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If you're partnered and had a registry, what have you found to be the most useful items from your registry? If you've bought things like china, barware, cookware, and large appliances for yourself, what purchases have been worth the money? Which purchases or gifts do you regret? (On the flipside, what is the cheapest item you're loving in your kitchen or home right now?)
We've talked a bit about wedding-type things over the years, including polling the readers what to put on your registry, how to plan a wedding while working long hours, where to go on your honeymoon, and whether to invite your colleagues to your wedding.
The Most Useful Items in My Registry
We've been married for about 15 years now, and our registry included a lot of things that I thought we needed — so many Waterford glasses (Lismore), fine china, fancy pots and pans (All-Clad Copper Core). I regret a LOT of it, to be honest — all of that china and glassware required a lot of storage space, and the fancy pots and pans would have been much better given to people who cook often. (We're much more likely to order, go out, or do a very easy recipe from the archive.) In fact, at the time we got them, my husband had just killed a stainless steel pot that my mother had had since her college days (burned rice) — so the Copper Core pans have almost always been primarily in storage or for show.
Still, the things that we've loved have been unexpected. We use our good china at least twice a month (Lenox Federal Platinum), and I also adore the matching mugs; they add a bit of elegance beyond our usual dishwasher safe Corelleware. (The Lenox tea service for 8 has, unfortunately, never been used.) We got our first rice cooker and Le Creuset Dutch oven through our wedding registry, and we use them both frequently. (I think of my dearly departed Aunt Maria every time I use the Dutch oven.)
While the All-Clad pots and pans may have been a bust, some of the things we upgraded were definitely worth it — we happily used our upgraded convection toaster oven for years. (It died only recently!)
Registry-Type Things We're Buying For Ourselves
We still do buy barware for ourselves, although we've recognized that, for the most part, it's just the two of us drinking — if anything comes in a set larger than that I have to really, really love it in order to make room for it in my cabinets. (We have about five sets each of martini glasses and lowball glasses, and I keep seeing beautiful cordial glasses when I go thrifting.)
I buy coffee mugs for us also, which we also use for large tea mugs, but again I try to limit it to two mugs — any set larger than that I have to truly love. At this point (for mugs and plates at least), I do my best to buy and use what I love, and stick it in the dishwasher if that's easiest even if it's not necessarily dishwasher safe — I'd rather break something than have it sit on a shelf unused.
Linens are another big thing that people register for — I don't think we had them on our registry, but I have made a number of relatively nice bedding purchases for us. I hate throwing things away if they've still got life in them, though, so at this point any new additions to our closet have to be something I truly love. We have about 5 sets of linen sheets and 5 sets of thick flannel sheets, so things are in rotation constantly and last a long time.
We did not register for vases or things (or if we did it was probably Lismore stuff), and I've enjoyed building a collection of vases I love over the years through a variety of thrifting, estate sales, and regular shopping.
The Cheapest Items We're Loving Right Now
Some of the most affordable things that we're loving that were gifts include things like cheese knives and chacuterie-type accessories — they're fun and elevate a basic night of wine, cheese, and crackers or fresh bread.
Readers, over to you — if you're partnered and had a registry, what have you found to be the most useful items from your registry? If you've bought things like china, barware, cookware, and large appliances for yourself, what purchases have been worth the money? Which purchases or gifts do you regret?
Kate
I’d love to hear more about your thrifting. So much of Corporette is focused on encouraging engaging in consumption – which, I get it, those links help pay the bills – and it would be awesome to see some more discussions about second-hand options and strategies.
anon
I mean, this is a current fashion website, and this specific post is about buying wedding gifts, which is very risky to do via thrifting. Maybe you have amazing time/skills/opportunities to shop for pre-owned items, and the taste to discover unique/functional/desired pieces for a couple getting married that you know they will enjoy/need.
I mean, I would LOVE it if a friend scoured the second hand shops and gave me vintage cast iron cookware, but I may run different than most folks. And who has the time/resources to do that? We are now a busy, click to shop culture.
Anonymous
I didn’t have a registry because I’m very anti-consumption however my lovely mom tracked down the Salad bowl that matches my vintage dishware on FB marketplace and I use it all the time.
Anon
I didn’t have a registry – small wedding, basically an elopement with some guests – but my long time girlfriends threw me a shower anyway and each of them gave me a bottle of wine of the style I like (southern Rhone, mostly) and then all went in on getting me a set of four Riedel wine glasses in the correct shape for that wine.
