Finally! After getting recently engaged, you’ve visited to your favorite department store and you’ve checked off one of the essential boxes in the “newly engaged” checklist. You’ve registered for your dream china, kitchen essentials and home decor. Now how do you get the word out to your guests about where you’ve registered? Do you put registry information on your invitations? Do you send it out as an announcement? How do you make sure guests are informed about where you have registered?
As stationers, we get asked this question all the time and the answer may surprise you. In the US, it’s actually considered an invitation faux-pas to speak about any kind of gift when addressing your guests in your formal stationery. Different cultures have different etiquette rules and guidelines (and boy is that another story!) so for the sake of this article, we’ll just be talking about the US and Canada.
To begin with, etiquette may seem like a strict guidebook written by the “etiquette police” a mob of etiquette enforcers but really at the end of the day, most of the “rules” were written more as a guide of recommendations on how to be polite. Ultimately, the real objective is for the host to be as considerate and kind as possible towards their guests. With that said, one of the reasons registry or gift information is discouraged is that it is implying that sending a gift is expected or perhaps even mandatory.. This premise to many people can appear distasteful and presumptive. While I know many of you are now raising your eyebrow and thinking “Well, yes, guests really should be sending gifts to the couple” the reality is, you’re not inviting your guests for the presents that they will be sending you. You’re inviting them because you want them to be there and for them to celebrate the joyous occasion with you and with your families.
So what’s the right way to go about it? We’re huge proponents of wedding websites because (among a host of other reasons) they’re the perfect place to include registry information. Most guests nowadays even expect registry information to be available there anyway. And you can even provide the link information for the registry websites to boot! So you would direct your guests there via a small enclosure card you include with the invites which could simply say “for more information please visit www.yournames.com “ or if you want to be more specific “for more information and registry details please visit www.yournames.com”. Voilà, a simple and elegant solution!
Do you need advice on etiquette or have questions on how to word things for your stationery? Contact us to set up an appointment and we can help you navigate the ins and outs of wedding etiquette.