Over one hundred years old and still going strong.
Wedding registries have been around for a century since upscale department stores first created them to accommodate their customers.
Initially targeted towards brides furnishing their first home with all the necessary kitchenware, bedding, and bath linens, along with traditional gifts of china, crystal, and silver, a wedding registry became an integral part of wedding planning and an accepted way for couples to let family and friends know what they need and want most to start their lives together.
Approximately two million couples use wedding registries each year, and while the purpose behind a registry has remained the same, so has the kind of gifts couples ask for. With people getting married later and many couples living together before marriage, there’s less need for the basics and more desire for the extras.
Today, couples are registering for all sorts of things. Here at MyRegistry, we see gift lists that include less traditional items—from outdoor gear, sports equipment and barbecues to the latest technology and cash for a honeymoon—alongside kitchen mixers and coffee mugs.
What Makes a Wedding Registry Universal?
A Universal Wedding Registry allows couples to include exactly what they want by allowing them to add any item from any store worldwide, both online and offline.
Want to effortlessly add gifts from specialty sites like Williams-Sonoma, stunning finds from Anthropologie or Sur la Table, or unique handmade treasures from Etsy? With a universal registry, you can. If you prefer to shop local and add edible gifts, you can even add gifts from farm-fresh markets. The possibilities are truly endless!
Even better, couples can sync multiple registries from favorites like Target, Amazon, Bloomingdale’s, and Bed Bath & Beyond onto a universal registry.
Gifts can even be experiences such as a wine-tasting tour, a skydiving adventure, or a Cash Gift Fund to receive donations toward larger purchases like a honeymoon or house down payment.
That’s a world of choice! And that’s “universal”: everything organized in one place—easy for you to manage, easy for your friends and family to shop for you. This ensures that your wedding guests will give a gift that will truly be appreciated (rather than a second or third toaster).
Add Gifts with Ease
The technology behind universal registries makes gift selection incredibly convenient. With browser extensions, mobile app barcode scanning, and simple syncing capabilities, you can add items from any store with just a few clicks.
Add to MyRegistry.com Button: Our browser extension button allows you to browse online. When you find something you want, you can add it with one click. Just like that, the gift has been added to the registry.
MyRegistry.com App: Barcode-scanning technology lets users who are shopping in a physical store add any item to a registry via their smartphone. You can also take a photo of the item and add it to the registry.
Simple Syncing: Existing registries with every major gift retailer can be synced to MyRegistry. When you sync store registries, you receive the benefits of a universal registry while retaining the perks of a registry with stores like Target, Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Bloomingdale’s, including complimentary goody bags or welcome boxes, and free shipping.
This approach eliminates the frustration of limited inventories and ensures that gift-givers can easily find exactly what the new you want. Making it easy for people to get the gifts they want is behind everything we do at MyRegistry.
Sharing Is Caring
With a Universal Wedding Registry, everyone benefits. Couples share exactly what they want, and gift-givers have the convenience of a single, shoppable destination. Once a universal registry has been created, it can easily be shared with friends and family via eCard, customized URL, or social media.
Planning Your Wedding?
It’s easy to create a wedding registry on MyRegistry.com and add gifts from any store in the world, from large online retailers to your favorite local shops.
Looking for Wedding Registry Gift Ideas?
Find wedding gifts and wedding registry essentials on our Wedding Registry Inspiration Boards.
