Gift Giving Guy

I’m looking forward to a college friend’s wedding next month. Of course, her wedding invitation properly omitted any mention of a gift registry. While bridal shower invitations may list registries, the wedding invitation should not. Traditionally, family and close friends of the bride and groom spread the word about the wedding registry.

Instead, I turned to the WeddingChannel.com‘s unified registry search, spanning 22 different gift registries:

• Amazon.com
• Barneys New York
• Bed Bath & Beyond
• Bloomingdale’s
• Borsheims
• Bottlenotes
• Charity Registry
• Cloud 9
• Crate & Barrel
• Fortunoff
• Gump’s
• JCPenney
• Macy’s
• Neiman Marcus
• Pottery Barn
• REI
• Restoration Hardware
• Sandals Resorts
• Starwood Hotels & Resorts
• Tiffany & Co.
• Traveler’s Joy
• Williams-Sonoma

Just one search, based on her first and last name, revealed the couple’s wedding registry. Keep in mind you can give thoughtful gifts off the registry; it’s just there for the convenience of the guests. And the gift of money (or gift cards to the couple’s registered stores) is often well-received.

If the WeddingChannel.com’s search yields no results, you can individually check some of the online gift registries that the WeddingChannel.com does not cover.

• Bon-Ton stores, including Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s, Parisian and Younkers
• Dillard’s Wedding Registry
• JCPenney Wedding and Gift Registry
  
• JustGive.org’s Wedding Center
• Kohl’s Wedding Wishes Gift Registry
• Linens ‘n Things Gift Registry
• Sears Book Gift Registry
• Target Club Wedd
• Walmart Gift Registry

With the sluggish economy, both Target and Walmart are seeing more couples using their registries, according to a recent survey by TheKnot.com. For example, Target’s Club Wedd made up 18 percent of the respondents’ primary wedding registries. The survey also found that 69 percent of guests chose gifts from the couple’s wedding registry.