Manhattan Bride Wedding Magazine

Registry

Registry Planning:
The Complete Checklist For Assembling Your Registry

Dressing Your Table

The New Entertaining

Building Your Registry

Tabletop Bridal Show

Registry Contest

Bridal Resources:
Registry & Home

BUILDING YOUR REGISTRY

Keep the Future in Mind | Planning Your Registry | Your Crystal | Locations

“Your registry should complement your lifestyle,” says Pamela Tooke, Bridal Director of The Registry at Bloomingdale’s.

“Sometimes younger brides think in terms of what they need today and don’t look at tomorrow. But it’s very important to anticipate both the present and the future needs of your lifestyle, in terms of who you will be entertaining, and even in terms of your profession.”

Register Now ... With The Future In Mind
“Planning ahead is a crucial first step in selecting your registry items,” Pamela explains, suggesting that you should first take an inventory of what you have.

“Think in terms of what you want to stay with, and what you want to change, upgrade or update.” Since you will now be entertaining as a couple, each of you will bring different relatives, friends and business associates into the equation.

Couples in their mid to late twenties will have a more fast-paced lifestyle. “The items you have now are probably more disposable. But if you are both attorneys or see yourselves rising up the corporate ladder,” Pam observes, “what you need later may not be what you need or want now.”

Ask yourselves several questions: What is your lifestyle going to be like in 10 years? Are you going to be living in a house in Connecticut? Will you be entertaining on a more grand scale, with more accoutrements?

“When you register, think long-term, rather than instant gratification.”

Design Your Registry To Grow
“It’s an ever-evolving process” explains Laura Constantine, The Coordinator of The Registry at Bloomingdale’s. “You can always change or add to your registry.”

“We used to tell brides ‘Get fine china now because you’re going to have it for a lifetime,’ ” adds Pam. “But that’s not true anymore. You get a new car, there’s no reason you shouldn’t get a new china pattern. You get tired of things. Your tastes change and evolve. Get what you like, but if you think you’re going to use fine china in the long-term, then this is a great time to get it!”

Mix & Match
“And you can build on it, adds Laura. “These days people are doing a lot of mixing and matching with their china. You don’t have to get 16 place-settings of one particular pattern.”

Her advice: get dinner plates in one pattern and dessert plates in another. “Most of the manufacturers now do accent plates, so you can ‘wardrobe’ your table.”

What exactly is wardrobing? “It’s like your basic black dress. If you add pearls to it you can wear it at night. Add a silver chain and you can wear it to work.” says Pam. “White china, for instance, can be made to look very formal and sophisticated. Or you can give it a country look and make it very simple and charming. It’s great for breakfast, lunch, dinner, anything.”

All the companies make accent plates for salad or dessert. “You can take a white dinner plate and put an accent plate on top of it and create a holiday flavor. You can put flowers on it and create a spring look. Put something more elegant on it for a formal flair. There are a lot of ways you can expand your set of china.”

Feel free to experiment! “Don’t be afraid of it,” says Laura. “A registry consultant can show you how to achieve different looks by simply changing placemats or a tablecloth.”

Planning Your Registry
After you make an appointment to meet with a registry consultant, Pam and Laura suggest arriving early to walk around the floor.

Better yet, spend an evening with your fiancé walking around and looking at everything. Make notes. Talk to each other. You may have always wanted a floral pattern but he might say, “I’m not eating off plates with flowers!” Compromise by getting plain dinner plates plus floral accent plates.

“Once the bride did all this with her mother,” says Pam. “Now the groom wants to be more involved. A good percentage of grooms want to know what kind of flatware they’re going to be eating with. They want to feel the wine glass.

“In this city especially,” she says, “entertaining means hosting both friends and business associates. It becomes important on many levels.”

A bridal consultant will explain Bloomingdale’s Registry, detailing what happens when merchandise is sent to you, how to check on your list and see what people have purchased, “everything you need to know so there are no surprises.”

Many Lines
“We have such a fabulous assortment it can make the registry process overwhelming. Our knowledgeable consultants are available to assist couples in their selection process.”

Bloomingdale’s carries Bernardaud, Lenox, Wedgwood, Rosenthal, Christofle, Haviland, Gien, Mottahedeh, Versace, Villeroy and Boch, Royal Worcester, Spode and more. “We have a lot!

“What the bride will see is each collection broken down into five-piece place-settings, maybe with some serving accessories.”

Crystal
“With crystal, the rules have changed. Young couples want to make their own style. They want to be individualistic. There’s nothing unusual about seeing two stems on a table, a goblet and a wine that matches, and a champagne that doesn’t match. It’s about expressing yourself and showing your own personality,” adds Pam.

“Baccarat, Waterford, Christofle, Lalique, Kosta Boda and Lenox are some of our main brands of crystal.

“Start with a dinnerware pattern and then pull out the crystal,” Pam continues, while noting there are obvious things you want to consider. “For instance, if you pick a platinum-banded dinnerware pattern and a platinum-banded stemware, they should match.

“Previously, if you had a plain dinnerware pattern and a plain flatware pattern then you would get a fancy stemware pattern. The thought was that if you put too many plain things together it would be boring.

“But ironically that’s what everybody likes today, the really clean, fresh Calvin Klein look. Your consultant can tell you about the traditional guidelines, but those are only there to help you make a decision. They are not there to direct you.”

Fine Items ... Plus Dedicated Service
Despite the “unbelievable” assortment at Bloomingdale’s, “What really sets us apart,” Laura observes, “is our one-on-one service. Your consultant is the person you communicate with throughout your registry.”

If you begin your registry online, an in-store consultant will contact you and set up an appointment so you can finalize your registry in store.

“And again, you can change things at any time,” adds Pam. “We want you to be happy with what you select.

“When a purchase is made off your registry, you are notified either through e-mail or mail.”

Bloomingdale’s is also making use of the Internet in its registry services. “Everybody knows that the e-tailers which aren’t making it are the ones that don’t have brick and mortar behind their sites,” says Pam. “Our goal is to achieve a seamlessness between what we do online and what we do in the stores.”

“What we are finding,” adds Laura, “is that couples are beginning their registry online. It actually does save time. But they are still very interested in that one-on-one contact.”

A New Chapter
“I love interacting with couples because it’s such a pleasure seeing them so completely enthusiastic about the process.” says Pam.

“They’re beaming,” says Laura. They’re just so excited about beginning this new chapter of their lives. It’s wonderful.”

Bloomingdale’s Registry 1000 Third Avenue, 6th floor New York, NY 10022 212.705.3340	Hackensack Mall 400 Hackensack Avenue Hackensack, NJ 07602 201.457.2242
The Mall at Short Hills Short Hills, NJ 07078 973.548.2393	270 Walt Whitman Rd. Huntington Station, NY 11746 516.425.6761
175 Bloomingdale Road White Plains, NY 10605 914.684.6363	Roosevelt Field Shopping Center Old Country Road Garden City, NY 11530 516.873.2743