I would say that this is my absolute favorite wedding gift:



It's a Peugeot from Williams Sonoma.


Unlike someone else who has posted, I enjoy the kitchen aid stand mixer I got and the food processor I got. Then again, I like to make a lot of my own pizza dough, and I sift things in my food processor.

I also signed up for a lot of spoonulas (or whatever they are), whisks, ladels, large spoons, etc, that I really like having around. More tongs might have been nice.

jlawrence01 wrote:Favorite Gifts:

3) Crock pot.

Less useful gifts (and ones that I asked for)

1) Cusinart - used maybe 10 times. By the time I set it up, I have everything chopped.

2) Kitchenaid Mixer - haven't touched in 10 years, used maybe 20 times.

That's funny. I store my Crockpot in the basement and hardly ever use it, while I keep the Cuisinart out on the counter and use it almost every time I do any serious cooking.

I don't use my KitchenAid as often, but it comes into play when I bake and I wouldn't be without it. (Although I would rather have the size larger than the one I got.)

Actually, though, none of these were wedding gifts. As I was married 23 years ago, it's hard to remember the gifts that I didn't really put to use. The one wedding present that I still use almost every day is my Perfex pepper grinder and I didn't register for it. I remember the giver fondly, though I recall not being too impressed at the time, thinking I'd have rather had one of the large impressive Peugeot jobs. I also still have (most of) a set of the glass bowls s4shon mentioned, which came from Crate and Barrel.

Hi,

I am one of those people who never consults the gift registry. What I give are things they will need and very likely not have on hand or even think about until needed:

- Plumbing plunger
- Two Fire extinguishers with one for kitchen fires
- Snow Shovel
- Extension light bulb changer
- Garden hose and nozzle

Long after the wedding, I will hear how one of those items came in handy.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I am one of those people who never consults the gift registry. What I give are things they will need and very likely not have on hand or even think about until needed:

- Plumbing plunger
- Two Fire extinguishers with one for kitchen fires
- Snow Shovel
- Extension light bulb changer
- Garden hose and nozzle

Long after the wedding, I will hear how one of those items came in handy.

Regards,

Romantic

Hey, one year I gave my friends a case of poop-bags and a flashlight for their wedding (which coincided with the purchase of a small puppy.) Not suggesting that someone register for these, but sometimes your friends know you best...

I know this might come off as offensive, but it bugs me when people go away from the registry. In our case we know what we need and want. If you don't feel comfortable giving us something from our registry just make a donation in our name instead.

jpschust wrote:I know this might come off as offensive, but it bugs me when people go away from the registry. In our case we know what we need and want. If you don't feel comfortable giving us something from our registry just make a donation in our name instead.

Emily Post disagrees with you. http://www.emilypost.com/weddings/tips/ ... _gifts.htm

Yeah, Emily Post is right. It makes my heart hurt a little to think of people reacting unkindly to a well-meaning gift.

It's been ages since I went to a wedding where they had much of a registry, anyway. I thought those were for when people got married young and didn't have any stuff. My sister (who did get married young) registered for some very expensive china, and my mother was so embarrassed she bought the whole set to get it off the registry.

When I go to these non-registry weddings, I've been getting a selection of cookbooks for the couple. That seems to go over well. In the past I sent a good supply these really incredible French bathtowels Garnet Hill used to carry. At one wedding the gifts were displayed and *everyone* wanted to know where they could get some of those towels. Now I just wish I could find them.

Laugh if you will, but this was at the time and several years on continues to be my single favorite wedding gift:



Yes, I'll encourage you to register for knives and pots/pans since this is your single best opportunity to get stuff you're not likely to want to splurge on later. Of course you need and want that expensive, highly useful, stuff. (You also should want, because you will need, the little doobies and other indispensable gadgets too (lemon reamer, meat thermometer, tea ball, etc.). We listed knives we really wanted, singly (as recommended elsewhere upthread--a wonderful idea), too. And this forces you to think, as suggested by others, about what you'll really use. Do you want and will you use an ice-cream maker or a pasta maker?

But don't forget those simple things, either. You'll always need a great trash can!

iblock9 wrote:

jpschust wrote:I know this might come off as offensive, but it bugs me when people go away from the registry. In our case we know what we need and want. If you don't feel comfortable giving us something from our registry just make a donation in our name instead.

Emily Post disagrees with you. http://www.emilypost.com/weddings/tips/ ... _gifts.htm

That's great, but I respectfully disagree. Speaking from what happened at my sister's wedding, about 1/3 of the people gave her gifts that she didn't register for, and especially from folks from out of town where she couldn't return them. Thus she was stuck with a lot of stuff she either didn't want or need.

My feelings were, "either give me something from the registry or give me cash"

I was fine with off-registry stuff, as long as a gift receipt was included.

As I said above, the wedding gift that I have enjoyed most over 23 years and continue to use daily wasn't something we registered for or thought we wanted. Sometimes your friends have better ideas than you have.

And really, despite these registries, the point of wedding gifts isn't what the recipients want. (And if you get nonreturnable items that you can't use, well, that's what eBay is for.)

However, it is one of the few times in your adult life where you can write a letter to Santa and expect to get the things on it. So, while you should list a range of gifts suiting a variety of budgets, this is the time to ask for those items you really want that you can't justify buying for yourself. Like jlawrence01, we registered for fine china we haven't used all that much recently -- yet it still does my heart good to know I have it and can use it if I want to.

I think the question of what to gift has a lot to do with how well you know the couple. There are a lot of folks out there who think they need everyone they've ever met to attend their wedding. This is not my idea of a good party -- if and when I ever take the plunge, I don't want superflous attendees. But that's me.

I think if you know the couple well and you have a great gift idea -- then go off the registry. If you don't -- then get them something they've asked for. And most definitely include a gift receipt no matter what you give. I do agree that some of the best gifts I've ever received were things I never thought of getting -- once a co-worker gave me a shoebox full of hair toys for my birthday -- it was one of the best gifts I'd ever gotten. And thoughtful on top of it. I personally think there's far too much emphasis in our culture of gifting without any thought put in it. Gifts should be meaningful -- I get very weary of the gifting just for the sake of it. We're so acquisition oriented that we don't remember why you give a gift -- because you care about someone. Not just because it's what you're supposed to do.

Anyway...that's just a bit of a rant. I think the registry question is all about common sense. I do know that when I attend a wedding or a shower of someone I really like and care about, that I want to put time and thought into what i give them instead of just checking a box on a list. And I think my track record has held up -- most of the things I gift off registry have often been something that the giftee proclaims was "the best gift ever". And that makes me feel good.

And my god, how many times have I used the word "gift" in this little post?

earthlydesire wrote:I think the question of what to gift has a lot to do with how well you know the couple. There are a lot of folks out there who think they need everyone they've ever met to attend their wedding. This is not my idea of a good party -- if and when I ever take the plunge, I don't want superflous attendees. But that's me.

I think if you know the couple well and you have a great gift idea -- then go off the registry.

I totally agree with this EarthlyDesire! If you know them well enough, by all means give something you think they will enjoy regardless of whether or not they registered for it.

Oddly, we received an off registry gift from friend we'd know for many years that did not match our personality. It was a very formal, stuffy, ornate, sterling silver tea set. Luckily there was a gift receipt included so we returned it.

Kim

You can never have enough mixing bowls, whisks, silicon spatulas, silpats, sheet pans.

kuan wrote:You can never have enough mixing bowls, whisks, silicon spatulas, silpats, sheet pans.

Actually, you can.