Welcome to the New World of 21st century bridal registries! Today's bride and groom are completely unique compared to wedding couples from 10, 20, or 30 years ago. Unlike them, you might not be furnishing your first home, wishing for blenders, toasters, coffee makers, and just the right kind of china and crystal to make a 'proper' home after your wedding. If you're like most couples in the here and now, you already have a fully stocked kitchen, you own your home already (perhaps you even live with your intended) and you're more interested in registering for backyard deck furniture than bagel cutters and butter spreaders.

In the world of wedding registries, we've seen some interesting new trends emerge, and we'd like to share them with you now so that you can register like a forward-moving 21st century couple -- not like your parents!

Wedding couples are looking to UPGRADE their existing kitchen appliances and gadgets. Still using the coffee maker you bought back in college? Fighting your way through butter-soft filet mignon with an old set of knives? Today's fully-stocked couples want to unload their old supplies and upgrade to the best machines, gadgets, and linens on the market.

 

Wedding couples watch home redecoration shows, and they can't get enough of making over their new homesfrom paint to new furniture to slipcovers to décor. Nesting is the 21st-century wedding couples' second favorite pastime.

 

Wedding couples are combining TWO fully stocked homes. If you have your own fully-stocked place, and your intended has his or her own fully- stocked place, then moving in together as husband and wife means combining and coordinating all of your stuff. So registering for you might be finding just the right items to coordinate both of your styles in every room of the house.

 

Wedding couples are taking it outside. The backyard, patio, terrace, and pool areas are now extensions of the home. Couples entertain in the great outdoors now more than ever, and home designers are even installing fully working kitchens and stoves on backyard terraces. So patio furniture, hammocks, lighting, and everything outdoor entertainment is a new hot focus for bridal registries.

 

Wedding couples can cook. At no other time in history have wedding couples shared more of an interest and expertise in the culinary arts. As a whole, we're more traveled, we've been exposed to a wider variety of cultures, and since we're marrying later in age, we know how to do more than just microwave and toast. So the emphasis on high-quality cooking appliances and accessories is stronger than ever. It's only going to be the top-rated pots and pans, plus specialty items like ceramic garlic roasters.

 

Wedding couples call their homes their havens. In these post- September 11th times, couples want their homes to be a welcome oasis in a harried world, a place where they can celebrate their top priorities: family and health. So creating a wedding registry now centers on the oasis aspects of a home: a spa-worthy bathroom, a family room that holds a fireplace as its focal point, comfy couches for family movie night, and a bedroom that's almost too comfortable to leave.

The key trend in the new world of wedding registries is painting your image of the home you'd both like to share together: how it's going to look, feel, and smell. Instead of thinking, "How can this lemon zester save me time?" you're thinking, "Imagine us cooking a wonderful, exotic meal together in our sage-green kitchen, drinking a glass of Merlot, and entertaining friends on the back terrace"

In other registry areas:

Wedding couples are charity-minded. They want to register at a source where a percentage of their registry gift purchases will go to a good cause. Check out www.idofoundation.org for more information.

Wedding couples are big travelers. Registering for honeymoon trips and special activities like snorkeling, scuba diving, massages on the beach, or a champagne sunset dinner cruise are very attractive to today's couples. Check out honeymoon registries for the experiences you can sign up for.

The new registry gives you these dreams to look forward to.

Best of luck to you in your future together. May all of your selections bring you great happiness!

Sharon Naylor is the author of over 30 wedding planning books and is the Q&A specialist at NJWedding.com. Sharon will answer any wedding-related questions at www.njwedding.com/expertadvice. She is a resident of Morristown, New Jersey. To view and purchase any of Sharon's helpful books, click here to visit the NJWedding.com WedStore!