BUILDING A HOME

31Jan/100

BUILDING A HOME

Toasters, blenders, towels and china are all standard fare for wedding registries, but don't worry about crystal if formal entertaining isn't your style. your wedding registry should reflect who you are as a couple as you build your home together, and the current trend is for couples to select items they will love and use every day.

Did you know:

a breakdown of trends from the Wedding Channel's "2009 Registry Study: The Knot Market Intelligence Bridal Series."

Couples averaged 137 items on their registries in 2009, ranging in price from $9 to $420.

Kitchenware and bed-and-bath items were the most popular registry categories, with 91 percent of couples registering for kitchen appliances and bakeware, 86 percent registering for cookware, 85 percent registering for bath items and 84 percent registering for bedding.

Four percent of couples registered for charitable donations.

Twelve percent of couples registered for their honeymoon, up from 8 percent in 2008.

The average gift-spending expectation was $70 for family members, $129 for friends.

"There's a lot of pressure for a couple to pick and keep items that they are going to want to keep for the rest of their lives," said Charlie Graznak, general manager at McAdams' ltd. "The thing is, when you're 25 it's hard to say that you're going to love one thing forever. As you age, your tastes change. It's more important to think about what you need now and what you don't have."

Wedding registry data indicate couples are looking beyond china and crystal when putting together their registries in favor of items they will use every day. According to the Wedding Channel's "2009 Registry Study: The Knot Market Intelligence Bridal Series," the most popular registry items include kitchenware and bed-and-bath items.

Couples who have lived together before their wedding might already have all the bathroom towels and kitchen appliances they need, but they might still want to do some redecorating with new wall art or vases, said Charli Penn, managing editor at the wedding and registry web site WeddingChannel.com.

"Someone might not need dishes and silverware but might want clocks and lamps and end tables," Graznak agreed. "We get couples in here who have already lived on their own, and they're older, and they're just now getting married for the first time and they've got a lot of the things that they might have wanted."

In addition to the items crucial to making a home, Penn said, it's not uncommon for couples to register for items relating to their favorite hobbies, activities and charities.

Home-bar essentials, board games, camping equipment and electronics are popular registry items, Penn said.

Registering for hobby-related items is also a good way to get reluctant grooms involved in the planning process, Penn said.

"Remind him that registering for a Wii or something hobby-related is not so weird anymore. The registry it not just about the pots and the pans," she said.

In response to the interest in hobby-related registries, WeddingChannel.com has established registry options with adventure company Cloud 9 Living and Bottle Notes, a wine registry.

Another emerging trend in registries is honeymoon registries. Guests can contribute to the couple's airfare, resort stays, dinners out or activities such as scuba diving or horseback riding. several local travel agents offer honeymoon registries, and WeddingChannel.com has registry options with Starwood Resorts, Sandals Resorts and Traveler's Joy.

Charities also are becoming more popular for gift registries. some couples ask their guests to donate to their favorite charity in lieu of gifts, Penn said, and WeddingChannel.com has a program where every time someone buys a gift through a registry on the Wedding Channel Web site, a percentage of money is donated to a selected charity.

Reach Caroline Dohack at 573-815-1727 or e-mail cedohack@tribmail.com.