You’re expecting your little bundle of joy. But that bundle comes with a lot of needs. Baby showers can help you stock up for your little darling. But it’s important that you get what you need and avoid duplicates as much as possible. After all, you don’t want to have to choose which baby bouncer to keep and risk offending a friend or family member. That’s where Baby Shower Registries come in so handy. You make out your list (and check it twice.) As each person purchases something on the list, the item is marked, preventing the dreaded doubles.
After poring over your list and choosing just the right items, how do you let people know? Sky writing? Of course not. Don’t be silly. No one can click on sky writing and have you ever tried to copy down the message on a windy day? That would be rude. Unfortunately, it’s also considered rude to write you registry information on your baby shower invitation. At least in most circumstances. But there are ways around Emily Post that will get the news out and help your friends make the best gift decisions for you and your baby.
Invitation Inserts
While Emily Post frowns on writing your registry information on the invitation itself, she is perfectly fine with you killing more trees by including a gift registry insert. Why? Because the invitation tells your guest that their presence is the most important part of the event. By adding the gift registry to the invitation, you are basically saying that the gift is more important than the person. At least, according to Emily Post, some people may feel that the gift is more important than the person. An insert shares the pertinent information while protecting the integrity of the invitation. Basically, your gift registry insert is a small card, approximately the same size as a business card. It includes the name of the parents and the gift registry. If possible, the card should include the web address for the company as well as the web address for your individual registry.
E-Vites
The one exception to the Emily Post rule are e-vites. There are many different digital invitation services, and many of them are free. With e-vites, you can keep track of who has responded and who will attend your shower. You can add your registry information to the front page of your electronic invitation. However, it is considered better form to add your registry info to the page with all your party data. That means that when your guest clicks on the invitation, she can access all the pertinent information in a single place. Not only does this make it easy for your guests to find your list, but it means that they can refer to your gift registry over and over until they choose the prefect gift.
Baby Blog
Are you keeping a baby or family blog? If you aren’t, this is a great time to consider starting one. Baby blogs allow even distance family and friends to share in the wonder of your newest addition. You can upload pregnancy photos, sonograms and special news. After you give birth, you can share all the baby’s milestones and it can serve as a living photo album for you and your family and friends. There are a wide range of free blogging platforms that will let you keep your family and friends up to date on the growth of your little one. It’s also a great way to get your registry information out to everyone. Simply pin a link to your baby shower registry at the beginning of the first page. Then anyone that is interested in your pregnancy will have access to the most up-to-date needs of your family.
Social Media
As much as you may want to post your gift registry on social media, don’t. It really becomes less of a convenience and more of a plea for gifts from people that hardly know you. However, that doesn’t mean that you can stop other people from slipping your gift registry onto that digital grapevine. If your mother, or mother-in-law is social media savvy, you may want to drop the hint to them. They can list your gift registry on their own platforms so that all of their friends and other interested people can peruse your needs. If they tag you in the comments, then the post will appear on your page as well. This means that your friends and followers will have access to your gift registry as well. But don’t expect that everyone will see it. Because you’re simply tagged, and it isn’t from you, many of the algorithms that Facebook and Twitter use will swing right on past your registry. And it will only show up if your friends scroll down the page. There is a way around this as well. Simply alert your hostess to the situation. She can create a public page for the party and tag you along with the other guests. Then you and your followers will have access to the information. In addition, every time someone comments, it will refresh the page, giving your friends and family another opportunity to see the information.
Basically, when adding the information about your gift registry, use caution and kindness. Don’t foist your information on anyone, but make sure that it is conveniently available to all of your invited guests, family and friends. It makes it easier for them to give you something that you really need. But, always remember, that if someone gives you a gift that doesn’t appear on your registry, be sure to treasure that gift as well. In many cases, the person has put a great deal of thought and care into the gift, perhaps even more than simply choosing something from a list.
Gift Registry Dos and Don’ts
Do
- Include gift registry cards
- Offer guests, family and friends access to your gift registry
- Make sure that they can access the gift registry online
Don’t
- Write your gift registry on the invitation
- Blast your gift registry on your social media page