Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Registering: the Practical

When we set up our second registry we wanted to go somewhere practical. After researching different options, we decided on Bed, Bath and Beyond. We realized they have the same items as many of their competitors, but at much cheaper prices!

For example, when we were considering china, I fell in love with Lenox's Opal Innocence. At Macy's it is typically $172.00 per place setting, but often goes on sale for $119.99. At Bed Bath and Beyond it is always $119.99 and they always have 20% off coupons, so if guests are coupon savvy, they can get the place setting at $95.99!

After learning the price differences, we were completely on board with BB&B. It doesn't hurt that they have an incredible amount of items to choose from. They have so much in fact, that we did have to visit a couple of stores to see different items. Not every store has the same inventory. Guests who live near Newport Mom will most likely shop at the store near her, but they don't have our dinnerware, we had to drive a bit further to find a store that carries it. Same with our cookware and flatware. This has been the only down side to registering at BB&B, but since we have multiple registeries, I doubt it will be an issue.

So what does our china/dinnerware look like? Well even though I absolutely love the Opal Innocence china, we decided it isn't very practical for our lifestyle. We plan to continue holidays at Mr. Newport's ant's house (if you pronounce it ant do you spell it ant or aunt? I say aunt, and Mr. Newport calls his aunt ant), or at Sister Newport's house, Newport Dad's, newport Mom's or FPIL Newport's house. We tend to visit a minimum of three houses on the holidays. So needless to say, we won't be needing it for many occassions.

Instead of a fancy china, we went for a more practical version, Wedgewood White. Mr. Newport loves the simplicity and I love that I can dress it up or down based on the ocassion.

So with practical china picked out, we were able to continue registering for some favorites like the kitchenaid mixer (did you know this is included for the 20% off coupon?), Calphalon Contemporary Stainless Steel non-stick cookware, Henckles knife set, Pyrex measuring cups and Calphalon bakeware.

We are such a practical couple, that BB&B was the perfect registry choice with all of their well known quality brands at great prices. This was by far the easies place to regster and our favorite. We especially love going onlien, so we can see it all in one place.

Here are a few of the other perks to registering at BB&B:

  • Incentive program- ability to receive free gifts when registering for specific items, that are purchased off of your registry
  • Gift tracker- which helps with thank you notes
  • Completion program- get a discount on items that were unfulfilled on your regitry with a one time coupon to use once in store and once online up to three months after the event
  • Free announcement cards
  • Complimentary gift packaging in store for guests
  • Hassle Free Returns
  • Refer a friend program- I was refered to BB&B by Sister Newport, so they gave her a $25.00 referral card good towards any purchase over $50.00. If you plan to register here, see if any of your friends were recently married and used tehm and make sure to tell the consultant when you set up your registry!

Did you have a favorite registry location? what made them stand out?

6 comments:

Nicole-Lynn said...

Great dinnerware set. We also registered there. We love it. There were some items they didn't have which I registered for on our other registeries, but overall great place. I love that our guests have the option of using the 20% coupons and there is usually a BB&B close to everyone!

honey my heart said...

nice choice! we registered for similar looking plates and definitely love them :) BB&B is one of my favorite places, and the coupons don't hurt.

Sara said...

Hi! I am a recent follower :-) I love your plates- so pretty! We are going to register this weekend and BB&B is top of the list!

Unknown said...

The other perk of BB&B is that they are one of the few places that will give you cash back for returned items. Very helpful when you receive duplicates or you realize after the wedding that you don't need or want everything.

starfish said...

Thanks for the tip Jenn!

Katie said...

Oh wow - the Lenox setting is what my future SIL just picked out...she got a few settings for her bday last week. It is so pretty.