Getting Married! Registry Suggestions?

[JimJohn]

Hey All! I'm getting married in July and I've come to a certain realization: I'm terrible at picking things for the registry, and I don't want to be overloaded with useless doilies and whatever else the future wifey is interested in. We have silly amount of low-ball glasses, a few steins and a mix-match of wine glasses.

Now's my last chance to be selfish and ask for everything I'll need to load up a worthy bar once we settle into some place of residence. Any suggestions? Whether it be different types of glasses, liquors, tending equipment etc., I'm open for anything/everything.

[Rafa]

Congratulations!

I suppose it depends on what you already have, and what you like to drink. None of us are going to know your tastes and bar as well as you do.

That said, you might want to look over this thread to see what people here consider home bar essentials. 12BottleBar.com covers the same topic (though not without controversy). A lot of it is cheap enough that it's not really wedding registry material (bitters, vermouth, etc), but some of it, like Chartreuse and Cointreau, is both pricey and essential.

If you like Scotch or Cognac or other expensive liquors, now's the time to let your friends and family know.

For diverse and extremely affordable glassware there's Fishs Eddy. They also have lots of general kitchenware. Just make sure to let your guests know that you're set for lowballs.

[Plantes Vertes]

Congratulations JimJohn! I wish you a great day and a great marriage.

For glassware, I love several of the LSA collections, as well as Villeroy & Boch - particularly the La Divina range.

I envy your foresight! I got a lot of rolling pins and toasters, for lack of clear thinking at registry time, but we were given matching hip flasks (with the date engraved on them of course) and I feel those contributed a lot to our happiness as a couple.

Edited April 18, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[MelissaH]

Congratulations!

I suppose it depends on what you already have, and what you like to drink. None of us are going to know your tastes and bar as well as you do.

That said, you might want to look over this thread to see what people here consider home bar essentials. 12BottleBar.com covers the same topic (though not without controversy). A lot of it is cheap enough that it's not really wedding registry material (bitters, vermouth, etc), but some of it, like Chartreuse and Cointreau, is both pricey and essential.

If you like Scotch or Cognac or other expensive liquors, now's the time to let your friends and family know.

For diverse and extremely affordable glassware there's Fishs Eddy. They also have lots of general kitchenware. Just make sure to let your guests know that you're set for lowballs.

I would argue that, depending on who you're inviting, there's no such thing as too cheap for a wedding registry. I've been to several weddings where we don't know the bride or groom all that well (but work with the parents) and depend on the registry to guide our gift choices—either to get something directly off the list, or say, "Oh, they've registered for X, but I bet they'll also enjoy having Y." And then there was the wedding where the registry didn't include much in the price range we were planning to spend, and the few things that were less than $200 per item apparently went quickly. If you anticipate inviting people who are students, or who have recently been students, or who may incur significant travel expenses to get to your wedding, or may otherwise not necessarily want to spend a lot of money, you may want to have some less expensive items on your list so they can give you something tangible. After all, people can always put together a collection of less expensive items if they have more money to spend.

That said, one of our favorite wedding gifts was a second bowl for our KitchenAid stand mixer, which my sister bought for us and had engraved with our names and wedding date.

If you're specifically looking for bar tools, don't forget about shakers and spoons and zesters and measuring devices. Maybe an atomizer, if you're the sort who prefers your martini with just a spray of vermouth over the top?

Let me, too, add my congratulations to you!

[olmoelisa]

I got married long years ago...

We had the catering and everything, but my mother took care of the liquors table.

We are Italian and she set a big, round table this way: about ten colored glass bottles, of different shapes, in shades from red to pink, and all around them little liquor glasses of the same colours.

The tablecoth was white, embroied with Venice fine laces.

All around there were little biscuit and cakes, the kind we use to offer with the liquors after dinner (flower petal cookies, almond pastries, stuffed dried figs, little ricotta and fruit puddings...).

We offered homemade traditional liqueurs, mainly Rosolios and flavored Grappa, I don't remembr now, but sure there were my preferred ones, Violet and orange blossom Rosolios, and orange and coffee grappa for my (future) husband.

The table was very elegant and it was the main attraction point at my marriage, for the delight of my mother.

Have a wonderful day!

[JimJohn]

Thank you all so much - Time is running out! But all of this is great information. And thank you for the congratulations! Time to put a list together =)

[KatieLoeb]

Congrats! I wish you and your future spouse every happiness and good drinking!

If you like to entertain, a punch bowl is a really nice thing to have for large format beverages.

Gift Certificate to eBay so you can hunt down some awesome antique barware of your own choosing. I'm a big fan of the Culver glasses. Very Mad Men. Old shakers, ice buckets, decanters, antique julep spoons, funky strainers. It's all good and makes drinking so much more elegant.

Gift certificates to Amazon so you can stock your cocktail book library or buy bitters or whatever else you'd like.

Start a wish list at Cocktail Kingdom. That can serve as a de facto registry for your bar desires.

Edited April 26, 2013 by KatieLoeb (log)

[turkoftheplains]

Hey All! I'm getting married in July and I've come to a certain realization: I'm terrible at picking things for the registry, and I don't want to be overloaded with useless doilies and whatever else the future wifey is interested in. We have silly amount of low-ball glasses, a few steins and a mix-match of wine glasses.

Now's my last chance to be selfish and ask for everything I'll need to load up a worthy bar once we settle into some place of residence. Any suggestions? Whether it be different types of glasses, liquors, tending equipment etc., I'm open for anything/everything.

If you register at Amazon you have access to Cocktail Kingdom products and (eGullet's very own) Adam Elmegirab's line of bitters. Also cocktail books.