Fun with (scanner) guns

Things are progressing.

The reception hall has been booked and we've already set up a sample appetizer/dinner/cake tasting for our visit home to RI for Thanksgiving. Delicious food is definitely something to be thankful for :)

Save the dates will hopefully go out in December and John's parents are thinking of throwing us an engagement party the week before Christmas in John's hometown (Johnson City, TN) for family/friends who won't be able to make it to the wedding. Both of these require that we have our registries set up, so that's what we've been working on all weekend.

We decided on 3 places to register, as each offers some fun things to choose from for us and our guests: Macy*s, Crate&Barrel, and Bed, Bath & Beyond. 

I don't think we were expecting to be getting it all done so soon, but seeing as the engagement party was just brought up, we felt the need to start a gift list. You could say the registry experience has been a whirl-wind these past two days. It's been super fun, but also intense at times. I mean... we're picking out the furnishings/do-dads of our future abode! And it can be really overwhelming, especially when you're at three different shops with all these different options and haven't really sat to ponder, "what color scheme would be good for the master bedroom?" yet. I don't think we realized what kind of undertaking it really was until we got to the stores and began to pick things out. 

Well, two days and about 10 hours of pseudo-shopping later, we've put together some pretty solid registries. What's great is we can still go into the registries online and add, delete, or update anything we want, so nothing is extremely permanent. Also, even if something we decide we don't really like a few months from now ends up being purchased, we can always return it for store credit. These thoughts make the process a little less daunting (as the permanence of it is gone)! 

Also, the scanner guns make it less stressful and even more enjoyable. We are masters of the barcode. Check it out...

Note John's flip-flops with his dress clothes. Registry shopping requires comfortable attire. 

Stun guns aside, we've discovered another fun thing about registries. Heading back from Crate&Barrel this afternoon, both John and I agreed that we felt as though we had just gone on a major shopping spree, yet felt even better about it because we hadn't spent any money. Seriously, what a great way to fill a desire to shop-til-you-drop-and-empty-your-wallet without actually emptying your wallet. Sign up for a wedding or baby registry at your favorite  shop (we won't judge), go scan your favorite items 'til your heart's content, then leave without spending a dime. Although you won't have any bags in hand on your way out the store, you'll still feel like you've shopped out all your energies and you won't feel any remorse about cleaning out your bank account. Ahhh, the joys of registries.