The 5 Best wedding registries for Canadian couples

Congratulations on getting engaged! Now with wedding planning underway, you and your partner might be feeling overwhelmed, especially by the small details such as choosing a wedding registry.

Nowadays, Canadian couples have more options when it comes to finding the perfect registry. Here are the top five registries that all couples should check out before the big day.

Hitchd

Many modern couples today take on the responsibility of paying for their own weddings. They enjoy having more of a say in their big day, and since they’re getting married later in life, they have the funds to throw a fun bash. The problem with this though is that it leaves the honeymoon fund a little low. As a result, some couples struggle to save money for their honeymoons and end up delaying or skipping it altogether.

That’s where Hitchd comes in. Hitchd is a honeymoon registry that helps couples raise money for their perfect honeymoon. It functions just like a regular honeymoon registry that you’d find at a department store: Couples list items they’d like guests to buy them, but the items are honeymoon related. You can ask your guests to contribute to your airfare, accommodations, sightseeing tours and excursions so you and your partner can budget for your dream trip.

But Hitchd has so many other benefits built in for you and your partner to enjoy. Here’s more on the pros and cons of Hitchd and how to get started.

Start your Hitchd registry today and get 10% off at checkout. Get started

Pros of Hitchd

The biggest benefit of Hitchd is that it allows you to save for your honeymoon while you’re preoccupied with other wedding tasks and expenses. Once you’ve built your site, guests can start contributing, which will help you better budget for your honeymoon. Balancing wedding and honeymoon expenses all at once can be difficult, but when you have a honeymoon fund, you’ll feel more relaxed knowing guests will likely contribute.

Hitchd also allows you to register for whatever you want. That includes not only honeymoon-related gifts, but also physical gifts that you might otherwise buy at a store. For couples that need new luggage or want to spoil themselves with a fancy coffee maker, having the option to add the few physical gifts you want can make a big difference. Some couples even create cash funds on Hitchd to support long-term goals such as buying a home or saving for baby-related items.

Honeymoon sites on Hitchd look both polished, professional and personal. Couples can easily upload their own photos to the site or they can choose from thousands of free stock images available through Hitchd. The site also allows for couples to write something more personal than just “thanks for coming” to their guests. But even if you’re not a wordsmith, Hitchd has a text generator to help get you started.

Cons of Hitchd

Hitchd, like all other honeymoon registries out there, does cost money to use (though new users can get 10% off their plans right now). Users on Hitchd pay a one-time fee, and guests pay a small credit card transaction fee on all gifts — but that’s it. There’s no fee to access your money before the big day, and you won’t have to pay in order to have an ad-free site like other platforms.

Building a honeymoon registry on Hitchd can take time, especially because you want to make it look as personal and polished as possible. But the site doesn’t have to be built all at once. If you start six months before the big day, then you’ll be done long before the wedding. We also have gift templates available, so if you’re unsure what to write, our helpful template will get you started.

Hudson’s Bay

One of Canada’s top department stores, Hudson’s Bay may be one of the most recognizable brands in the country. Although most consumers know it for selling clothes and accessories, the department store also has a thriving home goods section, and its platform hosts wedding registries.

Here’s what you need to know about the pros and cons of building a wedding registry with Hudson’s Bay.

Pros of a Hudson’s Bay registry

Like many department stores, Hudson’s Bay has reduced its retail footprint as online shopping has become the more preferred method of shopping, but the company has great brand recognition with most Canadians and many shopping centers still have a Hudson’s Bay. This gives many of your guests the option of buying online or going to the store to pick something out.

You and your partner also have options when it comes to building your registry. You can easily set one up online and start adding products to your registry, or you can go to the store and meet with a consultant, who will help you select and scan products around the store. With either option, the registry will live online, which means guests can access it whenever they’d like even if they choose to buy a gift in the store.

As mentioned, Hudson’s Bay does have a complete home goods section where you’ll find products for every room in the home. The department store sells top brands such as Kitchen Aid and Kate Spade Home as well as furniture on top of sheets, towels and small kitchen appliances. If you and your partner are just moving in together or buying a new, bigger home, then you’ll be able to register for everything your home could ever need.

Cons of a Hudson’s Bay registry

Of course, a pro can also be a con here. It’s true that you can register for any home good with Hudson’s Bay, but that’s it. You cannot register for experience-based gifts, such as a couple’s massage or two tickets to a play in the city you’re visiting on your honeymoon. You can only register for the products that Hudson’s Bay has available.

Although the registries themselves are easy to build, your registry will probably look the same as everyone else’s on the site. You can upload a cover photo and a profile photo, and you can add a short thank-you, but the Hudson’s Bay registries do not allow for much personalisation.

Life Experiences

When it comes to asking for money as a wedding gift, many people still consider it very rude to ask for money directly. The reason is because guests like to contribute to the couple’s future, whether that’s helping them furnish a home or take an exciting trip together. They often don’t like being asked to only write checks because they cannot always physically see how the couple is spending the money. They don’t want to help you pay your electricity bill. They want to give you and your partner something special.

