Registries - The Art of the Thank You Note

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a Batman-themed baby carriage.

We've all heard that one before.

In the midst of registry discussions, you'll inevitably find yourself going - 'first comes scanning, then comes buying, then comes... the thank you note!'

I've made a personal vow to stay on top of thank you notes throughout our engagement and wedding. One way I'm organizing things is by keeping a shared document on Google that lists the gifts we've received, when we got them, and when we sent the thank you note.

If you're looking for tips on how to write a great registry thank you note (or a great thank you note in general) - Martha Stewart is delivering that to you here, today. Basically, personalize your note to reflect not only that you're grateful for the gift but also the thought that was put into it and your relationship to the other person.

Gus and I also recommend a less popular but far more entertaining version of a Thank You Note: the YouTube Box Opening Video. My amazing girlfriends from Duke sent us a gift and since they couldn't be there with us to open it and see our reaction - we filmed it and then posted it unlisted to YouTube and sent them the link.

I'm tempted to link it here but we're both so incredibly dorky in it that I'll leave it to your imagination. Regardless, it ended up being a fun way to include our loved ones that were far away.

Happy note writing all!

Delicious Wedding Registries

Practically from the moment Gus and I got engaged, I was hearing the words "registry" and "need one" a lot. Once we came down from cloud nine about getting married- we started to think more about getting "registered." I've learned a ton from my research and since most registries won't allow you to start without a confirmed wedding date (which we don't have quite yet), we settled on Amazon.com's Universal List for now. It's a great way to pull together all the random things you think you might need. Ours includes a rice cooker, stamps, and the entire series of the Cosby Show on DVD. Yes, we're awesome and yes, we need these things for our happy marriage.

When we do our wedding registry, I'll be happy to share our decision and related research. However, I just spotted a really cool alternative registry that you may want to know about - a registry for FOODIES!

http://www.foodieregistry.com/

Available in major markets like my zone, LA, or Gus's old haunt, Denver, the foodie registry allows soon-to-be marrieds register for those essential things in their new life: date night dinners! It's basically a registry site for restaurant gift certificates. Of course, you could pull these all together in an Amazon Universal Wishlist but this is a fun spin on that process. Check out their site for more info.

Eat, drink, and be married!