Neoma & Ben

When my husband and I got married a few years ago we had a wonderful experience with Traveler’s Joy, SimpleRegistry’s sister site.  We loved how personal the registry experience was, how easy it was to use, and how our friends and family could contribute in any way they wanted to make our honeymoon truly special. As we traveled around Ireland on our honeymoon, we thought fondly of the people who had made each experience possible as gifts through the registry. For instance, galloping down a beach on horseback, kayaking with dolphins, sleeping in a castle, and wandering a windswept island were all experiences we shared with each other and with the people who had given them to us. Traveler’s Joy allowed us to extend the sense of community, family and love we experienced at our wedding to our honeymoon. It was a lovely way to travel.

We had gotten frustrated with how each store had a different wedding registry process and wished that Traveler’s Joy would have worked in that arena as well.  Needless to say, we were quite happy to see that come to fruition with the advent of SimpleRegistry.  When we learned we were going to have a baby, there was no question that we’d be using it.  We wanted to have the same sense of connection and love that we experienced while on our honeymoon to infuse the gifts we received for our baby.  Little did we know that life would be made even easier using the phone app so we could simply scan items at any store and automatically add them to the registry.  What a great tool in this day and age!

As with Traveler’s Joy, people purchased items outright and contributed to the larger gifts, and some happily passed down things that they had leftover from their own children. SimpleRegistry made it easy for us to receive recycled baby items that we really wanted and needed, minimizing the amount of brand-new purchases.  This appealed to our green side, as we hate to see perfectly good things go to waste. It was great when a friend would see an item on the registry and then call us up to let us know their baby wasn’t going to need their Tummy Time mat, for instance, and that we could have it.

Along those lines, I loved using the contributions from family and friends that allowed me the freedom to find great gently used gear on Craigslist and similar sites.  This even allowed us to find items that were discontinued but that we really wanted. For instance, my husband’s favorite color is orange and we knew we really wanted an orange Tripp Trapp highchair, a color that had been discontinued. I kept my eye out on Craigslist and before long I found the one we were looking for.  We had a fun outing to the family’s house that was selling it, where we met the little girl who was moving on to a big girl chair and had a lovely chat with her parents.  The mother ended up emailing me later with the title and author of a children’s book she recommended. This is the kind of experience that we treasure and was made possible by SimpleRegistry.  Not only did we get the color we wanted but we have a lovely memory of getting the high chair and we got to explore a new neighborhood of San Francisco.

While preparing our registry, we visited a few different stores to physically touch things we might want.  We had a lot of fun wandering (I waddled) around stores.  I was able to get a good idea of what I liked and didn’t like.  When I really liked something, especially when I hadn’t thought of it before our trip to the store, like our awesome bath toys, I was able to scan it right into the registry using my phone. Later our friends and family who could come to our baby shower were able to either return to the same store or shop around if they liked.  Those that lived too far away to come to our shower were able to contribute monetarily via the website and know that they were really helping us out with baby items we really wanted.  I also really enjoyed seeing what people were inspired to buy. I often put down general desires rather than specific items, i.e. “unique baby clothes” or “fun toys."  A friend got us a darling organic cotton duck love that we had never seen before and my son sleeps with it every night and naptime.

It was also great that I could add items from any website to the registry. Etsy is one of my favorite online shops, and after looking around there, I put several items on our registry. I included the links to specific items so people could save themselves the trouble of searching.  A few friends went directly to Etsy to purchase gifts, while other friends helped us with a monetary contribution.  One of my favorite gifts from Etsy was a sling that has served to carry my son while sleeping and as a nursing cover/pillow, which is especially useful while at restaurants.

We were also lucky enough to have several different baby showers thrown for us and SimpleRegistry worked great for each one.  For our friends’ and work shower, people basically chose gifts to give or contribute towards their purchase, but for one family shower all the family members decided they wanted to contribute towards one big purchase.  We knew we really wanted a Bob stroller, but they are pricey.  We are an active couple and wanted a utilitarian stroller we could use to explore the urban and natural environments equally well.  At the family shower, everyone brought contributions towards the stroller and we were able to buy a new Bob stroller (in orange), and we were ready for Bobventures!  We’ve had lots of fun Bobventures both solo and with another friend, her son and her Bob. Every time we strap our son into his stroller and set out to explore, we think of my husband’s family.

SimpleRegistry is a wonderful combination of the best the internet has to offer and the enjoyment shopping in actual stores can bring.  It allows you to have the flexibility to shop on Craigslist or garage sales or get great hand-me-downs from friends. Each purchase we made or item we received has a story and is infused with all the love and joy our friends and family could give.