It’s easy to get carried away with a wedding registry, but some things are essential. So here are tips for selecting glassware for your wedding registry.
A registry allows a couple to consider what they want in their home and what they’ll need for guests.
Most retailers that offer registries will have ready-made checklists for things like flatware, china, linens, and stemware. Here, we’ll concentrate on tips for selecting glassware for your wedding registry.
Quantity and Quality
One of the first questions engaged couples ask is, “How many place settings will we need?” The answer depends on how often you expect to entertain people. You also need to think about whether your entertainment style is casual or formal.
If your most frequent guests will be siblings and friends who come over to watch a sports game or hang out, then you’ll need more everyday items. If your ambition is to host Thanksgiving dinner for the whole family, including in-laws, cousins, and kids, take a headcount and determine the number and types of glasses that you’ll need to get through a more formal, fancy meal.
Most couples register for a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 12 glasses of diverse types to cover casual and formal gatherings.
The Basics
For everyday use, you’ll need tumblers (a.k.a. rocks glasses or old-fashioned glasses), sturdy highball glasses for lemonade or summertime drinks, mugs, and beer glasses. If your entertainment style includes cocktails and wine, you should select durable but attractive martini glasses, wine goblets, and champagne flutes.
Impress your beer snob friends with a selection of differently shaped beer glasses for various types of beer, and do the same for the oenophiles in your social circle with wine glasses that specifically suit red or white wine. Choose glassware that comes in reasonably priced sets of 6 or 8.
Special Occasions
Whether you plan to adopt longstanding family holiday traditions from both your families or decide to establish new recurring family events, there will be occasions when you want to set a more formal tone. Choose items that will populate your bar and your dinner table with elegance for these special gatherings.
For stemware, you’ll need water goblets, champagne flutes, white and red wine glasses, and perhaps smaller sherry, cordial, or aperitif glasses to adorn your table.
Materials
Engaged couples often register for crystal glasses. These glasses are beautiful, as they’re often highly crafted with thinner stems and cut designs. They make the drinks inside them look gorgeous, too. They’re fragile, though, and expensive. So if you register for crystal glasses, consider how you’ll store them between uses.
Regular clear and colored glass is perfectly fine for everyday use and casual gatherings around the dinner table.
At the end of the day, the best tips for selecting glassware for your wedding registryare those that acknowledge your taste and style. Choose things that your wedding guests—the friends and family who love you and want you to help you set up house together—would enjoy giving you to help you start your lives together as a married couple.
