(BPT) – While your wedding should be the happiest day of your life, it can also be the happiest day for your kitchen. With a well-planned registry, you’ll be enjoying the fun, creativity and bonding of cooking together at home for years to come — from leisurely weekend breakfasts to romantic dinners and toasts to cap off the day.
A wedding registry should reflect how you really live. Not everyone focuses their social life on formal dinner parties with the kind of fine china, silverware and crystal found on traditional wedding gift lists. Today’s registries reflect current lifestyles with new twists and trends.
“Wedding registries are trending toward more casual, hip and high-tech kitchenware, such as nonstick woks instead of chafing dishes and iced tea makers instead of tea pots,” says Peter Giannetti, editor-in-chief of HomeWorld Business. “Also, registries are not as bride-centric as they used to be. With both brides and grooms involved, gifts such as high-tech coffee centers and growlers for craft beer are becoming more popular.”
Selecting gifts at a variety of price points is both good etiquette and good strategy. Big-ticket items give guests the opportunity for a grand gesture, and they also make great group gifts. Be sure to include moderately priced items that are appealing and distinctive, so that everyone can feel good about what they give. For many, it is more satisfying to give something that’s special and specific, rather than one small piece for a set.
On-trend wedding registry gift ideas
1. The growler is becoming a new must-have for those who love locally brewed craft beer, while also wanting to lead eco-friendly lifestyles that avoid the waste of excess disposable packaging. Created for filling with craft beer, the Reduce Vacuum Growler features double wall insulation that protects the beverage for full flavor enjoyment at just the right temperature.
2. Teatime is now cool, because 85 percent of the tea consumed in America is iced, according to The Tea Association of the USA. One to consider is an iced tea maker that offers a fully customizable iced tea brewing experience from either loose tea or tea bags. The Capresso Iced Tea Maker lets you adjust to taste from regular to extra strong, and it brews into a beautiful 80-ounce glass pitcher.
3. Pepper and salt mills are focal points on the counter or the table, in addition to being everyday essentials. A unique choice that ties into popular décor trends is the Collection Antique from Peugeot, which combines iconic shapes with rustic aged beech wood. Designed and produced in France, these are keepsake mills with a lifetime warranty on the mechanisms.
4. The wok has evolved into a versatile everyday pan for quickly prepared meals with delicious, fresh ingredients. You should look for a high quality nonstick wok engineered to professional grade standards. The Kyocera 12.5-inch Nonstick Wok with Lid features an exclusive ceramic nonstick coating and can be used for braising, pan-frying, roasting, searing and stir-frying.
5. Coffee lovers appreciate a true bean-to-cup experience and who wouldn’t want a professional-style coffee bar in their own home? The JURA IMPRESSA C60 produces specialty coffee beverages in a flash. A high-performance conical burr grinder and fine foam technology for feather-like milk foam help make this machine the choice for happy couples who would rather sip their java at home versus the coffee shop.
