Wedding Registry?

Anyone have suggestions for how to handle a wedding registry? Here is why... my family (more often than not) thinks Scotland is somewhere out near Utah... maybe Idaho if they use a map (no kidding). Explaining that buying me that US Kitchenaid Mixer will NOT work in the UK really befuddles them!

I've looked into a few here but nothing thrills me... or maybe it is because you don't get the cool barcode gun to run around Target and scan 3 of everything in the store with.

Also, I want presents! Ok not to be a greedy bugger but you only get married once and I want nice stuff, but with shipping, exchange rates, etc I think I'm gonna get like a wooden spoon, maybe a tea cozy if I am lucky.

PS... to confuse things more... I'm the yank, live in Glasgow the girl is German and we're doing the wedding in Germany with a Scottish theme and American/German customs.... oye! (try to find a German bagpiper who can speak english to Americas!)

A co-worker of mine got to run around Debenhams with that cool scanner thingy and scanned everything she wanted... so perhaps try there.  They have some really nice homeware items there.  They can order them and have them shipped to your house as well.

For Christmas my mother asked me to make a wishlist on Amazon.co.uk and that was quite easy... but not as fun I suppose.

Best of luck! 

I agree with the amazon.co.uk idea! We registered at John Lewis (with the scanning thingy) and the registry went online so some US folk used that.... But warn them about the exchange rate!!!

I'm using a registry called TheGiftListCompany.com.  It lets you register online from a wide variety of stores, including OFFLINE purchases (the people just 'pledge' you money, which the registry company then just forwards on to you).  I'm primarily using Argos and John Lewis with some bits from Amazon.co.uk.  All those sites let you use international credit cards, which is obviously important for my U.S. family.

I've heard bad things about Debenham's, because apparently they charge really high/bad shipping rates off the registry, so even though you get a free £50 to spend after the wedding, your guests MORE than pay for it in delivery fees.

I did Debenhams. We also got a discount for anything else we wanted in the store.  They just added it to our list as if we had it on there.  Then we got a Happy first Christmas and another 15% off anything coupon.

I guess it is evidence for the ILR!

We did Debenhams as well.

we found it just easier to ask people for Argos vouchers...they sell just about everything we will need for a house move 

Are people able to buy Argos vouchers online though?  We registered at both Argos and Debenhams and for some reason I want to say at the time (late 2005) you couldn't order them from the website.

Not sure about getting them online....most people attending our service live near a Argos store, so could pick them up......we thought it would just take the thinking out of what to buy us..and they can get any amount they choose without feeling pressured.

As for the American side...we have left it open for people to gt us whatever they fancy...

We did John Lewis (big shipment comes next Saturday - they deliver everything at once) so I can't wait!  Of course there were still people who bought us things that weren't on the registry which was a pain.  I understand they wanted to get us a pressie, but when i was over in the states for my bridal shower a good number of people gave me heavy things to schlep back to Leeds.  Wound up paying $100 in excess baggage when there should have been zero charge.

I think the key is if you are doing a registry to spread the word to as many people as possible and explain that it really is the easiest way (and kindest way otherwise the newlyweds wind up paying money on top of their gifts)

Wish I had thought of the amazon.co.uk idea!  Another good one that other expat friends of ours have done is register for their honeymoon (they live in Singapore).  Seeing as there is no realistic way to do a registry there (they will move back to the UK in 2 years) they have asked folks to contribute to their amazing 3 week African safari

We're using bgregistry.com which like thegiftlistcompany.com lets you add items from any store in the world. 
Basically what we're doing is adding electronic and heavy items from UK stores and most everything else from US stores so that the shipping will be less and the American side of the family isn't shocked by the UK exchange rate and has some gift options in US dollars.

We've just started compiling it, so I can't tell you how it's worked out yet, but it seems like a great idea!  It's also nice that you don't feel confined to one store's selection. On the other hand when you just want a simple pie pan it can be overwhelming to know which in the world to choose. 

so glad I found this thread...my fiance and I are getting married in Pennsylvania but will be living in England and the registry thing is a nightmare..I got some great ideas from this thread..thank you all...and I am like Greg I was looking forward to the scanner gun lol

We're eloping and sending announcements and this came up, too.  I was more concerned that someone would try to send me an american cheque and it'd be a big hassle to put it in the bank.  (Am leaving the US account open a while just for that reason.) 

Habitat does a nice program where people can put money into your pot and they will add 10%.    I think we're just going to tell them to give us Kiva.org gift certificates, and we'll microfinance it for a year and then withdraw the cash later if we want it back.

So, I've opened up a tab for each one of the sites mentioned so far for my FH and I to take a gander, hehe.

What would anyone suggest as the maximum number of websites to mention for registry options for US family and friends? We're in the UK now and I don't want them to have to start selling kidneys.

Also, a long time friend of mine in the US just sent a M&S gift card for £30. We haven't registered anywhere yet and we haven't asked for anything...so she did "homework" herself to get this to us (which is incredibly sweet). She did it all from the US and there was no shipping to pay because it was just a gift card and sent from within the UK.

I think most people register on a maximum of 2-3 places. 

We only registered at one place though- amazon.co.uk.  It's a breeze for our US-based guests- yes, it's more expensive than a US site, but we have lots of items on our list that are very affordable even if buying in dollars and the convenience of having everything shipped to our UK address is what swayed us in the end!