Like so many couples today, Bryce and I have been living together for a few years already. When this is the case, you tend to already have a lot of the "traditional" items you might find on a wedding gift registry. We didn't want to just go to a home store and add a bunch of things we really didn't need, nor did we want to have ten registries with miscellaneous items on them. Instead, we went online and found one that offered exactly what we wanted.
On our registry, we included items for my bridal shower like a garter, cake knife and server set, bridal hanger, and wedding flutes (all from different vendors on Etsy). Meanwhile, my bridal robe was from Victoria's Secret. We also added items for our honeymoon in St. Augustine such as tours and dining experiences. We were able to add larger things like a family camping tent and items to start our home projects.
Besides the ability to include items from multiple places, one of our favorite features of SimpleRegistry was the direct deposit. Through this, we were able to spend the money on whatever we really needed most. When it came down to it, we had actually fallen in love with another set of wedding flutes and were able to apply the money from other items toward them. As for the the rest of the registry items, they were things I wouldn't have been able to register for anywhere else. Instead, we were able to get what we wanted and not deal with returns.
As a hair stylist, it was really nice to have an easy access page to direct my clients to when they wanted to do something nice for us. With some of the larger items, such as the family tent and re-stuccoing the house, our friends and family could pick any dollar amount to give us if they couldn't purchase the entire thing.
All in all, it was a dream registry and exactly what we wanted. I actually have a friend who wants to set up an account for her teenage daughter so she can also have a one-stop shopping experience for her birthday and Christmas.
Thank you SimpleRegistry!