Your Bed, Bath & Beyond consultant will tell you that everyone should register for a stand mixer. Your mother will tell you to register for a quality dishes that don’t resemble her expensive China set – collecting dust.  Choosing items for your wedding registry should be exciting! When else is someone going to drop the big bucks on a blender for you? Knowing what to register for can also be overwhelming. We have been talking here in the 1928 office about items we regretted registering for as well as things we wish we had thought of. So we put out some feelers and took a poll on items couples wish they had registered for. And here is what we found.

Quality towels and sheets

Wesport 900 thread count sheets via Macy’s; Sage Turkish Towel Collection via Restoration Hardware; Nomad Sheet Set via Anthropologie

Register for the more expensive brands, and order more than you need. Newlyweds Kristen and Brandon ended up with more towels than they registered for and took some back because they didn’t know where to store them all. Now, 11 years into their marriage they wish they had kept all of those towels for the ones that were lost or torn. Sheets with a 200 thread count may feel fine, but after being used and washed several times, they will likely fall apart. Select sheet sets for your wedding registry with long fibers and close to 800 thread count. (For more info on buying sheets, check out this article by Huffington Post on the truth about sheets.)

Tools

Insert cute picture of a drill here. 

You don’t have to know how to use a drill in order to need a drill. Household tools are often overlooked for a wedding registry because people assume they will acquire  them over time. Husband and wife, Chris and Maddy say they wish they registered for a cordless drill. “We didn’t know how much we would need tools until we bought a house,” said Maddy. Consider registering for a basic drill and toolkit to keep around the house. These can be pricey items, but stand out on a registry full of kitchen and bathroom goods. Your guests are more likely to notice them.

Art and decor for your home

 Pottery Bowls via Esty; Colorful Table Lamps via Etsy; Candelabra via Etsy; Henri Matisse Painting via MoMA Store

This is something I wish I would have taken advantage of when I registered for our wedding. My husband and I bought a house after we got married, and I had very little decor to fill a whole house with. Websites like Etsy and MoMA Store  are a great starting point for vintage, handmade and fine art registries. With these, you are only a few clicks away from registering for art for your home. Art and decor is something couples often don’t want to spend the money on, but don’t think to ask it from others either. Consider registering for new throw pillows on Etsy or that Matisse print you’ve been wanting on the Museum of Modern Art.

For more helpful hints on building your wedding registry, head over to Danielle’s post and get the scoop on more wedding registry alternatives. Get creative with your registry and as always, share your ideas with us!

Happy registering!