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The mister and I are foodies who love to cook, so I'm a BIG fan of Williams-Sonoma. We got some freebies -- All Clad measuring cups and Wusthof shears -- for adding All Clad cookware and Wusthof knives to our registry.
We're even debating adding some items we DON'T want our guests to buy for us -- like an uber expensive wine refrigerator -- so we can get it at a discount after the wedding!
So, Macy's gives you really nice perks, like a discount after the wedding to buy the remaining things, and they have excellent sales.
HOWEVER, Macy's is a huge pain in the rear to deal with. They send you ten million emails every day, they hassle you about returns, and the registry ladies in the store are BITCHES. Seriously, I've encountered three of them and they were all horrible. One lady in particular looked at my registry (I didn't ask her to do this, she just printed it and looked at it when I just wanted the stupid scanner gun which they always make you sit through a long speech for), and told me that 8 place settings could not possibly be enough, we needed at least 12. When I said we live in a small apartment and probably will indefinitely, she said, in the snarkiest tone possible, "I wish I'd known exactly what *my* future would hold when I was your age". Seriously, I almost walked out of the store and canceled the registry right then and there. And they were ALL like that.
So, truthfully, Macy's is a fine place to register with if you want discounts and sales (and people love to buy gifts from there for some reason). But if I had it to do over again, I'd have given that lady the finger and registered elsewhere.
My best registry experience has been amazon.com. There is no hassle and they have everything.
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Sooo WS offers the discount TOO??????? OMG I'M GOING TO REGISTER TODAY! That is amazing. I mean, how genius is that of these stores? Lol. I will for sure be adding huge ticket items so I can have a discount.
You what's funny? A while ago I raised an eyebrow and gave the stink eye at someones registry, because they had all these $$$$$$$ like thousands of dollars each items on the list, but that's because there's a discount! Lol. Now it makes sense.
I'm not actually 100% sure WS offers a discount...but the perks of a lifetime warranty for our cookware and knives (and a company we know and trust that won't be going out of business any time soon) were enough to win us over. Now, though, I'm going to check up and see about that completion discount!
Okay, checked it -- 10% completion discount at WS for up to six months after the event. Good luck with your decision!
Oh, and just to be totally transparent, we're also registered at Sur La Table (another awesome cooking store), Macy's and Bed Bath and Beyond.
I think a lot of places offer a completion discount. BB&B, Macy's, do as well.
I think in terms of easy access for most people, Macy's is the best (esp. older guests will likely want to go in person). I found that the quality of sales staff at Macy's varies greatly by store and time of day, actually. But overall, I think people who work in dept store's home sections are generally a bit on the creepy side. That said, the perks of registering at Macy's are pretty good. Many manufacturers also offer free gifts if you receive more than $X of their products. And since the registry is done through WeddingChannel, it's easy to cross register with the I Do Foundation which makes charitable donations for each dollar spent on your registry.
On the flip side, an advantage of BB&B is that they are always sending out 20% off coupons. For items that are available at both Macy's and BB&B, we're steering toward bb&b to make thing cheaper for our guests. I'm torn about adding WS b/c of the pricing. I'm a big cook, and I know I won't easily hesitate to buy even expensive cookware as I need it. But our apartment won't fit it right now, and we are registering for china which will be a storage challenge in and of itself. For me, since I know half of our guests (the Indian ones) will almost all give cash, I'm thinking a little in terms of what I know I will likely keep forever and not easily buy again (china) and what we can use soon.
I believe Crate and Barrel offers registry completion discounts too. And don't forget that Macy's gives you points for every dollar spent on your registry it all adds up and they end up mailing you x amount of money just for having registered there and having bought stuff off your registry. The points also go toward things YOU buy on your macy's charge, if you have one. My cousin said after her wedding they got like $300 from Macy's or something, just because the Reward points added up.
I am registered at Crate & Barrel, BB&B, Macys, and WIlliams Sonoma. Initially only had the first three but one of my showers is now kitchen-themed so my mom talked me into doing a WS registry to get some of their "exclusive" items. I've been happy with all the places so far, actually.
We registered at Macys, Bed Bath and Beyond and Pottery Barn.
I have had great experiences with all three!! I have returned things, exchanged things and purchased things myself from all three registries and they have all been really helpful and nice to work with. Also, all of them offer great registry completion rewards (which we have taken full advantage of!). Macy's continues to send me coupons for more completion discounts on certain days too! BB&B is great because they ALWAYS have 20% coupons and $10 coupons floating around - we use those all the time!
