some time and update our wedding website with all of the event, travel, and accommodation information for our guests. Hopefully it's helpful for people, but I definitely enjoyed putting it together. Check it out at: www.allenandkaitlyn.com.
• Registry - check! Well, at least one part of it. We did a partial registry at Bed Bath & Beyond, but will also be hitting up Crate & Barrel in February and possibly Macy's if necessary. At first I wasn't sure how much Allen was going to enjoy registering, but once he got that scanner gun in his hand I think he felt a new sense of power. I think we both got a little scanner-happy at some points (everyone needs a wine refrigerator, right?) so we may be doing some editing once we get our other registries taken care of.
• Wedding bands - check! A super easy night out resulted in us walking out of the mall in under 45 minutes with our wedding bands. I think we both just went in with clear ideas of what we wanted, and it was just quick as can be. We have them at the house, and it's fun for me to just take a quick peak at them whenever :) So fun.
• Honeymoon flights - check! We were able to secure our vacation time for the year, and are now booked for our TWO WEEK honeymoon! We'll be flying into Barcelona, spending a few days there, then fly into Rome, spend a few days there, and then spend the second week touring around Italy. I don't remember ever taking a full two week vacation (at least not since I was much younger), so I am really excited for our adventure!
• Save the Dates - almost check! I've been working on our save the dates for a while now, and after many, many, many drafts, revisions, theme and color changes, format changes, etc. I think we finally got our favorite nailed down. I really, really love them. I'll be sure to post more up once they finally go out, but I'll be releasing the art to the printer this weekend and putting them together in the coming weeks. But MAN! If I was this indecisive and nit-picky over our save the dates, I can't even imagine how I'm going to be on our invites.

It's been really great and a huge relief getting a lot of these items taken care of. I'm so excited to keep getting things checked off!