Dear ESB: What should we register for?? (Plus a giveaway from Pierrepont Hicks!)

hiya,

I'm trying to put together a wedding registry for myself and my man and we are struggling to decide what to put on it. My mom is a potter and has already given us tons of plates and mugs and bowls, and is making us a bunch more over the next few years, so a matched set of everyday dinnerware is not necessary (and not our style anyway). We are not huge bakers, so we don't need that huge kitchenaid mixer that everyone wants.  

We have a close friend with a lovely high-end home goods (and jewelry, but that can't go on the registry, alas) shop and are setting up a little registry with her, plus we've got a MyRegistry site set up to aggregate items from the web, where we've put up the requisite food processor, some Reidel wine glasses, some long-coveted blankets, Santa Fe Stoneworks fanciness, a drill... We also have a cash "future adventures" fund for people to contribute to, as well as a few charities we'd like people to donate to in our name, so perhaps we should just leave it at that and move on to other things (like sending out our paper invitations, oops).

But I don't want to be too casual about what is, for practical purposes, a rare opportunity to make the transformation from having a big kid house to a Grown Up house. Any suggestions? We've been to enough weddings to know people always put flatware/silverware on the registry... And we should probably replace the hodgepodge set we've accumulated over the years mostly from stealing from dining halls, friends and neighbors... But we don't know anything about flatware/silverware and what differentiates good from bad. Should we put on stuff for our dog and cat? Would that be weird?

Our general parameters for buying things are that we try to buy from independent shops in person (Brooklyn) or online, made-in-usa or fair trade/well-paid workers, etc. Unfortunately, unlike the areas of clothing and food, where we have our go-to favorite and trusted brands/stores, we don't know where to go for feel-good but also attractive and high quality homegoods (that's why we will not go the etsy route--no offense to those few gems who use that selling platform despite the shoddy company it puts them in). 

We also don't want our registry to be totally out of reach to our guests. Cost-wise, we usually spend $100 on gifts for our friends getting married (and that's a joint present from us as a couple) and wouldn't want others to spend more on ours...

Any advice? Items? Kitchen/household gold standards we would be fools not to ask for?

-- Having trouble asking for stuff for the first time in her life

*****

Coupla things we registered for that we use the shit out of: All Clad pans (made in the USA), a Henckels chef's knife and a pair of Wüsthof kitchen shears (both made in Germany). No idea what to tell you about flatware. I inherited my grandmother's silver, which we use every day because why not.

Who's got an opinion about flatware?

Recommendations for must-have registry items?

Just want to yell at the nice lady for registering for cash?

Mrs. Pierrepont Hicks has offered to give away a blue Backseat Blanket (100% Minnesota-made) to one lucky reader. Offer your two cents in the comments by 12pm on Friday and I'll select a winner at random.

p.s. pls do not register for gifts for your PETS. that would indeed be weird.

pin-o-RAMA

Every once in a while when I'm procrastinating, I do a little "market research" on pinterest.

If you type: http://pinterest.com/source/eastsidebride.com (but insert your own url at the end, obvs) you'll get a quick overview of what people are pinning.

There are two images from this here blog that keep coming up over and over: This adorbz pair of budget-ish sandals, and this seeeelammin turquoise ring.

Weird, right? 

I mean, not weird. But I guess I'm always hoping ppl will pin images like this. (They don't.)

Anyhoo.

Thought you should know the Jeffrey Campbell sandals are avail at Nordstrom in red and black.

(And they're on sale over at UO in white.)

You're on your own with the vintage turquoise. KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED. 

Or: Here are a few lovely modern options....

(Four Square Turquoise Ring from Mociun)

(Aili Tulum Ring from Catbird)

(Rad Turquoise Ring from Scosha)

______________________________

*All credit goes to Bri for the tip.

lil wedding earring roundup

Theodore Stud Earrings from Macha ($265)

Mountain Studs from Mociun ($195)

Gold Ball Studs by Satomi Kawakita at Steven Alan ($528)

Lee Hale Black Rose Thorn Earrings at Erie Basin ($205)

Oxidized Bronze Faceted Earrings from mikinora ($44)

pls help me find a wedding band and stuff

I have a wonderful loving fiance who loves me enough to go shopping on his own and pick out a ring that he knew I would love... did I mention on his own?  However, had I been involved in the choosing process I would have gone a little more Conroy and Wilcox.

