Always looking for a deal...

Some of my relatives (always looking for a deal!) have told my mother that they want to buy some of the items that I have registered for at stores that I am not registered with in order to get the best prices (i.e. buying a blender at Walmart instead of Bed, & Bath, and Beyond).

They asked if they could then tell my mother when they have purchased something so I could remove the item from the registry.

Now, I am not a princess by any means, and I TOTALLY understand that people have their own limits as to what they can spend on a wedding. However, I have spent a lot of time creating my registries, and have made an effort to include inexpensive to moderately priced items. In addition, when you buy an item off of a registry, you can pretty much guarantee that you will get that specific item (color, model, etc) I now have visions of getting a purple cake mixer.

Also, it kind of takes the element of surprise out of the mix when I get a call that Aunt Joan has bought me a towel, take it off the registry.

I am totally grateful for any gifts I get and don't want to seem ungracious; I know there are bigger problems in the world. I just couldn't help but be a little annoyed by this. They don't want to buy at another store because they don't have a Linens-n-Things near their house; they just want to make sure they pay $59.99 for a toaster instead of $65.99

Have any of you had guests who asked about this? If so, what did you do? Am I insane? (well, maybe!)

If they buy the same item (just a different color or something) from a different store, you could always return it to the original store and get the color you want.

A difference in $10 might not be that much to some people, but to others its a big deal, especially if they are traveling or have other big events in their life.

i actually did this for my sister.. she was registered for a 400 kitchenaid mixer and i found the exact same one on amazon for 300. to me $100 is a big deal. so i bought it from amazon and then just called the store where she was registered and had them remove it.

many people do it. its just the person who buys the items 'duty' to call your store and remove it from your registry. you shouldn't have to deal with doing anything like that. it's your gifts. you need SOME sort of surprise!

I can understand where you are coming from. I didn't have this happen to me but instead I had people buy things off my registry at other stores and then I got duplicates or stuff I didn't register for. But I'm sure that happens to almost every bride. I'm still driving around with a smores maker in the trunk of my car that I can't return because I have no idea where it came from.

But there's really nothing you can say or do, IMO. I think it would seem a little ungracious if you were to say anything. At least they have the courtesy to tell you so you can take it off the registry and that way you don't get duplicates.

Aaahh... this is one of those things you can really only vent to other brides about.

My mom presented me with the same situation the other day. I gave her all of my registry login IDs so she could make the changes.

I also told her that it was less important to do that for BB&B, since if I get duplicate items, I can return them for cash.

I wish I could tell my guests to bargain shop, rather than buying off the registry. It kills me that someone bought the food saver at $130, when they could have bought it for $80 somewhere else.

Honestly I don't think you should stress too much about this. I think its fair, if they want to take the time to find what you want, what you took the time to pick, and just for a better price, than why not! They won't buy you cheep things that you selected, but things you need for the price they can afford.

I registered, but I know that a lot of people won't even look at my registry! THey will buy what ever they feel like, from what ever they feel like. And thats okay! Because its a gift.

if you are registered at Bed Bath & Beyond or Linens n Things, you can mention to them (or have you mom tell them) about the 20% off coupons they are always mailing out. Fortunoff takes the BB&B coupons too, by the way. That way, they are shopping at the store you registered at, and saving money.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I am going to give my mom my passwords and not give it a second thought!

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Posted by JimmysBride

Aaahh... this is one of those things you can really only vent to other brides about.

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Amen!!