HTH
I registered at Crate and Barrel and loved it. The customer service is great. You get a 10% discount coupon for one in-store and one online purchase towards the completion of your registry. If you want to return something but don't have the gift receipt, they will look it up based on your registry. You can ask for cash instead of a store credit up to $100 if you return something. Crate & Barrel also has an outlet that has really great prices!
Bed, Bath, and Beyond also has a completion discount and cash refunds. They have coupons ALL THE TIME. If you don't have a coupon on the day that you go, you can go back, present the coupon, and get a price adjustment. Every once in a while, BB&B will have a $10 off $30 coupon too.
HTH
I registered at BB&B, Crate & Barrel and Macys. All 3 offer a completion discount of 10%, good for up to 1 year after your wedding. Macys and Bed Bath & Beyond also offer registry perks.
Certain things if you register for a certain amount you get a registry gift and if someone buys a certain amount you get a completion gift.
We registered for $99.99+ worth of Henckels flatware at BB&B and just for doing that we got a nice wooden flatware storage thing that goes in the drawer. Then someone BOUGHT us $99.99+ worth of the Henckels flatware and we got an AMAZING 8 piece Henckels steak knife set. The knives are better than I have ever used and completely free!!
Macys is more expensive than BB&B and C&B, even when its the same items (china at Macys was $186 normal and at BB&B it was $119.) BUT Macys always has stuff on sale and BB&B offers 20% coupons every week in the mail.
I did macy's (a department store everyone can get to), Lowe's (cuz we have a house and want things like a chest freezer, dorky, right?) and Williams Sonoma, my fave. I'm a huge kitchen conoisseur and I don't believe in buying crap appliances! I just LOVE to cook. LOVE IT. My favors are even measuring spoons =]
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We've registered at Crate and Barrel, WS, and Bloomingdales. So far the BEST place to register has been Bloomies. Everything has been on sale at one point or other and our Sales agent is the absolute best. Plus, you get the 10% completion perk and many other discounts. AKA 15% off Mr. Peep's suit and a free make over. If you have one nearby - I'd highly recommend it. The prices aren't really that much more than Macy's but the customer service has been so much better!!
I've heard from friends who have just gotten married that they had terrible experiences with Target's return policy, so that might be something to investigate. *sigh,* I love Target.
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I did Macy's as well, and we have had a great experience so far. I've returned a few things already (from showers) and haven't had any problems. The registry salespeople have been pleasant. We registered there because of a lot of the reasons stated above; they have a lot of stock in the store for the old folks who aren't into online shopping, there are stores in the area where I am from and where my Fi is from, and they give good discounts & coupons. We actually ended up getting my Fi's wedding band there too, because he just wanted something very plain and we got crazy disounts with coupons and an extra discount because we are registered there.
Count me as another person who had a weird experience with Macy's ... one of my best friends registered there, and I ordered a gift for her about 4 months before the wedding. 3 months later, I got an e-mail saying my gift was shipping, and she got an e-mail saying a gift was on its way and sent me a thank-you card ... then I got another e-mail saying my order had been cancelled! No explanation, just "Your order has been cancelled."
I tried calling their customer service line -- couldn't get through to an actual human. I submitted an online query, and it took them almost 2 weeks to get back to me. They claimed the order was cancelled because my credit card had been declined, but when I called my credit card company they said there was nothing wrong with the card and that they had no record of Macy's trying to charge it. I double-checked my order receipt and I put in all the info correctly, so I have no idea what went wrong. I just know that Macy's was unhelpful and unresponsive when the problem came up, and my friend said I wasn't the only guest who had trouble with their registry.
Crate & Barrel has been terrific -- people love to buy from them, they have lovely things, and their online registry is a breeze. I like Amazon.com but for some reason no one seems to want to buy things off that registry! It's all kitchen stuff, just like our C&B registry, but people seem to prefer C&B.
We're registering at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Target. My FSIL and FBIL registered at both of those places too, and had really good experiences! We were thinking of registering at Macy's too, but every time I go into the store...the sales people are just so rude, that I don't want my guests to have to to deal with that. Maybe that's just the store by where we live though! Good luck with the search!! :)
I'm actually suprised to hear people say that Macy's was difficult... they sent someone to help me unload my car, and even validated my parking (this is the Macy's in downtown Seattle). Target was also a piece of cake (although I only had one thing to return). BBB was by far the best place, though- they will offer you a gift card for all of the stuff you return, but if you ask for cash, they'll give it to you without batting an eye (a friend told me to do this, and even though it felt weird, I tried, and it was no problem). I walked out of there with almost $300 right before our honeymoon!