I have attached a photo of the ring. (Pardon the artist hands)

That said, I have been scouring the interwebz  looking for an awesome band to make my set more me. I have found some interesting gold bands as well as some other interesting rings including this Mociun ring which I have been leaning towards... but it is a little pricier than I would like.

The question I have for you is do you know of any awesome bands or designers I could wear with this super classic yellow gold solitaire to make the set more unique?

ALSO, My mother and sister and I are coming in to the city to go dress shopping on the 10th of March, I have plenty of appointments including Lovely, but do you have any good suggestions for boutiques that I may have missed?

*****

Let me let you in on a little secret from the other side: after you're married, you don't have to wear your engagement ring every day.

I get so many emails from you guys stressing out about finding a band to match the engagement ring you didn't even always get to pick out yourself. DON'T SWEAT IT SO HARD.



Anyhoo.

Here are a few less-pricey-than-the-Mociun rings I'm feeling for you.

(Conroy & Wilcox at Metier)

(Bario-Neal)

(Satomi Kawakita)

As for wedding boutiques, would you please please please PRETTY PLEASE go check out Stone Fox Bride?

We need a report from the front.

Photo: Stone Fox Bride + Fox Fodder Farm by Josie Miner, styling by Jaclyn Hodes

aaaaaand here's the e-ring

I asked Sarah to write up a little post for us, since so many of you email me asking how to rock your vintage + non-traditional engagement rings with wedding bands.

My engagement ring isn't a traditional engagement ring and I was never really worried about having a matchy-matchy engagement ring/wedding band (the many jewelers I spoke with on my long search also confirmed my instincts- this is an age old tradition that would have no impact our marriage/future happiness whatsoever. phew.)

So when searching for a wedding ring i considered all options: simple bands, stackables, cocktails rings, other engagement rings, no ring at all...really, every ring I came across in my long search was fair game. But THE ring had to fit this bill: something I hadn't seen, something I could wear on the opposite hand of my engagement ring without looking like I was channeling Elizabeth Taylor (I love me some sparkle, but my engagement ring is already a blingfest), something fairly versatile, something that knocked my knickers off.

I loved the idea of a ring that I could stack other bands around (hello future anniversary presents!) but would still stand out as my wedding band. Most importantly, I wanted something that feels like me, the way my engagement ring does. And when I saw this ring I felt like Mocium had crawled inside my brain and designed this ring specifically for me. It took me less than 10 seconds to know it was the one.

The perfect response to this query, no?

Dear ESB,

I was relieved to see that aren't bored by ring questions, because they've been running through my head a lot lately. I'm planning to get a wedding ring to complement my lovely engagement ring. FH has been encouraging me to get something more flashy than the engagement ring, rather than a traditional gold band. That is exactly what I want to do, or at least what part of me wants to do. I'll admit it: I sometimes get quietly envious of girls with glittery, flashy diamond clusters on their rings. But I LOVE my engagement ring and how delicate it is, and don't want to overpower it.

I've never been much of a jewelry wearer and don't feel too confident in my judgment of what works well together and what doesn't. I've fallen for this ring (though it's well beyond my $1K price limit) but you can't really stack these, right? Either of these seem more stackable, but I still worry that the effect of the engagement ring would be lost.

Maybe just a thin, textured band is really the only appropriate way to complement it? Or should I choose whatever other ring that calls to me, and wear it on a different finger? (Is it silly for me to want to keep them both on the same finger, together forever?)

Alright, I guess that's enough links and questions for one email. Any ideas from you and your readers would be so, so welcome. 

*****

CHOOSE THE RING THAT CALLS TO YOU.

(fwiw, I stack two rings that absolutely do not go together, and I love em on the same hand.)

p.s. Check out Sarah's engagement story + more photos of her custom Marc Johns (hellloo) over here.

OMG

Yesterday Sarah Yates posted her soon-to-be wedding ring.

Are you dying or ARE YOU DYING?

's also pretty killer as an engagement ring with the sparkly lil Mociun wedding band. You know, if you wanted to go in that direction.......

What should I give my Maid of Honor?

Dear ESB,

The wedding day is fast approaching, and I have most everything taken care of except for my Brides Maid gift. We are only having one person each stand with us and it is my very best friend. I want to get her something extraordinary. But, sadly I am at a loss. This is not a typical wedding and I don't want to give her a typical gift.

Any suggestions?

Cheers,
Panicked Gift Giver

*****

One of these Mociun pendants would be a cool gift. The orange silk cord makes them feel ceremonial, or talismanic.

But I don't know your friend (obv). Don't focus too hard on finding something extraordinary, and just pick out something you know she will love.