Good morning, lovelies! I’d like to introduce our newest guest contributor, Amanda Allen, founder of the fabulous wedding registry and gifting website, NewlyWish . Amanda’s going to be joining us each month to share her thoughts on wedding registries, new products, and other topics related to all things wedding gift.
Hello there, Merci readers. I’d like to thank Jackie for inviting me to add my thoughts to her wonderful blog. To begin, I’ll tell you a little bit about myself and my company, NewlyWish .
It all started a few years back when I was preparing for my own wedding. Since we were having a destination wedding, we really didn’t want to have anyone give us gifts, preferring instead that they use their money to attend the wedding. But our mothers impressed upon us that the registry is not about asking for gifts, it’s about giving guidance to guests who want to give a gift. And, whether we liked it or not, people were going to give us gifts. So, we gave in to the idea, but found that none of our favorite local stores, the places where we like to shop, had the ability to create an online gift registry. So we created gift lists with a couple of the large national department and specialty shops. But the experience got me thinking, why should couples be forced to use the same stores for their gift registries? With all the time and energy we all put into to creating a wedding that we truly love, why shouldn’t our registry be as special as every other part of the big day. And thus, NewlyWish was born. Now we have a network of more than 30 shops, spas, fitness centers and more , giving our clients a full range of choices for their registry gifts , all in a single online marketplace.
So, as you can imagine, I spend most of my day exploring the latest wedding gift items and Jackie and I thought it would be fun if we shared some of our ideas and insights with you. And that’s what we’re going to do – I’ll probably drop in a plug here and there for some new item that we have on NewlyWish , but will try not to be too obnoxious;). And we’ll sprinkle in the occasional giveaway as well. And since we’re going to be posting monthly, please do feel free to use the comment section to post any thoughts, ideas, and questions you might have about registry or other wedding-related gifting {we also do favors, wedding party gifts, showers & bachelor/ette party ideas, and welcome bags} and I’ll respond.
So, now that the introductions are out of the way, let’s get started.
With the holidays just behind us, and the New Year dawning, one of the things that we all think about is resolutions: things we’re going to try to do, or do differently in the coming year. I can’t think of anything more representative of a new beginning than a wedding. It’s the start of a new, shared life with the person you love most. It’s feted your closest friends and family. Very often there’s champagne. And there are gifts, many of which are designed to help you get started on this new phase of your life.
So in the spirit of the New Year, here are some resolution-worthy registry ideas:
Take some time together. One of the most important things I can think of for after the wedding is making sure that you spend proper quality time together. All of the ideas above can be done with your partner, but maybe you also want some nice you-two time. Add a weekend getaway to a local (or not so local) hotel. Include a restaurant gift certificate and have a night out at that little Italian place you’ve always wanted to go to. Or, try a couple’s massage. Whatever it may be, I promise it’ll be a wonderful little surprise that you can enjoy together.
So I hope these ideas will help you get started putting together your registry-resolutions list to get your new year, new, shared life off on the right note.
All the best, and we’ll see you next month.
Amanda All photos courtesy of NewlyWish .
