WEDDING POST.
I told you guys I’d bring you along for the wild wedding ride SO here’s another peek inside our engagement process: BUILDING AN ONLINE REGISTRY.
BECAUSE who has time to go to a department store (or “Bloomingdales”) for a gazillion hours only to stare at crystal vases & salad spinners?
::crickets::
Ok so, recently I was introduced to Zola, a super easy home store & wedding registry that’s completely customizable. Everything’s in one place— gifts, experiences, honeymoon & cash funds, plus anything from ANY store. So if you want a snazzy salad spinner but don’t want to go to the mall, this is VERY perfect for you. It’s especially fantastic for someone like me, who has no time ( or patience…especially with the wedding stuff, don’t kill me ).
The whole process was super easy — like customizing our registry with photos and notes, so it feels special for us and also our guests. And we did it all from our couch!
We wanted to show what we registered for, so Michael & I created a collage of what we both loved…a HIM & HER kind of thing:
HIM: Donate to the Chihuahua Rescue | Waterford Tumbler Set | Waffle Maker | Brain Bookends | Pizza Peel
HER: Donate to FashionABLE | Gold Accent Plate | Malmo Flatware | Vodka Pop Candle | Ring Holder
Registries are tricky. It’s one of those things that I think can either go really GREAT or really…not so great. Luckily we discovered Zola just in time.
Also, I was drawn to the fact that your friends can do GROUP GIFTING. SO, SO economical because let’s get real, this isn’t 1991 when the economy was up & everyone could afford Waterford Crystal stemware.
Group gifting is just a fabulous idea all around really. It totally takes the pressure off, in my opinion. It allowed us to register for a vineyard tour & wine tasting experience ALONG with a Vitamix. Plus I really don’t need another toaster oven, you know?
Another feature: you can online gift swap. EASY. Like I said, Zola gets that brides are busy babes now-a-days, the quicker the better. Thankful to not have to deal with a gazillion boxes at once.
Also, here’s the thing, I love Zola because it’s not only about gifts, we also used it to give back to our favorite charity. How cool is that?
Michael picked The Chihuahua Rescue of San Diego ( naturally ) and I picked FashionABLE, which helps create jobs for women around the world living in poverty.
HOW SPECIAL is it to give a gift to a bride & groom, knowing it will benefit a great cause? LOVE IT.
Ultimately, I’m ALL about our guests helping us support our favorite charities. Such a fun idea.
Brides to be & wifey’s: what was your experience with registries? Any tippity-tips I’m missing? Keeping it simple is key for us.
Stay tuned for another wedding update soon,
x lauryn
+ this post is in collaboration with Zola, as always all opinions are my own.
Not that I’m ANY where near getting married but this does sound like a super convenient way to register! Can’t wait to see more updates 🙂 <3
Liefs,
Yara
I had never heard of Zola!! What a cool idea.. I love all the items y’all picked! Thanks for sharing this!!
You will LOVE it!! It’s such a different, fun way to register. x
I just love it, and I truly mean LOVE IT that you have charity listed first. Bravo! And girl, I clearly don’t need to tell you how wise your choice in a hubby is – as evidenced by the fact that he picked a chi rescue – I can’t even express how much I think of him for that choice. It reminds me of my hubby, who would do the same; animal loving husbands are THE BEST men on the planet. Congrats to you both for finding each other and on your upcoming wedding!
He’s a good one! Thank you so much Ann, we are excited : ) x
Group gifting sounds awesome! I just got married in May and had SO much fun registering. Enjoy it!
This concept is SO cool!! I love that you registered for a wine tour lol – definitely something I would do LOL!
How amazing does the wine tour sound?!
This sounds great!
We used honeyfund for our guests to get us activities or things for our honeymoon in Bora Bora. It was super easy for everyone, because as you said, what bride has time for it. I wrote about it recently on my blog. 🙂
Wonderful photos! I LOVE the concept of this and find it so rad that you can gift to charities. That is absolutely wonderful (& I love how he loves the chihuahuas too!). The group gifting is so neat, as well. I really like that it brings in more than just material items, but experiences and helping out others. Very rad. Thanks for sharing! xx
PS – can we all go on the wine tour with you?! 😉
Zola sounds super interesting! I’ll be recommending this to my friend who is about to get married.
Gorgeous photos!! Love this idea of on online registry…I’ll keep it in mind for when it’s my turn!
xo Annie
http://www.laircake.com
I’ve heard great things about Zola! Wish I knew about it when I got married. I love how they give you the option to donate to meaningful causes, too.
Gorgeous photos <3 I'm telling all of my friends who are engaged about Zola ASAP!
This is a great gift registry and I especially love that you are naming a charity for people to donate to in your honor! My husband and I married later in life so we had doubles of most household items when we moved into a home together after we got married. As a result, we didn’t register at a department store or for any physical gifts. Instead, we both picked charities close to our hearts and asked that friends donate to those in lieu of gifts. It was so simple and easy!
Love this idea for a registry! Such a great idea and it seems super easy. xx
http://modernensemble.com
Hi feel like u want to buy u guys a wedding gift and I’m not even coming to the bash! Love u guys xo
What are you wearing? I love the outfits!!! Wedding registries have come a long way for sure! Love that it’s so much easier now!
Omg I love that you can give to charities on this registry!!! I’m totally going to use Zola!!!
Yay! You did another wedding post 🙂 We chatted on snapchat a couple weeks ago about weddings, so I’m thrilled you did another post! Checking out Zola now
You will LOVE it!
LOVE that Susan donated to the chihuahua rescue of San Diego!! I rescued my chihuahua from there ❤️
Love the idea of Zola.. my fiancé and I are looking for easy ways to register! I’m also planning a wedding right now and would love to hear about more of your wedding planning experience!
We dress in black! 🙂 This is the only one thing i’m thinking about when i read this post :))
Actually, black color is quite pretty for wedding: most of indian peoples use black indian saree for wedding (rest use a red color saree :)))
Years ago….Literally lost a friend, who I apparently didn’t need, over my registry….she made fun of my registry and me on Facebook to our close friends. Her exact words, which I still remember today, “You can tell the Mexican in the family is getting married.” …..wow. I was hurt. Offended. And trying to figure out what on my registry had me pegged for a rather crude joke. Was it the luggage? The Waterford vase? The kitchenaid?? Ugh….people.