Don''t really need typical gifts - any suggestions?

[bar01]

Our wedding is fast approaching. Invitations are going out this week. This is the second marriage for both of us, we are older, and we are combining lots of duplicate household stuff - we are holding a garage sale to get rid of stuff !

We are starting to get alot of "where are you registered?". Honestly - we tell them we don't need anything - other then for them to come and have fun with us.

However, I know many will still want to get us something – and I don't want people struggling - and then we end up with 50 silver picture frames. Some have mentioned that they will just give us a monetary gift - which is nice of course - since we are paying for everything thing - but again we don't "need" it - and didn't ask for it.

Anyway, I was wondering what kind ideas you folks might have for gifts - or alternative type registries that might be out there. We do like music, fine dinning, traveling, and going to shows – not sure if you can register for that kind of stuff....

Help!

 

[flopkins]

Bertrand-
There are registries for honeymoons, that way your guests can help with that... I''m not sure about exact information, maybe someone else will chime in. You mentioned you like music- not sure if you meant live music or CDs, but you can register at amazon.com, they have pretty much everything, in my opinion!

Otherwise, a few friends of mine have chosen a favorite charity of theirs as a registry, so guests can donate money instead of giving you a gift! I really like that idea.

And, if you really don''t wany any gifts, you can always tell them, ''your presence is gift enough!''

Hope this helps!

 

[flopkins]

here is a website that has a few links to some alternative wedding registry sites...

 

[windy1365]

My fiancee already has everything... so we really don''t need anything. We registered for nicer versions of what we already have. Then, we will just toss out the old stuff.

 

[cflutist]

It was a second marriage for websailor and I as well. We registered for our honeymoon at our local travel agent. For those that chose that as a gift for us, I sent them postcards from Hawaii (Big Island and Kauai) and also wrote my thank you notes by the pool and mailed them from the hotel so they would have a Hawaii postmark.

 

[sunnyinstl]

When my cousin got married, he included in the invitation a little card saying

"In Lieu of gifts, please make a donation to the Arthritis Foundation."

He was in the same boat you were, not really needing anything.

I thought this was a nice idea.

 

[Layne]

If you like gardening/home improvement you could register at Home Depot or Lowes.

 

[Bikergirl]

I just got married in October, and was in a similar situation (we both lived alone for some time and were getting rid of duplicate items). We did several things, which seemed to work out well for everyone.

We registered at Lowes and Home Depot for all kinds of stuff including gardening tools, house paint, plumbing fixtures, etc.

We are both involved in competitive cycling (like Lance Armstrong, only not as fast

) so our sponsor allowed us to create a wish list at his bicycle shop, which he handed out as a "registry" when asked.

That just didn''t look like a lot of options, so we took inventory of what we had - even things we had duplicates of - and decided that some of the stuff really could stand to be replaced. Mostly kitchen items, but also things like bedding for the spare room, new curtains (that weren''t quite so faded) for a few of the windows, stuff like that. We registered at Linens & Things, Pier One, Crate & Barrel, and Great Indoors. Then, once the wedding was over and we got to see all of the fun new things we had been given....we took the old items (that the new items were replacing) and donated them to a local shelter - under the name of whoever provided the gift in the first place. We sent them a thank-you note for the gift, and explained to them how that gift had created a second gift, and sent them the receipt for the charitable contribution. Everyone seemed to think that was really cool.

Anyway, just a thought.

 

[innerkitten]

They could donate to your favorite charity?

 

[innerkitten]

Or you could start a fund for a romantic vacation.