I’ve been married for almost 25 years now and cleaned out my wineglass shelf in the china cabinet this last weekend and I see I have one Rhône style Riedel glass left, which I could interpret as a loss, but I can also think of it as many wonderful evenings enjoying fine wine with just the two of us or with friends, where someone had enough fun to knock over and break the wineglass. (Probably me, talking with my hands.)
Sierra Madre, Treasure of
I’m very clumsy – I view wineglasses as consumables :)
Senior Attorney
Yes, Team Wineglasses Are Consumables.
Anon
I got married in the south 20 years ago in my early 20s. I am still crazy in love with the Gorham stainless silverware I chose that was being discontinued as I registered and we had to track down the pieces to finish my set off, and little embossed juice glasses from Williams-Sonoma. I didn’t register for but received lots of Wilton Armetale (pewter serving dishes) – we joked that I received enough to open a catering business! I love to entertain and use them all the time.
Runcible Spoon
Yes, I have Gorham Fairfield (which is the stainless version of the sterling Gorham Fairfax, a family pattern), and this silverware set rocks! Good quality, good weight in the hands, pretty design, the whole shebang.
Anon
Married ~1 decade. We were combining 2 cheaply/partially furnished 1 br apts into a shared home.
White porcelain dishes (Williams Sonoma) and Oneida stainless flatware.
16 settings of both. Classic designs that we use for all occasions including daily.
Le Creuset Dutch oven
Knives
Anonymous
I also got white porcelain dishes from Williams Sonoma off my registry about a decade ago and we use them all the time. They still look great. My husband and I cook a lot so we use our all clad pots and pans often.
KL
I chose “china-level” porcelain dishwasher-safe dishes from Caskata from my registry. We still use them every single day as our everyday plates (I didn’t register for bowls because I have a separate handmade ceramics collection of deep cereal bowls), and I’ve only broken 1 plate in 5 years, which I was able to replace easily. The aforementioned fancy bowl collection gets used every day too, so far no casualties. I also registered for 18/0 silverware and the quality upgrade is a huge difference, no more bent spoon handles from scooping ice cream.
Sierra Madre, Treasure of
We still use the plates and bowls we registered for from Bed Bath & Beyond. They’re cream-colored and were advertised as “stoneware.” They’ve held up well but we’ve had to move them several times and they’re $#* HEAVY!
Anon
My longtime “everyday” china is Johnson and Johnson stoneware, and you are correct about heavy. I just this past weekend put it in the china cabinet. I have arthritis (RA) in my hands and from here on out, it’s Corelle, baby. I’m not trying to impress anyone who lives with me! Haha
Anon
(*Johnson Brothers, brain f@rt)
Kara
We’ve been together about 15 years and kept our registry pretty small. What we still use – and not just for holidays – are some of the white stoneware serving dishes we were gifted. They make any meal a bit fancier and go with any possible color/theme – including occasionally paper plates!
Anon
Not on our registry, used daily: a Pampered Chef stoneware pan.
Love and use everything we got off the registry; then again, we were very circumspect about what went on it. Definitely hit a wide range of prices, just… wanted it all to be things we would use.
BostonANONian
We were married 2 years ago and both love to cook. We get a lot of use out of our Le Creuset dutch ovens, Cutco knife set (a lovely engagement gift, not something we registered for), and toaster oven. Our All-Clad pans – especially the “weeknight” pan – are kitchen workhorses. We use our Vitamix even more than I expected. We covered a pretty wide range of prices and items, and I really can’t think of anything we registered for that we don’t use regularly and enjoy, although some items are more “special occasion” (our massive wood cutting board, for example, or springform cake pans).
One surprise is our china. I had no intention of registering for china, but my grandmother was very insistent that we needed a complete set for 12, with serving ware. No arguing with grandma! That was her gift to us. We picked a very simple, plain, dishwasher safe Villeroy & Boch set. I have to say, something about having that really encourages us to host more! We could use them as everyday plates, but there is something surprisingly special about breaking out the “good china” for company, and I am often inclined to offer to host because, well…we are all kitted out for it. Why not?
Anon
I love your screen name!
Senior Attorney
We are coming up on 8 years married. We mostly registered for bottles of wine beause we had most everything we needed. We did register for various liquor decanters and we still use them regularly and really enjoy them.
Senior Attorney
We also regularly use the fine china and silver from both our previous marriages.
Christie
We got a ton of use out of a luggage set and a nice bath towel set (both have needed replacing over the past decade), but the items we’ve gotten much more use out of than I would have anticipated are a nice cake knife and server set and our Kitchen Aid stand mixer. The non-registry gift I use everyday is a pair of beautiful Italian espresso cups.
Anonymous
Villeroy and Bach wine glasses. Completely indestructible.