With new online wedding registries seemingly popping up left and right the past couple of years (Zola, Thankful, Blueprint, etc. You can read our review of the best online wedding registries here!), it’s no surprise that some of the originals are trying to up their game.
Amazon is one of the OG’s that have recently undergone a makeover, which is great news to me because their wedding registry was actually one of my favorites even before these new changes went into effect (the link above goes into more detail about their previous wedding registry). I decided to give the new Amazon wedding registry a test run today to give you my honest review, below. Let me know what you think in the comment section, and let us know where you’re registered!
The Signup Process
While I had somewhat of a difficult time actually locating the Wedding Registry section from Amazon.com’s homepage (you have to go to ‘Lists’ and then select ‘Wedding Registry’ from the drop-down…or you could just Google ‘Amazon Wedding Registry’ like I eventually did), once you’re on the wedding registry page it’s pretty self-explanatory. To make your life that much easier, just use this Amazon Wedding Registry link.
You enter in your wedding information and select if you want the wedding registry to be public or private (a setting you can change later). You can see the fake info I created below. Note that you do have to use an existing Amazon account or create a new one in order to register.
Adding Items to the Wedding Registry
Once you’re signed up you can add a photo (on the upper left) and start adding items. I started by browsing Amazon’s Registry Suggestions, which are broken down by categories such as Small Kitchen Appliances, Flatware, etc.
Curated Collections
This is where the Amazon Wedding Registry really got a change for the better. While the design of their wedding registry is better/easier to navigate overall, they’re also taking a note from online wedding registry sites like Zola and have begun offering curated collections of goods to add to your wedding registry. With curated collections such as “Streamlined Sanctuary” “Eclectic Entertaining” and “Modern Mix,” there’s a little something for everybody’s tastes. This is great for someone like me who at times doesn’t really know what I want! But once I see it I’m reminded that yes…I do in fact NEED those copper salt and pepper shakers.
Universal Registry
This, in my opinion, is still a major flaw for most wedding registries, and Amazon’s (I think) is one of the least effective universal registries. For instance, as the “bride” I added the Amazon Universal Registry’s ‘Add to Registry’ bookmark and went to PotteryBarn.com to add some of their bath towels to my Amazon wedding registry. Once on the site I was able to click the Amazon ‘Add to Registry’ button from my Bookmarks Bar and have it pop-up with no problem. But since there were options for several towel sizes, colors, and products on the page, I had to manually enter in the price and name of what I wanted, along with the color. It’s just not a functioning solution, in my opinion.
It got even more complicated when I logged out of my registry and went to it again as a “guest.” While the Pottery Barn items I added were there, the notes I had written on each of them (such as “I would like a Size Medium in Gray Mist”) were not there. Each universal wedding registry item was also missing the “More Details” pop-up that the other Amazon products had…so as a guest if I click on the “Proceed to Pottery Barn” link I would have zero idea what to buy. And even if I did know what color a bride/groom wanted by some chance, I would still have to buy it from PotteryBarn.com and then figure out what the couple’s address is. After I’ve done that I would THEN have to go back to the Amazon Wedding Registry tab and mark it as purchased. I feel like Amazon (and practically every other wedding registry website) can do better than this.
The Purchasing Process
Aside from being able to easily add Amazon products to the wedding registry, the checkout process for a guest (purchasing Amazon items…and not Universal Registry items as I detailed above) was SUPER easy, especially if you already have a Prime account (which if you don’t, I highly recommend. It has basically changed my life. I order everything from batteries to paper towels and TP and it’s here SUPER fast). Speaking of super fast, I actually ordered something from my fake wedding registry that I’ve been needing (who says shopping can’t be part of this review? LOL), and I was able to get it delivered to the “bride” (aka me) TODAY. Yes, I ordered a Le Creuset butter keeper from the registry as a guest at 11 a.m. and I, the bride, will receive it by the end of the day. That’s insane to me! As a fake guest with a Prime Account, the shipping was also free…which is awesome. Just note that as a wedding guest buying a gift from a couple’s wedding registry, you will have to sign-up for an Amazon account, but you won’t have to use Prime. You can sign up for a free trial of it, however, which could be a good option for guests who have never tried it before and now finally have an excuse.
As soon as I bought the butter crock, it showed up on my registry list as Purchased, which was great. However, it did not show up on my Thank You List manager. That might take a bit longer to update…
Overall Thoughts
I’m a big fan of Amazon to begin with, and I think this wedding registry is a great option for those who are already signed up with Amazon and are used to how it works. Even if you’re not, I think they’ve done a nice job curating products and collections, and I think it’s only going to get better. So far they have “boutiques” set up by designers such as Jonathan Adler, Michael C. Fina as well as the MoMa design store, and one can only expect them to get more. It was super easy to add products, and the selection overall was pretty great. The only thing I would advise you not to do is add items with their Universal Registry. I’m just not a fan. Overall, however, I’m pretty excited to see this revamped Amazon Wedding Registry as a choice for all you women getting married!
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