What You Really Need To Register For: Kitchen Stuff

It’s Wedding Season!

How many weddings are you attending this summer? Are you in any of them? Are you getting married yourself this summer?

We celebrated our 6 year anniversary in April, which just feels crazy to me! I got to thinking about all of the things that we registered for and how some of them are items that get used every day. Some of them we thought we would use, but they really weren’t necessary at all. Then there are things that we should have registered for, but didn’t and had to purchase them later.

So with my 6 years of married-person “wisdom”, I’m rounding up a list of what I would register for if I were getting married today, aka: what you really need to register for.

So if you happen to be getting married this year, I hope this list is a bit of a help for you. If you’re attending a wedding this year, maybe this list will guide you to purchasing a gift for the bride and groom that they will use daily.

First, I need to give this big piece of advice:

Don’t get sucked into the romance of registering for your wedding.

Those people at Bed, Bath, & Beyond are really good a their jobs. They’re really good at convincing you that you need regular dishes and fancy dishes, plus special serving dishes for entertaining and enough bar and wine glasses to open your own pub. You don’t.

It seems so exciting to have nice things to pull out when you entertain and fancy stuff for special occasions. Most people I know don’t need or use any of it.

When we registered for our wedding, I knew I wanted Corelle dishes. They’re lightweight, almost indestructible, and cost about $50 for service for 4 people.

The registry people at Bed, Bath, and Beyond convinced me that we should register for nicer dishes too. I don’t know how I got sucked into this, but it happened. We picked out some fancier dishes that were $40 per place setting. We received 2 place settings of these dishes, which we decided to keep because it was just the 2 of us and is seemed fun to have our own special dishes. We also got the Corelle dishes, so we had more than enough dishes for when people came over.

Anyway, Those fancy, expensive dishes all cracked or broke in the first year we were married! All I have left is one of the bowls, which is on my dresser storing bracelets. What a waste!

It seems exciting and classy to have fancy dishes for when people come over, but they’re expensive and not necessarily any better than other dishes. I think of what a waste it was to receive dishes we didn’t really need as a gift when there were things that we really needed that we had to buy ourselves later on.

We resisted registering for wine glasses and other bar glasses (though the registry people tried to convince us) and have had maybe 2 occasions in the last 6 years when those would have been used.

Now, of course, if you drink wine all the time, you’ll want to register for wine glasses.

The point is, if you don’t drink wine now, getting married isn’t going to change that. And if you don’t have people over every week now, you’re not going to once you’re married.

Related Post: What You REALLY Need to Register For: Non-Kitchen Stuff

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So if you’re looking to register for things you will actually need and use or you want to purchase a present that will get used daily by the bride and groom, here are my picks for wedding registry (kitchen) essentials:

What You Really Need To Register For: Kitchen Stuff

1 // Dishes: White dishes are a great choice. They will match with any kind of decorations and work for all holidays. I will always, always, always recommend Corelle Dishes. There have so many different designs and styles to choose from. I have the white square style and I love them. The white goes with everything, but the square style makes them a little more interesting. Corelle dishes are lightweight, reasonably priced, break and scratch resistant (I’ve never had any break or chip), and everything except the mugs are made in the USA. Most people recommend getting service for 12. We have service for 8 and it’s plenty for the 2 of us. If we have a lot of people over we use disposable dishes.

2 // Silverware: Get something that feels good and sturdy in your hand. Some silverware looks nice but feels too light and cheap. Go for something that feels like it will last a long time. Our silverware is a sleek and simple style which I like because I’ve heard people say that they have a hard time keeping silverware clean that has all kinds of grooves and decor in the handles.

3 // Cups: After breaking all of the pretty glasses we registered for (I’m a bit clumsy, but they broke way too easily), we bought some simple, thick glasses. We haven’t broken any of them! We use them for soda, juice, beer, and even wine on occasion.

4 // Knives: I am a huge fan of the Miracle Blade Knives. We have my mom’s hand-me-downs and they are still super sharp! We use the smaller ones for steak knives. I like the knife block because then you know right where to find them and you don’t get cut digging through a drawer for the right knife.

5 // Cutting Boards: I have actually never found a cutting board that I’m all that happy with. If you know of a good one, let me know in the comments. I want to try this one next since it has good reviews. I like having 2 or 3 cutting boards in different sizes because if one was used for meat, I want some other options while the meat one gets cleaned.

6 // Food Storage Containers: We’ve had a Rubbermaid set of food storage containers for a few years and they’ve been great. The only problem is that my parents and my in-laws all have the same set, so we get pieces mixed up all the time!

7 // Salt & Pepper Grinders: You use your salt and pepper shakers every day, so I think it’s fun to get grinders. It makes each day feel a little fancy 🙂

8 // Colander: The collapsable colanders are really nice because they’re so easy to store. We just have one, medium sized colander and it’s all we need.

