What is a wedding registry?

So, you’ve said, ‘HELL YES’ to the person of your dreams? Firstly, a massive congratulations on your engagement. The adventure starts here! Now, the exciting process of planning your day can begin. Choosing a theme, defining your guest list and finding your ideal venue will all no doubt be at the top of your rather long to-do list. But what about a wedding registry? To gift list, or not to gift list, that is the question.

To help you decide, we’ve pulled together the very best advice from our wedding registry experts into this handy guide.

Put simply, a wedding registry is a curated list of gifts or experiences an engaged couple shares with their wedding guests before their big day. The list is chosen by the couple and is typically made up of various homeware products, cash funds, honeymoon fund requests and experiences. The aim of a wedding registry is to guide guests in choosing gifts that the couple really want and need.

It’s absolutely the same! Wedding registry is just a more common term used in the U.S.

1. Set up an account - It takes a matter of seconds to create a free account online with Prezola. All we need are a few basic details about you and your partner to get started.

2. Get building - Start filling in your wedding wishlist with all the products you really, really want. Be inspired by our gift list collections, explore your favourite brands and discover the curated lists we love for handy gift ideas. Simply add your choice of registry items to your list. Yes, it really is as fun as it sounds.

3. Publish your registry - Now your friends and family can start gifting! Guests can purchase an item with our secure online checkout from the moment you set your registry to visible.

4. Keep track of your gifts - Prezola makes it easy to see which items have been bought and by who! Changed your mind about a gift? No problemo. Exchange it at any time for another product we list on site.

5. Confirm your list - After your wedding day you’ll have the chance to make any final present swaps before closing your list. That’s when we get ordering and can arrange your free, weekday delivery slot.

6. Enjoy the second best day of your life - The perfect cure for post-wedding blues? Wedding gift delivery day, of course! Don't forget to tell us all about it using the hashtag #PrezolaDay.

The simple answer is whatever you want and need. As a starting point, we’d suggest adding a few products from each homeware category - Kitchen, Dining, Bed & Bath, Home, Outdoors and Lifestyle. We recommend at least one gift per guest to provide plenty of choice. If you're not sure where to start, Prezola has a handy gift list calculator that will advise you based on your list type (whether that’s a product list, cash fund or a mixed list) and number of wedding guests.

Need a little extra guidance? Check out our useful wedding registry checklist below.

We recommend giving your guests plenty of choice. Avoid filling your wedding registry list solely with expensive gifts. A range of differently priced products to cater for everyone's budget is a must. Everything looking a bit spenny? Check out our inspiration lists for gorgeous gifts under £25, £50, £100, and £200.

Trending items are great too, but there’s a reason so many couples select timeless pieces like a Le Creuset dish or the iconic Kitchen Aid. If you can’t see yourself using the item longer term, we’d suggest scrapping it from your list.

Of course! If saving for an epic adventure is at the top of your list then you can absolutely use your registry as a tactful way to save up. Prezola’s honeymoon fund is designed to be different from the rest and a little more discreet. There are no ties to any tour operators and the cash is yours to do with as you wish.

We know that guests often like to feel like they’re contributing to something tangible. That’s why we've created hundreds of exciting funds your guests can gift, from a romantic dinner to flight upgrades, champagne in your room or breakfast in bed!

And if you can't find exactly what you're after in our honeymoon fund department you can add a personalised honeymoon fund in the Cash gifts section of your dashboard. This way your guests will feel that they've bought you something truly personal and memorable and not just given you cash. Next stop, Fiji!

So you know what you want but you can’t seem to find it on your chosen gift registry? No problem, Prezola is the UK's most flexible gift list for a reason. All you have to do is pop the details into the Custom Gift section in your couples' dashboard and we’ll add it to your list as a cash fund. Even better, if our team can source the gift from one of our brand partners in the meantime, we’ll swap the cash fund for the real thing. Sorted!

Absolutely not! Wedding registries are useful wedding planning tools designed to help you start married life smoothly. Of course, us Brits are always a little reluctant to ask for what we really want, worried we might come across too pushy or presumptuous. But perhaps what you need are a few pointers on gift list etiquette instead?

Remember, most wedding guests wouldn’t dream of attending a wedding without having purchased a gift, so it’s definitely a good plan to have one. It can be a huge relief for guests to know they are gifting something the couple will definitely love.

Worried we might be a little too biased? Time to debunk those gift list-related myths.

It’s certainly not rude and it’s important to remember that buying a gift for the couple is in no way mandatory. However, we recommend sticking to their list. Not only have the couple likely spent a lot of time carefully deciding what to ask for, they have the best idea of what they want and need.

Are you a wedding guest wanting to get your head around the process? Head to our ‘how it works for guests’ section for wedding gifting 101.

No problemo. We’ve got answers. Browse our articles for all the wedding registry advice you could dream of. Or alternatively, head to our FAQs section to get down to the nitty gritty.