Adventures in Registry-ing

As I said in my last post, Matt and I registered at Bed, Bath, and Beyond (BBB from here on out). We finished that registry Saturday when we went to The Woodlands for my brother's birthday dinner at Brennan's (Best. Food. Ever.). Anyway, we wanted a bigger selection of items to choose from, and that BBB definitely offered that! 

It was quite interesting, walking through the store with Matt, and also with my mom on Saturday. 
Me: "Oooh, look, a temperpedic pillow! Let's scan this!" 
Matt: "Jessica, it's $99. For a pillow." 
Mom: "But if you get it, then that would be great. If not, oh well, get another one with the giftcards."
Me: "I like this reasoning..."

And thus started what was a ridiculous experience, much to Matt's chagrin. (Him and his being practical. Where's the fun in that? :P) But I may or may not have used that reasoning to register for 2 of the aforementioned $99 pillows, an $80 picture frame, a $60 trashcan, a $40 atomic clock (Matt's pick, by the way), and a $70 Beatles wall art. 

Don't think we're that ridiculous. Blame my mother, she gave me her expensive taste. And don't worry, there are more reasonably priced items on both this registry and the one on Amazon.

Oh yes, we registered at Amazon, too, instead of another physical store. Why? Because you can get EVERYTHING at Amazon. Pots and pans. Kindles. Wiis and Beatles Rock Band. Fun board games:

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Yeah... we registered for board games. And why not??? We like them more than china. Ok, Matt really likes them more than china. For me, they take up less space and space might be crucial for wherever we're living.

Speaking of space, the one item Matt talked me out of was my beloved KitchenAid Stand Mixer:

Source

instead of going with this beauty, we went for a KitchenAid hand-held mixer. It will take up less space, it's cheaper, and since I do not really bake all that much, it is more practical anyway.

What we did that was really helpful was develop a list before we went to the store. We registered on Amazon first, and made sure to check the prices of items at BBB online to make sure Amazon had the best price. If it were items that we wanted to touch and see physically (i.e. everyday plates), then we automatically knew those would be a BBB item. Anyway, we created the list and then just walked up and down the aisles, scanning and checking things off. Occasionally there were times when we added an item to the list to be researched later because we hadn't thought of it yet, but both Amazon and BBB make it SO easy to edit your registry online, that it is not a problem.

K, gotta get to work now. First day of classes! Can't believe we're seniors already!

Registry + 2 days, 5 vendors- Part 2

Before I continue with this, in somewhat exciting news, Matt and I got to register at Bed, Bath, and Beyond yesterday. Some of the pickins' were pretty slim, especially being the one located in a large college town, so we'll be finishing it up tomorrow in Houston. But, we did get a lot of items and random cool, things. Here are some pictures to prove that we, too, can work a scan-gun thing.

Don't worry, we did NOT register for pink towels. That would be cruel.

And moving on...

Where were we? Oh yes, we had just finished our first tasting at Kiss the Cook Cakes and admired there amazing pastry skills. OK, so then we went to lunch, numero uno mistake. So not hungry. I think I ate a third of my salad at McAlisters, though my family and Matt somehow ate most of their lunch. Not sure why or how, because shortly thereafter, we had tasting two at Bakery B, mistake numero dos, which I'll explain later.


So we arrive at this bakery, are seated at a table, and then taste a chocolate, almond, vanilla, and amaretto flavors. They were definitely good, though not as good as the first one in all of our opinions. Also, her estimate was a decent bit cheaper than our Bakery A, and the quality of her gallery showed it. In addition, when I wanted suggestions as to the design of the cake, she said that we didn't need to decide on that today, though I had LOVED that Bakery A had taken the time to do that. However, I really liked her, though, as a person. She was very sweet and I was not looking forward to sending her the rejection email, but I guess that's part of the deal.

Following being stuffed with excessive sugar [we couldn't even finish all the samples!], we left and went to meet with Florist B, LZ Floral. Florist B was unfamiliar with the church we're getting married at, so we met her at the church. AND I was able to take sanctuary pictures for y'all:

Ahh, the beautiful windows that look out into the trees. So pretty...

I really liked Florist B. We actually sat down and talked about the flowers we wanted, and she had a lot of examples of her previous work. Florist A had already 'decided' on flowers, though I'm sure we could have changed it. I just did not know what Florist A's flowers would look like all put together, so it was a lot harder for me to imagine than with Florist B. Also, Florist B really got along well with my family, especially when my brother and Matt started brainstorming crazy ideas for the wedding, such as kilts and zip-off skirts. What's better is that Florist B was able to get us a quote a couple of hours after we left, so yay for quick service! In addition, her quote was competitive with Florist A, which is something we were worried about.

And so that finishes the meeting with 5 vendors. I think you could guess, but the choices we went with were Florist B, LZ Floral, and then Bakery A, Kiss the Cook. I'm so excited to see what they do with the flowers and cake, respectively. It makes it so much more real, being able to envision all of those components of the wedding, in addition to really liking the photographer.

But here are some suggestions from me to any prospective bride that's reading this:
1) Do NOT schedule cake tasting back to back. I would suggest giving yourself SEVERAL hours between each, if you have to do them on the same day. Otherwise you're still full from the last one, and you cannot really enjoy the cake fully.

2) I really liked only having 2 bakeries to choose from. I could not imagine having more than that to pick from, because I would think the tastings would run together. "Wait, chocolate A, B, C, or D?" It just would get mixed up...

3) Come with ideas for both. I brought some swatches of my bridesmaids' dresses, along with pictures of bouquets, centerpieces, and cakes that I/we had liked. But also be open to going a different direction, in case your flower of choice is not available in the month of the wedding, for instance.