Wedding Registry List/Stores

Today Dave and I went to Bed Bath & Beyond to set-up our registry.  We had no idea what we wanted to register for, but we hoped being in the store would spark some ideas.  I think it actually helped.  Below is our most up to date list.  Any thoughts?

• Rice cooker
• Pillows
• Baking sheets
• Sheet set 
• Kitchen knife set
• Digital camera
• Stand Mixer
• Food processor
• Silverware
• Memory foam bath mats
• Memory foam kitchen mat
• Blender
• Cutting boards
• Canister set
• Toaster
• Luggage
• Wine rack
• Hanging holder for pots and pans
• Spoon rest
• Dinnerware
• Salt and Pepper shakers
• Kitchen utensils
• Spice rack
• Vacuum
• Menorah

Bridal Extravaganza/Wedding Bands

We went to the Bridal Extravaganza today at the mall and looked briefly at wedding bands.  For the first time since we had been engaged, it actually hit me - we are getting married.  Looking at the bands and talking about the ceremony made everything seem real.  I was instantly overwhelmed with nervousness and excitement!

When was that moment for you?

P.S. In regards to the bands, Dave is considering a simple solid gold band and I am looking white-gold contour band.

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Reception Venues

We decided that we are going to get married in upstate New York.  It is where my fiance it from, it is where we met, it is where we both went to college, and it is only a few hours from my family.  After looking for a week at possibly venues, we have our list down to six places:

• The Desmond
• Franklin Plaza
• The Georgian
• Longfellows Inn
• Century House
• Mohawk River Country Club

If anyone has any reviews of any of them please feel free to comment.

Wedding Binder Links

As promised, here are the links to the print-outs that I used for my wedding binder.  I basically used a mix between the following two sites.  My suggestion is to look through both of them and pick out the worksheets and information sheets that work for you.

The best part about these, they are all FREE!

PASH Wedding Printables

Russell and Hazel Wedding Templates

Printable Calendars

Do you have any other great sites for wedding binders?  Please share!

DIY Wedding Binder

I set to work today on creating my own wedding binder - I'm all about DIY and I love the option to personalize it.

Here's how I did it.

Materials:

• 3" round ring binder (I just used one that I already had 2-3" should be plenty)
• 45 sheets of white cardstock ( I found a 150 ct. Pack of 110lb white cardstock at walmart for $5.48)
• white round reinforcement labels ($1 for a pack of 924 at walmart - that is plenty!)
•  20 Post-it note 3" durable tabs ( Like the ones here, but I found a pack of 20 in the store for $6.49)
• 30 Post-it note 2" durable tabs (I bought these in store for $4.49)
• 3-ring hole puncher (already had)
• 17 Clear page sleeves (already had them, but you can get a 100 pack for abour $5 at walmart)

Total spent:  $17.46  

Directions

1.  Insert a sheet of white cardstock into each of the 17 page sleeves.  Place the 3" tabs on the right side of the clear page holders as shown.

                      - Create 6 with the tabs on the top

                      - Create 6 with the tabs in the middle

                      - Create 5 with the tabs on the bottom

2.  Arrange the clear sheets with tabs in alternating order, so that you have one page with a tab on top, followed by one with a tab in the middle, followed by one with a tab on the bottom, etc.  

3.  Next, hole punch the remaining cardstock.  You are going to affix the 2" tabs as needed to this cardstock to create smaller tabs.  

4. Using my list at the bottom of this post or your own list of categories and subcategories, write on your tabs.  Label each 3" tab with a category (i.e. Calendar) and the 2" tabs with the subcategories (i.e. Timelines).   

***Tip:  If you want your writing on the tabs to look neat, do what I did and type up all of the category names on the computer and then print out the list (depending on your font Size 16 and 18 work best).  Then you can place the print-out below your tabs and copy!**

5.  Once you have finished writing on all of your tabs, you are ready to assemble the binder.  I used the reinforcement labels on the hole-punched cardstock so make sure that it holds up through all of the use that it will be getting!  

***I also found a lot of helpful printouts that I included in my Wedding Binder.  I will be adding those soon!***

EDIT:  You can find my post about those links here.

This is an example of using the 2" tabs.  This was my Ceremony section.  

Categories and Subcategories List - Adjust as Needed

• Calendar
• Timelines
• To-Do lists
• Guest List
• Registry
• Budget
• Decorations
• Stationary
• Save the Dates
• Invitations
• Programs
• Other
• Rehearsal Dinner
• Ceremony
• Officiant
• Venue
• Readings and Vows
• Music
• Other
• Reception
• Venue
• Food/Drinks
• Favors
• Seating Plan
• Other
• Flowers
• DJ
• Photographer
• Cake
• Guest Accommodations
• Hotels
• Transportation
• Welcome Bags
• Other
• Gifts
• Family
• Wedding Party
• Bride
• Dress
• Accessories
• Hair and Make-up
• Other
• Bridesmaids
• Groom
• Groomsmen
• Honeymoon

Wedding Registry Sites

Dave and I have been working on our wedding registry.  We are considering doing three things:

1. Hatchmyhouse.com - a site that allows people to "buy" parts of your dream home.  A very cute way of asking for money for a house.  (Check out my post about the site here.)
2. Wanderable.com or a similar site that allows guests to pay for part of your honeymoon.
3. Myregistry.com - a site that allows you to register for anything that you find on-line.  You can also sync it with your in-store registries.

The best part of myregistry.com is that we can have everything that we register for available on one site.  Also, by registering in-store, we will gain the registry perks available from different stores.

This is the next big thing that we will be working on, so check back for detailed reviews of sites and stores.

EDIT:  Check out my reviews of various store registries here.  Also, my disappointing story involving IKEA here.

Guest List

My grandmother needs a guest list for the engagement party.  Dave and I decided the best way to come up with one was to create a draft of our wedding guest list and then decided from there who to invite to the engagement party.  The first step was easy - we both added all of our family to the list.  Next, we each listed friends that we would want to invite.  One problem that we had was whether or not to give someone a plus one.  The other  problem was that as soon as we added one friend to the list, this made us think of another one that we had forgot to invite - the list kept growing.  We decided on just adding everyone for now that we would consider inviting, take a break from it, and then go back to it in a few weeks.

Some guest list etiquette.

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