How can I manage a bridal registry and shower at the same time?

[bridgetbakes]

I have a bride who wants to register and her maid-of-honor also wants to hold a PC shower for her. I am unclear as to how to manage both at the same time. I have a TON of questions!

1) Is there a way to "shut down" the registry during the time of the shower so that people who are not in attendance will not be purchasing doubles of what people might purchase at the shower?
2) Also, if people purchase items at the shower that are listed on the registry, can I go in after the shower and remove them from the registry?
3) Do the bride & groom miss out on some of their registry rewards by having gifts purchased at a shower?
4) If guests want to make purchases for themselves, do they put it on a separate order form?

I am SO CONFUSED! If anyone can offer some clarity on this, It would be much appreciated.

 

[tlennhoff]

I so wish we could test the registry to etter understand how it works. I've never had one so I can't answer yur questions but wanted to let you know I feel your confusion and wish I could help.

 

[ChefMommyinOC]

UnsureI've not had a Registry yet, so I don't know if this would work, but can you print out a list of what the Bride has registered for (and has not yet been bought) the day of the party and have guests order from that. Then you could enter the orders in on the website (since you have the guest's info) and it will be taken off the Regsitry.

If, by chance, everything on the Registry is bought, have the Bride pick more items! That way, no duplicates and she still gets the benefits of the Registry!

Let me know if that works; still waiting for my first Registry

 

[jennyl]

1) Is there a way to "shut down" the registry during the time of the shower so that people who are not in attendance will not be purchasing doubles of what people might purchase at the shower?

No way to "shut it down" that I know of, but I would print off a list just before the shower as suggested above so people will know what has/hasn't been bought. Other people make pictures on cards of the gifts or something nice like that.

2) Also, if people purchase items at the shower that are listed on the registry, can I go in after the shower and remove them from the registry?

Yes, it's pretty easy - there's a column to check if it was bought somewhere besides the registry so it isn't duplicated.

3) Do the bride & groom miss out on some of their registry rewards by having gifts purchased at a shower?

It depends on how you look at it. The MOH might get the rewards for being the "host", but she might opt to give them to the bride.

4) If guests want to make purchases for themselves, do they put it on a separate order form?

People have different ways of doing this, but I think it's ok to have them on the same form. The only issue is if you want the bride to have receipts for everything. I'll let someone else share what they've done for this.

I am SO CONFUSED! If anyone can offer some clarity on this, It would be much appreciated.

Hope that helped. I know there have been threads on here of how others have handled it so search around to see what other info you can find.

 

[PCGINA]

What a HelperJenny - what a helper!! I love how you did all the quotes and answered all of the questions for Bridgett... I love creative - helpful folks

 

[bridgetbakes]

Thanks everyone for all the help. I did get to speak to my director about it last night. The gist is that yes, if she has the shower and people buy things at it, that does mean less registry rewards since the shower is a "show" and the host will receive host benefits. Most hosts are MILs or Maid-of-honors and are willing to share or totally relinquish the host benefits to the bride. That way the bride is still getting some rewards on the items she wants.

The one thing we haven't solved is what to do about people who do not come to the shower who might be at home ordering off the registry during the 3 hours of the shower. There is the chance that someone at home might be ordering doubles of whatever is being ordered at the shower and we haven't figured out yet how to disable the registry temporarily. Seems the only way to deal with it is to take the registry down altogether the day of the shower and re-enter everything after the shower.

Thanks again for everyone's helpfulness. Keep the ideas coming!

 

[jennyl]

Bridget, On the registry there's a place to put a message from the couple. It shows up at the top of the registry. You could change the message to say something along the lines of - Thanks for coming to so and so's registry. So and so's shower is today from (list time). To avoid duplication of gifts, please wait until after (list time) to make your selection.

If it was me I wouldn't worry about the chance of duplcation too much and just make the bride aware what might happen. They can always exchange things if they don't want a duplicate, or you can call guests from the shower and say - hey the Double Burner Griddle was bought while we were at the shower, do you want to pick something else?
Maybe someone else who's done a bunch of registries that also had showers can share their thoughts/experiences.

Good luck with both the registry and the shower. The registry to me is like free money and it's fun keeping track of the purchases.

 

[bridgetbakes]

Jennyl - THANKS SO MUCH! I wasn't aware of the the spot on the registry to write a message. That is a great idea. Your post was so helpful!

I LOVE CHEF SUCCESS!!!