Creative Registry Ideas

A Charitable Donation

Asking for a donation to a cause of the couple’s choice as a wedding gift is a great way to raise social awareness and make your wedding about something bigger than yourselves. Many charities, such as Heifer.org, offer the option of creating your own online registry that will help families in third world countries become self-sufficient and earn an income by giving them animals to raise. Other sites like justgive.org offer couples over 1,000,000 charities to choose from to create an online wedding registry. If there are still some gifts you’d like to receive but want to do something charitable as well, check out idofoundation.org. This site allows you to register at popular stores such as Pottery Barn, Target or Macy’s, and they will donate a percentage of the proceeds to your selected charity.

Gift of Food, Wine or Desserts

Many couples have their homes exactly the way they want them, but any newlywed couple could use a treat throughout the year to keep their first year of marriage special. Search online for delicious, unique registries that allow guests to provide you with a monthly gift of chocolate, spices, teas, salsas, olive oils and beer or wine. Sites like mouth.com and igourmet.com do exactly that and offer some very unique gifts.

Honeymoon Registry

The perfect relief after stressful wedding planning is the blissful honeymoon.  There are a few websites like travelersjoy.com and honeyluna.com that let couples register their honeymoon so that guests can see some of their preliminary plans and contribute financially to help create the ideal getaway experience.

Down Payment on a Home

Wedding registries are the perfect way to receive everything you need to create the perfect home, but it won’t do you any good if the home is non-existent! For couples that want to get a jump start on making a down payment, the registry at   bridaldownpaymentdreams.com helps couples register to get financial assistance towards the first step in buying a home. (Please note, despite what one of these web sites indicates, it is NOT appropriate to send ANY type of mailing to your guests “outlining” your request for gifts of money!)

Some couples might feel uneasy telling their family and friends they are asking for some of these uncommon registry ideas, but it helps to have a couple close family members and friends spread the word by saying something such as, “Yes, they’re registered at Target, but I hear they’re also hoping to save money for the down payment of a house…” and to direct the guests to the alternate registry.