A friend of mine registered for all her dishes at Anthropologie. Every time I visit her or the Anthro website I wonder why I didn't think of that... SUCH cool stuff.
Jessica Rust makes these adorable ceramic dinnerware sets, personalized with your initials or your wedding date. The birch design is my absolute favorite, I love the little initials carved into the tree!
Making me wish Anthropologie had a registry service... These are so me.
While these are not my typical blue and white, I love the variations in the patterns. I would totally pair these with some wooden serving pieces for summer. Here for details.
Happy Friday everyone! I'm getting my blog on from sunny Connecticut today, enjoying the nice weather and working pool-side. We're spending the weekend celebrating my birthday, my sister's birthday (we're twins), my mother's birthday, and my grandmother's birthday. There's going to be cake!
I spotted these amazing textiles by Les Indiennes over at Decor 8, and thought that anyone looking to fluff their nest might appreciate a link. Even if you can't splurge on their textiles their photos are amazing. I love the paradoxical mix of solid and dainty, familiar and exotic. Enjoy the eye candy and your weekends everyone! 
This looks amazing right now! I'm adding the Dwell Studio Chinoiserie Pearl Bedding to my wishlist, and thinking you might want to add it to your registry. Design Public offers a ton of amazing decor stuff, along with a registry service to make asking for it that much easier. 
Sometimes I run across something that's just plain cool, but not necessarily wedding-cool. So if you'll tolerate my illustration-dork side for today, you might get something totally kewl for your walls at the same time! I came across Charmingwall via the daily blog over at Stlyehive, Hive Daily. I came for the delicious illustrative prints, I stayed for prices! Each print is only $20 (wow). My favorite was this one from Evan B. Harris, entitled Whale & Innards. Which incidentally, has a noteably romantic theme... nudge. nudge. Not so far off the wedding path after all!
I have posters (in frames), I have postcards (tacked up on the wall), and I have snapshots (all over the place), but I have a soft spot in my heart for original artwork. I can never have too much of it, and I LOVE to support new artists, local artists... artists in general. So for me, there could be no better gift than an original, hand-made piece. Enter Molly Jey! Any of her brilliant paper sculptures would be a delightful and pleasantly surprising wedding gift. It may not be on the registry, but who could object?
I think the first anniversary gift (according to tradition) is supposed to be paper... Just a thought!
Say you have your china, you don't want any linen, or you're just looking for something with a meaningful twist for your registry. Changing the Present offers a unique selection of “charitable gifts” from hundreds of leading nonprofits that reach out to the world and make a difference. Register to give a girl her first book. Feed a hungry baby for 2 months. Rescue an animal. Keep a child warm. Build a playground. You register for these things, and your guests pay for them. Prices range to suit your broke friends ($10) or your wealthy auntie ($500).
Looking for a registry alternative to Bed Bath and Beyond? Design Public has some wonderful options, especially in the bedding area. These soft n' fluffies from Jiti are some of my favorites. It may be the fact that it's late and I'm tired, but this bed looks so incredibly comfortable!
If you're looking for some beautiful things to add to your registry, look no further than Lille. This little teapot (both short, and stout) is one of my favorites from Asianera. The dinnerware from Juliska is also a must see if you're looking for timeless pieces with a little flare. I have a thing for plates that aren't round.
We've received so many nice housewarming gifts since we've moved in to the new house. One of my favorites was this collection of five white vases by Rosanna (they also have a colored collection of the same vases). If you're looking for thoughtful off-registry wedding gift, a great item to add to your own registry, or just a treat for yourself, these are awesome. I love mine so much that if I know I'm having people over and we're going to be hanging out in the kitchen, I'll move them all to the kitchen. If we're going to be playing games in the living room, I'll bring them in there. They're like a traveling side show! I sort of wish I had a few sets so I didn't keep having to take them with me.
So this is an interesting concept. Conde Nast has created something called Dream House. As far as I understand it, Dream House is a showplace home, designed to inspire newlywed or newly engaged couples. In addition to displaying some fabulous decor, the fanciest in bridal attire, and the epitome of registry chic, the Dream House will be open to the public for tours, cocktail parties, classes and spa treatments. The Dream House will only be open for four weeks, starting on the 18th of October. You can visit the Dream House main site to see a schedule of events, and purchase tickets. Part of the proceeds will go toward the I Do Foundation, and at $10 per event, it seems like a pretty reasonable fee for a cocktail party or a manicure. Take a few of the girlfriends! Where is this Dream House you ask? Manhattan, of course.
Every week Xochitl (pronounced so-cheel), our resident wediquette expert and owner of Always a Bridesmaid Wedding Consulting, answers an etiquette question submitted* by one of our readers. So, (without further ado):
Q: My daughter will be married in December in a 100 guest wedding of close family and friends. Giuliana and Marcelo told me that they would rather not do a traditional registry, but want to save for a downpayment for their first home. They are a sensible sort... thirty, still in grad school. They have many household items and since they will be moving during her residency don't want to carry much more around.
I am not objecting, but they asked me for the weddiquette. Help! Is this done, how to word it, should they give people a choice?--Ann
A: The registry thing is so sticky, since generally people don't know exactly what to do about spreading the word. I think it becomes mildly stickier when the couple wants or needs cash for a particular purpose. From a technical etiquette perspective, registry information should never be published and should always be spread via word of mouth, the Mother of the Bride being one of the more vocal mouths. If the couple is setting up a wedding website I think you can include some casual information there about how they are saving for a first home.