9 // Pitcher: A pitchers is handy to have for making lemonade or serving water to guests.

10 // Flour & Sugar Canisters: Make sure you get these big enough to fit a whole bag of flour or else it’s just annoying. We also have canisters for brown sugar, powdered sugar, and rice, so think about everything you’ll want to store and register for enough.

11 // Measuring Cups & Spoons: I do a lot of cooking a baking so I have 2 sets of measuring cups and spoons as well as 2 glass 4-cup measuring cups. It’s becoming harder to find, but the measuring cup sets have have 2/3 and 3/4 cups are really nice.

12 // Baking Sheets: All of the baking sheets from our wedding didn’t last long and we’ve already had to replace them! As I’m replacing our bakeware, I’m buying commercial grade stuff. It’s made better and will last longer. If I could register for our wedding again, I’d register for commercial grade everything.

13 // Silicone Muffin Cups: These are so handy! They hardly take up any space and you can just set them on a baking sheet.

14 // 9×13 Pan & 9×9 Pan: Again, go for commercial grade pans. If you can find pans that come with a lid too, that’s awesome.

15 // Loaf Pans: My glass loaf pans are still in great shape. If you’re not a baker at all, you can probably skip these.

16 // Pots and Pans: I would register for the best pots and pans I could find. This doesn’t necessarily mean the most expensive. Do some research on this. Read tons of reviews. They’re expensive to replace, so you don’t want to get pots that will only last a few years.

17 // Pyrex Baking Dishes: All of the Pyrex stuff from our wedding is still in great shape. We have 9×13 and 9×9 Pyrex pans for casseroles. Always go for pans that come with a lid.

18 // Mixing Bowls: We used to have a huge mixing bowl set and it wasn’t necessary. I’m good with one medium and one large mixing bowl. We use our mixing bowls for serving popcorn or salads too.

19 // Ninja: The Ninja is one of those awesome appliances that does so much. It can chop and blend. It can take the place of a blender, food processor, and coffee grinder. We use ours almost every day.

20 // Crockpot: I recommend a Crockpot/Slow Cooker that’s meant to travel (which just means you can lock the lid on). It makes it easy to take food to pot lucks or family dinners.

21 // Mixer: You can certainly get by without a Kitchenaid mixer, but they’re pretty amazing. I bought ours with a chunk of money from our wedding and I’ve always been glad to have it.

22 // Toaster: Yup.

23 // Ice Cream Scoop: A high quality ice cream scoop will last forever. A cheap on will last a month. If you eat as much ice cream as we do, make sure to go for a good one.

24 // Whisk: Important.

25 // Rubber Spatulas: Make sure to pick rubber spatulas that can handle high heat. Cheap ones will fall apart fast, so look for really durable ones.

26 // Tongs: I love my tongs with the silicone coating. They are a must-have item if you get non-stick pans.

27 // Pizza Slicer: We make homemade pizza all the time so a pizza slicer is great! We also use it to slice quesadillas.

28 // Utensils Set: Don’t get sucked into registering for a super cheap utensil set. You use these utensils every day. We had a cheap set that didn’t last a year. Go for quality.

29 // Cookie Scoop: Cookie scoops are awesome if you love to bake. Plus, this can be used as a melon baller, and ice cream scoop (if you want little balls of ice cream).

30 // Kitchen Towels: Way too many kitchen towels aren’t very absorbent. I like bar mop towels because they’re meant to soak up a lot of liquid which is great when you’re drying dishes or cleaning up messes. Kitchen towels get a lot of heavy use, so don’t feel weird registering for a bunch of them. I got more than I was expecting and I stashed some away for later. After a few years, mine were in rough shape so they became rags and I pulled out the ones I had stashed.

31 // Mircofiber Cloths: Microfiber cloths are awesome for scrubbing dishes and wiping down counters. You can get a big pack of them and save the extras for when your first batch wears out.

32 // Apron: You’ve got to keep your outfit clean, so you might as look cute with a fun apron.

33 // Oven Mitts: Don’t burn your hands!

Depending on where you’re going to be living, you might also want to register for a grill and grilling utensils.

A ton of the stuff we use every day in the kitchen are items that we did not register for. We have hand-me-downs or we bought it ourselves.

If I could go back, I would skip registering for some of the more exciting and fancy items and register for the necessities that we use all the time. After 6 years of marriage, these are the things we use all the time. The fancy stuff and serving dishes for entertaining sit in the closet for almost the entire year.

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⇒ Are you getting married soon? Have you registered yet? If you’re already married, what do you think is missing from my list? Did you register for things you never use? What are your wedding registry essentials?