A wedding registry with Life Experiences helps couples ask for money without actually asking for money. The site allows couples to register for gift cards, and there are thousands of cards to choose from. You still get the cash (sort of), and your guests feel more comfortable knowing how their gift will eventually be spent.

For those considering a Life Experiences wedding registry, here are the pros and cons you need to know.

Pros of a Life Experiences registry

Life Experiences does not have any physical stores, which means all of your guests’ shopping can be done online and sent to you directly. The gift cards available aren’t limited to your big-box stores or other popular brands such as Apple. If you’re traveling to another Canadian city, such as Vancouver, for your honeymoon, then you’ll find gift cards available for local hotels, spas, wineries, breweries and tour companies. While you can register for store gift cards, you can also register for these other gift cards that will help you pay for your honeymoon.

Like any other gift card, there’s no expiration date. If you and your partner plan to buy a home right after your wedding, then you can hold onto your gift cards until you’re ready to use them. If you need to push back your honeymoon, those spa or hotel gift cards will wait until the time is right.

Cons of a Life Experiences registry

With Life Experience, you are limited to what the company has available on its site. If you’re traveling out of Canada for your honeymoon, then your destination city might not have gift cards for local hotels and other companies.

There is also no option for just cash as a gift, and that can be limiting for couples. Although you don’t want to ask for cash directly, you still want to leave the option open.

Linen Chest

A family-owned company, Linen Chest is the ultimate go-to spot for anything home related. Unlike Hudson’s Bay, this Canadian institution does not sell clothing, accessories or hand bags — just home goods. This means you can focus on just furnishing your home without getting distracted by that new designer hand bag that you’d love to have as a wedding present.

Pros of a Linen Chest registry

Linen Chest stocks well-known brands as well as high-end brands so you can splurge on some gifts while keeping the rest of the registry balanced in terms of price. Although many modern couples are ditching the fine china sets and other pricey staples on their registries, others do plan to host holiday dinners and start families soon, so they want to have those home goods checked off right away. If this sounds like you, then a Linen Chest registry may have what you need.

As the company has been around for so long, most guests have shopped at the store at least once before. Having this familiarity will be helpful to guests, especially those who already have personal Linen Chest accounts.

What’s more, Linen Chest also has a custom window treatments department. If you’ve never shopped for blinds or curtains, then you might not know how expensive those items can be. If you want blinds that open from the top down or can be remote-controlled, then you’ll need a custom treatment. Having guests pay for some of these treatments will be a major relief.

Cons of a Linen Chest registry

With a Linen Chest registry, you and your partner will be limited to whatever the company has in stock. You won’t be able to buy from brands that Linen Chest doesn’t sell, and you won’t be able to register for gift cards to other stores.

As with Hudson’s Bay registries, the Linen Chest registries look very similar, and they don’t offer nearly as much personalisation as other platforms on this list. You won’t have space to tell guests about how you and your partner met or where you plan to buy a house.

Amazon

What started as an online bookseller has now morphed into an international conglomerate that sells just about everything from diapers to home theater systems to gift cards. Amazon is now one of the world’s most recognizable brands, and couples can design their own wedding registries using the platform.

Here’s more on the pros and cons of building an Amazon wedding registry.

Pros of an Amazon registry

There’s certainly no shortage of items available at Amazon. You and your partner can register for just about anything in your home — from furniture to lighting — as well as anything outdoors. Whether you’re looking for unique kitchen gadgets or a full patio set for entertaining outdoors, you’ll find lots of different options at Amazon.

Few people today have never shopped at Amazon, so most if not all of your guests should feel comfortable using the platform. Many likely have their own Prime accounts, which means shipping will be free for any gifts they send to you. With Amazon’s one- and two-day shipping options for Prime users, guests can order a gift days before your wedding shower and have it ready to go by the big day.

Amazon offers a catalogue of highly diverse products, which means you can register for niche gifts that other department stores probably wouldn’t stock. Want a Lochness monster tea infuser? Or how about a set of Toronto Maple Leafs kitchen knives? If you can think of it, Amazon probably has it.

Cons of Amazon registry

Like Hudson’s Bay, Amazon only sells physical goods and gift cards. You cannot build a honeymoon fund using the platform. If you and your partner have already built a home together, then you might not need many of the home goods than Amazon offers.

You also won’t find much personalisation with Amazon’s wedding registry. Many of them look the same, and they don’t offer much space to thank your guests for their generosity or tell them more about your home. Thanking your guests should be a major priority for you and your partner, and your wedding registry should focus on the thank-yous as much as the gifts themselves. Because Amazon wasn’t purposefully built for weddings, some people even find Amazon registries a little tacky. At a time when you should be thanking guests profusely, the last thing you want to do is offend them.

Today’s couples have so many options when it comes to building a wedding registry, but don’t choose one before doing your research first. Look for a registry that checks every box, not just a few of them. With Hitchd, you can register for honeymoon-related expenses or physical gifts. When the time is right, the site will also help you thank your contributors by sending personal emailed thank-yous.

Ready to start building a honeymoon registry with Hitchd? Get started here.