Etti-Qs: Where do I put my registry information?

Photo by Mikkel Paige, calligraphy by Judith Browne Calligraphy

That’s a question I get a lot, and the answer is, unfortunately, nowhere! I can understand why it is tempting to cover all of your bases, but having your registry information on your invitation is actually considered to be a pretty big faux pas.

The reason for this is that while most of your guests will want to bring a gift to your wedding, they are not required to, and putting that information in your invitation will give the impression that you think that they should bring a gift. It’s kind of silly: you know they want to bring a gift, and they know you would obviously love a gift, but you definitely don’t want to seem like you’re asking for a gift. Very proper guests would consider that offensive.

So how do you get the word out about your registry? The expected way to do it is your wedding website. Since websites weren’t around when a lot of these etiquette rules were created, they’ve become kind of a catch-all for the information you’re not supposed to put in your invitation. It’s also the perfect spot for registry info because you can link directly to your registry. If someone is hosting a shower in your honor, it is expected for the registry information to be on the shower invitation, since that’s kind of the whole point of the party. It’s also totally fine to share your registry information with people if they ask you.