No registry?

I've never attended a wedding where there wasn't a registry, but every wedding I've attended they have also had a bridal shower. For the bridal shower, we would buy something off the registry and for wedding we always gave a card with cash. I think it's totally fine not to have a registry since you aren't have a shower. I think guests will likely just give you money.

We did this as well! We did not expect or want any gifts from our guests. So on the “registry” tab of our wedding website, we simply wrote: The couple requests your presence be your present

We didn't have a registry, either. Our wedding was 45 guests, and 3rd time around 😉 If anyone asked, we basically said the same thing that Cece posted. We did get gifts, but so many were super thoughtful and perfect for us.

Plenty of people don’t register. There’s nothing confusing about it. All it means is you’re not thinking about gifts. Actually, no mention of gifts is considered etiquette appropriate, even “no gifts.” If anyone asks you directly then you can say there’s nothing you need. At that point it’s still their prerogative.


In some circles money is a common wedding gift and registries are mostly for shower gifts. Or they can gift the old fashioned way, by shopping for something they think you might like or find meaningful.

We were in the same situation as you — two full households combined into one, nothing we needed! In our wedding website under Registry Info, we put that we didn’t have a registry but if anyone wanted to share the love, here was a list of our favorite charities to donate to. We got some donation notifications, a few personal gifts, and most did nothing exactly as requested!

On your wedding website and in your invitations, include a polite note explaining your decision. Something like:

• "Your presence at our wedding is the greatest gift we could ask for. We have everything we need for our home and kindly request no gifts. If you feel inclined, a donation to [favorite charity] would be greatly appreciated."

This depends on what your social circle finds customary and acceptable. Some social circles gift cash only and others don’t gift cash for any reason and expect you to register for physical items and when you don’t, you will get gifts you don’t want and can’t return.


Also registry information is given by word of mouth.Many couples and families don’t do wedding websites so the information posted there will not be read, and may be seen as rude in that social circle by being made public outside of invites for a physical shower.
Our families and social circles would be confused by no registry of any kind.

Every social circle is different but in my experience the wedding registry is more often used for shower gifts and wedding gifts are often monetary. A few guest might bring a physical gift but it's not often the norm. Since you are not having a shower I see no issue not creating a registry but just know people may still bring you random things. I would never go to a wedding with out a gift but it's usually a card with money. Happy Planning!