I would caution you about the following two things: the bridal shower and determined guests. It's not customary to bring cash to a bridal shower, so I think that should your daughter really not want any new clutter in her life, she could request a lingerie shower when that time comes. At least then she will get new items that she can always use, and these showers are kind of fun. If she doesn't like this idea, I would suggest another kind of theme shower: such as "Around the Clock" or "Room of the House" or a "Linen Shower " (who doesn't want new 500 thread count sheets?) to limit the random-ness of gifts she might receive. My other point is that there are often guests who simply insist on buying gifts no matter what and they'll just go willy nilly buying whatever suits them. Not always desirable.
As a final note, I just got back from visiting friends who live in Amsterdam. They were telling me about Dutch weddings and about how in Holland when you send a wedding invitation, you often include an empty envelope that says something like "Thank you for your gift towards our new Apartment" on it and sometimes even includes deposit account information. Then, it is often customary in the Thank You card for the Bride and Groom to send photos of what they purchased with the money from their wedding. I do love the practical Dutch!--Xochitl of Always a Bridesmaid
*If you've got a question for our expert, submit it by clicking "submit your question" in the right hand column, under "wediquette".
Looking for something to add to the ol' registry? These platters and bowls are from Martha Stewart's new line of blue & white serve-ware, sold at Macy's. They'd be a fantastic compliment to any blue and white collection (including my own). The largest pieces are around $30 while the smaller ones are closer to $20. Time for a dinner party!
So here's where I tell everyone how much I love blue and white dinnerware. Again.
The latest additions to my "Deeply Coveted List" are these serving platters from Gumps. Oh, the sugar bowl. You've gotta see the sugar bowl.
Good Monday everyone! I was just starting to feel the winter doldrums set in last night when I looked outside and saw an inch of snow on the city streets. Normally, here in New York, that doesn't happen until late March when we're all hoping for spring and prematurely wearing pastels. So, we count our blessings where we can get them.
On that note, I'm going to pass you over to Sam for her usual Monday morning update.
First of all, thank you so much S.O.S.N. readers! Your advice about registering has been so useful. We registered at Bloomingdale's and we may do one other place like Amazon or maybe even Anthropologie? The Bloomingdale's experience was like a movie scene. Dave and I got to the registry office not knowing what to expect and got our very own registry agent. A dapper older man with a whole spiel began explaining all the policies and procedures with such aplomb. Other couples buzzed around the office with their clipboards and paperwork. We were given a scanner and proceeded to walk around clicking over item barcodes. I think this was Dave’s favorite part being the technologically inclined fellow that he is. Though a close rival would be the help-yourself espresso machine in the registry office. So just imagine your fiancé all hopped up on espresso with a scanner gun in hand. If I did not stop him we would have 10 cutlery sets and 5 mug trees. Anyway, I was less than thrilled with bedding and towels, they were all very drab and plain. I was thrilled about the stainless steel flatware and the dishes and frames. Kate Spade’s collections have the perfect combination of clean/modern with colorful/funky. I am a huge fan of her stuff. We registered for Gwinnett Lane dishes and also these lovely frames. We also scanned some great Emil Henry cookware. I guess registering is not so bad after all, especially on espresso!
Ah Monday. A lot of lucky people have today off. I am not one of those people. But, it is a great day just the same. Today, we must give Samantha our advise. She is having some trouble with her registry. I'll let her tell you all about it.
Drama. The registry. I thought that it would be good to work on something together with Dave… you know, a couple bonding thing for the wedding. It did not work out as well as I’d hoped. I thought we would be able to sit down together and do a registry. Wrong. I read a lot of design blogs so I’ve been collecting interesting sites that would be good for registering or online shopping. Dave is a master guru at organizing filing and creating systems. So I thought I’d be able to come to the proverbial table with my collection of findings have him organize it all and then go through it together to make sure we have everything and agree on it aesthetically. He created a system using google notebook to categorize all my info. But by the time we got to the first item he was freaking out and getting frantic “how big is this dinner plate? $22 for a mug, are you crazy Sam, we break mugs everyday!! What’s an accent plate? IS this pasta bowl for a single serving or for serving a whole dinner party?“
UGH! We were sitting next to my 18-year-old punk brother having this conversation and he chimed in how bourgeois we are and everyone wound up going his or her separate ways. I don’t see what’s wrong with registering at 5-6 different sites. A few of the typical ones for older guests like Bloomingdales, Crate and Barrel etc. and then a few younger more independent designer kind of sites like Clio Home or Design Public. I love Kate Spade’s Gwinnet China but I also love these.
Dave thinks we should only register at two or three places, I think more like 5-6! What should we do? I really want some unique stuff and I want to support some indie designers. I figure the older people will be comfortable at Bloomingdales and the younger people will shop online. What’s the best compromise? And does anyone have any good registry suggestions. HELP!
Anyone looking for a unique wedding gift? Rockett St. George is owned by two British design lovin' ladies, Jane Rockett and Lucy St. George. This boutique features some of the UK's freshest design talent and their website offers an incredible range of both beautiful and useful items. Personally, I love the fuzzy boot slippers and think they would make a fantastic gift for someone special on any occasion. The rose cut-out shelf or some of their distinct glassware would both make stellar wedding gifts.
*Also noted by Oh Joy, Rockett St.George will ship to the states. Fantastic!
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