My FI works at Bed Bath and Beyond and I honestly believe they are the best place to register. They will return absolutely ANYTHING no matter if it has been used or broken. They give you a percentage off your registry for completion and they offer perks for many of the brands they carry. Some you just have to register for enough of a particular brand and they will send you a free gift. We have already gotten two crystal vases and a recipe book/CD just for registering. They send emails if something on your registry has been discontinued so you can replace it with new merchandise. I know they are extensively trained and usually know how to advise new brides.
He always tells me that places like Macy's are a lot more expensive. He's talked brides into registering for their china at BB&B because the same pattern was a lot cheaper there. Plus, you know all of your guests have about ten coupons from BB&B and you can use as many as you want. They can even be expired.
Since he works there, he has heard things about registries from other brides and he hardly ever hears anything good about Target. We've only registered at BB&B and Amazon because we've found everything we need there!
We are registered at Target and at Jc Penny but I just added Bed Bath & Beyond. I'm so excited!!
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Hands down BB&B, for the following reasons
1) 20% off coupons
2) Easy, hassle-free returns (not so with all places)
3) Has all the major brands that Williams & Sonoma offers (Wusthof, Le Creuset, etc etc). If you're really a hardcore cook, consider Sur La Table.
4) The selection of stuff online is awesome. It's even more than what they have in stores.
just out of curiosity, when you return a gift to bbb, do your guests find out? we don't foresee it as we truly need everything we've ordered, but i was just wondering how that works. anyone know?
Definetly Bed Bath and Beyond. They offer 10% off whatever isnt purchased for a year, plus you get great incentive gifts. If you REGISTER for something on their incentive list (we did $99+ of Henckles flatware), we got a nice cutlery tray. When someone PURCHASED that gift, we got an 8 piece stainless steel knife set. All for free!!!
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@ gardenpartygirl - If you return something they will take it off your registry so it will show 0 instead of 1 for whatever was purchased. But you can always delete the item off your registry, people dont tend to look at your registry after they bought something.
We registered at Macy's, BBB and Target. All three places recently sent us coupons with discounts to complete our registries, and our wedding wasn't even 2 weeks ago. I also liked that you can edit all three online--frankly, that was a lot easier than going back into the store to add things.
I had a similar experience to Amandopolis with a registry associate at Macy's. She kept heckling us about not registering for formal china and trying to convince us to register for more items. We knew we were registering at 3 different places and we honestly didn't need everything, because we've been living on our own for years (and together for almost 2 years). She kept emailing and making a big deal about how we would regret not registering for more things. Having said that, I was happy with their towels and the appliances we received from there. I'm also a Macy's cardholder, so I think I'll be receiving some sort of rewards as well.
BBB and Target--they have pretty much everything at those places, so we were able to register for non-house things, like camping gear. Target has been decent on returns so far, but we've had gift receipts for everything. We do have one very ugly photo frame (that we did not register for) that I'm going to try to return later this week. I've heard horror stories about their returns, but I figured I'd at least try returning it before I put it in the pile to go to Goodwill.
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We registered at BBB, W&S and Amazon.
BBB for most of the electronics (kitchenaid, toaster, hand mixer) as well as everyday and fine china b/c with the 20% discount they're often cheaper than Amazon and have a much better return policy in case something goes wrong. Not to mention it's easier to return it to a store than an online entity.
W&S for the Le cruset and baking pieces we wanted and because it's another "brick and motar" store people can go into.
Amazon (knives, pots, rock band 2) b/c we have so many UK guests it's much easier for them to order online adn they've never heard of BBB and W&S so we wanted to give them an option they'd be more familiar with.
I chose Target, and BB&B, but now I'm thinking Williams Sonoma as well....
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In another post, someone told me there's a deal on items leftover on your list, and you get a great deal on them - like 20% off if you buy them after the fact.
So, this got me thinking, what are the best stores to register with??? I want to register somewhere that will give me perks, that is if I even decide to register, which I would just to get the deal at the end on stuff I buy on my own!
P.S. do you think I could still get the deal if I don't tell people I've registered, b/c I hate the idea of telling people I registered, but I'd like to get a discount on my own. Hmmm...