China isn't Cheap!
Nope, this isn't a discussion on Chinese prices. We have almost finished the process of creating our gift registries for the wedding. That's a good thing, since the wedding is in September and wedding showers are starting in a couple of weeks. I found registering for gifts to really not be as fun as I thought it would be. Read on to find out why.
1. China is expensive stuff! Wow, I can't imagine paying over $320 for a place setting for one person. (That includes silverwear and one glass to drink out of) I estimate that we will use China maybe 3 times a year -- cost per use is going to be really high. There's no way that I would spend my money on China.
2. I don't like asking others to buy things for me! I feel like I'm begging -- and I don't like that.
3. The gun is fun! So far we have registered for housewares at 2 stores. At each, they give you a price scanning gun to scan what you want to add to your registry. It is pretty fun to walk around and scan things.
4. I can't ask for money! One of my best friends was married in March of this year. They asked everyone who was invited to consider helping the couple financially instead of giving a gift -- that was so tacky (even though I gave him $50)
5. We don't need that much new stuff! I have been living alone for about 8 years now, and she has lived alone for several years -- we both have houses full of stuff.
Fellow blogger, Prospect, asked in this post whether a couple offsets the price of their wedding with the gifts they receive. I'll keep you updated, but if we get China, Silver, and crystal enough to have 12 folks over for dinner, that will go a long ways towards making up the cost of the wedding.
Thanks for reading!
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why on earth does anybody not raised in the 1950's want china? get something actually useful, not the scam that is "china".
It must be an Chinese thing. My cousin's mother did ask some of the relatives to give money. But, keep in mind that Chinese relatives frequently exchange red envelopes (with money inside).
^^ I agree, china is almost as big of a scam as the whole diamond-engagement ring fiasco. However, the decision isn't mine. She wants China, we register for China. =)
We decided not to register for china because when we entertain, we don't use china. Also, because it requires hand washing. If you break or chip a plate, say goodbye $100. Most people I know that have china keep it in their garage and never use it.
I own three things that I would not part with no matter what: my bed, my mirror and my television. Everything else can go. They are the only possessions I care about. Why accumulate crap? People just own too much crap. Like China! While moving this week, I realized how much crap I could care less about.
Bodhisattva, would you take me by the hand
Bodhisattva, would you take me by the hand
Can you show me the shine in your Japan
The sparkle of your China, can you show me
Bodhisattva
My wife and I didn't register for china when we got married (almost nine years ago). To this day, we haven't regretted that decision -- in fact, I hadn't even thought about it until I read your post. We got some nice Pfaltzgraf dishes that we use everyday, but is nice enough for the sort of entertaining that we do. If you get china, you'll almost never use it, you'll have to store it (probably in an expensive cabinet), and you'll have to be insanely careful when it comes to washing it so you don't break a piece (and the bank!). In fact, you'll use it so little that you'll have to wash it twice every time you use it -- once before using it to get all the dust off, and once afterward. Another downside to asking for china is that, if you don't get the whole shebang, you're on the hook for a tremendous amount of money trying to round out your collection.
As a side note, we asked for all of the pieces of a nice Chicago Cutlery set, but ran into the full set on clearance at Macy's for less than the price of one of the individual (larger) knives. I forget the price, but it was around $30-40 for the whole set, whereas the chef's knife alone was going for $45. We snapped it up and took cutlery off our list. If we hadn't run into this deal, we might have spent a fortune rounding out a possibly incomplete set. We still use those knives to this day, and I expect them to last a lifetime with proper care.
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http://www.fivecentnickel.com/
When my husband and I got married 3 years ago we registered for Lenox china and have not regretted the decision.
First of all their china is dishwasher safe so when we entertain we know we can throw it in the dishwasher for easy clean up. I keep my dinner plates readily accessible in my kitchen so I can use them whenever I want to make the meal more presentable.
Second of all we use it whenever we have company over (relatives and friends). Our friends think we went through a lot of effort on the meal when we use our fine china - little do they know it is from the meal to go section at Whole Foods!
Third our guests loved giving us a gift that they know we will have for the duration of our marriage and it serves as a reminder of our wedding day.
The consultant told us fine china will last longer than all of the housewares china and it has not let me down. From a dollar cost averaging standpoint our fine china was one of the best values as it is expected to last for 20+ years!
