Wedding Registry 101 :: tips, tricks, and lessons learned

With 20 months of engagement under our belt, Max and I have had some time to learn a thing or two along the way. Creating our registry was one of the things we were most excited about in the wedding planning process, and it has been so much fun! I have lots of recently married friends who have given me advice along the way so, I wanted to share the love and pass along a few registry 101 tips:
Have fun and scan it all // With online registry management tools, there is no reason to spend time debating over which item to get in the store or before you go. If you like it, scan it. If you can’t decide between 2 or 3 different versions, scan them all. If you’re creating your registry online and are not sure if you could find a better version at another store, add it anyways. Once you’ve created your registry, you can easily go back and edit/manage it online where you can quickly and easily compare styles, prices, details, reviews etc.  
Start early // You want to have your registry finalized before your first party, so that you guests can easily purchase you a gift, but this isn’t the only reason to register early. The earlier you start, the more time you will have to consider what you really want. It’s easy to get carried away when registering (think a list for Santa, but for adults) but after a while you may realize that you really don’t need some of the things you registered for, or that you need 10 place settings instead of 6, or that you forgot something that you really need. There are so many items that I have deleted or added since we registered because I’ve had time to think about what I really need and what I really don’t care about.
Set aside time and make it fun // The day we went to do our registry, Max said “we’ll only need like an hour, right?”. Wrong. It’s so fun to wander through the store, scanning, and day dreaming about your future married life, complete with pyrex and fine china. Don’t stifle that! Take your time and have fun! Max was scan-happy and at first I went into “mom mode” trying to keep him from touching everything, but after I loosened up we we’re both laughing and scanning and having the best time. We grabbed lunch after and chatted about our adventure. It was a fun day we’ll always remember.
Stay organized // Even now, when I log onto my registry I will think of something that I’ve forgotten or see that the quanitity is inaccurate on a particular item. It’s a lot to manage, so try to stay organized with quantities, registry counts, gift cards, etc.  Most importantly, have fun! It's about the experience and building a life together.