Tech Savvy Wedding Registries

You want his and her iPads, the new MacBook Air or the latest iPhone vs. towels, blenders and china you'll use once a year. You're not alone. While NewlyWish offers couples excellent alternatives to traditional registries and Deposit a Gift allows you to register for cash in tasteful and discreet way, I wanted to dig a little deeper and asked Caroline Green, the Director of Business Development, for IvanExpert, Inc., who offers onsite Mac, iPad, and iPhone support to home users and small businesses in the New York City area, for her expert advice for couples who place a greater value on the latest technology vs. domestic items.

Here's what she shared with us:

As a Mac computer expert, I occasionally get asked, What's the most tech-friendly way to handle our wedding gift registry? Here are some options, both for places to register that carry a good selection of tech items, and ways to use your iPhone to facilitate the process.



1. Amazon

Amazon has a wedding registry, and of course you can add anything on their site to your list--from electronics to books. You sign up for the registry, and then every product page gets an "Add to Wedding Registry" button. It even keeps track of who purchased which items, plus their mailing addresses, so it's easy to write the thank-you notes. Of course you can also return anything purchased through the registry, thanks to Amazon's liberal return policy.

2. Target

Of course Target has a well-designed registry called Club Wedd, and they carry a good selection of electronics (although not as amazing as Amazon's). They have a barcode scanner app for iPhone and Android, so you can use it to view your gift list and add items.

3. Best Buy (not recommended)

Best Buy also has a registry, although they call it a "Wish List" as of course you can use it for birthdays, graduations, bar mitzvahs, and so on. Unfortunately the Wish List doesn't show when items on the list have been purchased for you, so it's not practical for a wedding.

4. ComputerGear

ComputerGear has a gift registry. Unlike Best Buy, all online purchases update your gift list and prevent others from purchasing that item. Warning: The items are super geeky.

5. WeddingScan iPhone app

This app allows you to scan any item from any store, and add that to your computer online registry. First you sign up on the WeddingScan website for a free registry account. Then you just scan the product barcode, and the item is automatically added to your list. Gift-buyers can log in to the website and place the order from there (through Amazon, which must be how they make their money--they get 4% of every sale as an Amazon affiliate).

6. MyRegistry

MyRegistry.com allows you to add items from any store in the world (so they claim). You follow the instructions to place an "Add to MyRegistry" button in your browser toolbar, and then click that button when you're looking at a product you want to add to your list. One feature of the site is their "Cash Gift Service," which allows you to set up a cash gift fund so people can donate money to you using a credit card (you do get charged a transaction fee for this). They also have an iPhone app and an Android app, so you can scan product barcodes to compare prices or add gifts to your registry.

7. SimpleRegistry (recommended although read the fine print)

SimpleRegistry has a slightly different way of using technology for registries. You sign up for gifts to receive, and they have a button to add any item on any website to your registry. An iPhone app allows you to scan barcodes to add those items to your registry. You can also include activities and experiences that you want people to contribute money toward. People pay with PayPal or a credit card. However all the "gifts" just come in as cash, even the products--you have the money transferred to your bank account and spend it on anything you want. SimpleRegistry takes 7% of the money. I suppose this is a good idea if you want to tell your traditional parents and aunts and uncles that you want a set of pots and pans but what you really want is money to go on a six-month hiking trip through India…




Caroline Green is the Director of Business Development for IvanExpert, Inc., offering onsite Mac, iPad, and iPhone support to home users and small businesses in the New York City area. She can be reached at caroline@ivanexpert.com. For more information go to http://www.ivanexpert.com and sign up for their newsletter, which will send their blog posts to your email. They are always providing excellent, current and very useful information.

Thanks Caroline, I appreciate your input and advice. If others have tech registries they like and would recommend, please chime in.