Today we’re joined by one of Australia’s oldest and most renowned gift registry founders. Karaline Loiterton founded Wedding List Company in 2003. Now they have a fantastic user freindly website and four retail outlets (Perth, Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane) allowing couples the ease and simplicity when creating a wedding registry.

Tell me about yourself?
I studied Business Degree in Marketing and Finance, but I started my professional life as a Fashion Office Assistant at Vogue Australia. I then realised that my call was in the marketing arena.  After two years as Product Manager with Yardley Australia, I moved to London with the L’Oreal Luxury Group where held marketing positions on Helena Rubinstein, Giorgio Armani, and Lancôme. When I left London, I was the Marketing Director of Clinique for the Estée Lauder Group.

How did you come up with the idea of starting a wedding registry business?
The idea for Wedding List Co came when I was living in London and planning my wedding in Italy. Already a logistically challenging wedding to arrange, with guests arriving from all over the world, I suffered further agony having to contend with the only available, outdated gift registry in Australia at the time. So following my less than inspiring experience with a department store registry I identified a clear gap in the market for a service driven alternative. From conversations with friends, many commented that it was the least fun thing about their wedding. It should be one of the best! You should feel like a child again and all your Christmases have come at once. So I wrote Wedding List Co’s business plan while still in London and continued to research the market and brands on return to Australia. And I haven’t looked back since!

The Perth Wedding List Company store

What is the ‘mission statement’ for your business?
We aim to “under promise and over deliver”. We are totally focused on providing a registry experience for the couple and their guests over and above the department stores.

How do you choose the products that you feature? What inspires you?
The buying team visits the Gift & Homeware fairs and pore through all the latest interiors press locally and overseas. Often new product or brand suggestions come from our customers. They might have returned from overseas and seen a great new brand or item and ask us to see if we can get it.
We aim to offer unique and niche gifts that you cannot find anywhere else, but also all the popular brands found in the department stores. With most couples already living together before marriage these days, they often tell us they have all the basics, so we are always looking for gifts that will excite the guests as well as the couple.

How do you differentiate yourself from other wedding registries?
The best service, the biggest range, plus four stores around Australia for couples to choose their gifts and guests to purchase from. We were the first specialist registry in Australia and continue to lead the way with the most comprehensive website and greatest choice of gifts. We not only offer great homewares but a huge choice of unique options such as artwork, Coco Republic furniture, and a Contribution Registry™ where guests can contribute to a honeymoon, mortgage or other lifestyle options.
Most other wedding registries are online only. This is very limiting for older guests who prefer to come in to a store to choose the gift in person. Couples who set up their list in store with us do so with the help of a Gift Consultant who gives advice from which plates fit in the dishwasher, to what cookware works on induction. These are questions you would be hard pressed to find an available sales assistant in a department store to answer.
We are dedicated to making the registry process the fun and stress free experience it should be. The complimentary drink while choosing gifts in store certainly helps with this!

In sourcing new products to add to your business, is it an instinct that tells you whether the product will sell?
Instinct but also 3000 registries with 80,000 gifts delivered in 6 years…so experience plays a big part now in what couples want, but just as importantly, what guests like to buy.

How should couples go about setting up a wedding registry with you?
For regional or overseas couples they can set up and choose gifts entirely on line. For those living near one of our stores in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth or now Brisbane, we encourage them to come in for a consultation with one of our Gift Gurus who will give them help with choosing gifts and set everything up for them. All they need do is sip champagne and point!

What are the basic homewares couples should buy when setting up their first home together?
Most couples will already have the basics – an everyday white dinner set, some mixed glasses, cookware they bought while at University. Their bridal registry allows them to choose more qualitative items that they will use for entertaining and enjoy using everyday. We enquire as to their entertaining style and get them to think about what suits their lifestyles. Are they more likely to have friends over for a BBQ than a formal sit down dinner party? At the same time they need to think about entertaining in the future – will they host Christmas lunch or Friday night Shabbat? Guests prefer to buy gifts they know the couple will use for a long time. Many electricals and appliances only have life spans of up to 2 years these days. We encourage couples to keep their more traditional guests in mind when choosing gifts so there is something to suit every guest’s taste and budget.

Tea Set by Legle de Limoges

Do you ship your products overseas?
Many of our couples live overseas and we can organize the gifts to be shipped to them.

What do you see for your business in 3 years time?
To be the most recognized and respected bridal registry in Australia so that when a guest opens a wedding invitation and sees our name they are delighted as they know they will have a choice of beautiful gifts at great prices. And that every couple who comes to us will do so because not just 1 but several of their friends recommended our outstanding service.

What are your favorite wedding ideas?

We had a couple recently who said all they wanted was a beautiful dinner set. They decided upon the divine Legle de Limoge dinnerware from France in a rainbow of colours. As each piece is not inexpensive they said to their guests they wanted them to just buy one piece – a plate, or cup or bowl etc. They monogrammed the initials on the bottom of the guest who purchased it after they received it. They then invited them all to dinner (possibly at different times!) so they could appreciate their contribution. I thought it was so touching and will be a truly memorable symbol of their marriage.

What are the biggest mistakes you see couples making when setting up a wedding registry?
More recently there has been a trend in couples saying they would like to ask for cash in lieu of a gift. We undertook a survey* asking over 1000 guests their thoughts on this. An overwhelming 89% responded they felt it was distasteful and were uncomfortable. Many of those said they would just take a gift of their choice instead. The 11% who didn’t mind were of cultural backgrounds where giving cash is the tradition – such as Chinese, Greek and Lebanese weddings.

Vera Wang natural 4 piece place setting

Couples need to remember that the registry is as much about their guests as it is about them. Just because you ask it doesn’t mean you will receive! Guests will buy a gift or other as they choose and don’t feel pressured to use your registry or respond to your request for cash. The best way to encourage guests to use your registry is by choosing gifts with a large cross section of prices, ensuring there is plenty to choose from right up to the week before, and giving them the option of buying online or in store. These are things that Wedding List Co. offers.
*For full results see the attached press release “Guests prefer gifts”.

Cleverest ideas you’ve seen?
To be honest – some of the new functionality on our website! Couples are able to:
• Add a personalized message and photo to the top of their registry
• Mark a gift as a favourite to helps their guests in their choice
• Split expensive gifts into shares so guests can just buy a portion

5 things a bride should consider?
For her registry:
1. Will my guests have the option to buy online or instore?
2. Will I be able to easily add more gifts across different prices as they are bought or will I have to go back into the store (as with the department stores).
3. Will there be flexibility to swap some items in case of double ups or incomplete sets being bought?
4. Are there enough unique gifts for my friends who will want to buy something more personal?
5. Will I have to stay home on a weekday (as with the department stores) or can my gifts be delivered on a weekend (as with WLC!)

Thanks for joining us today Karaline! You can find more from Karaline and visit her instore via the Wedding List Company.

After Tuesday’s post on the well, endless bar and buffet ideas for your wedding. i thought today’s post could be about how to make your bar come to life! I love that bars and buffets provide a place for guests to congregate, have a bit of a giggle over sweet treats and perhaps hide a few lollies in their pockets!

- Brides in the USA do buffets really well. For inspiration look at Amy Atlas, Martha Stewart, Colin Cowie, Jo Gartin and Preston Bailey – all have books, magazines or websites that are a feast for the eye. The point is to take a little of the things that appeal to you and adapt them for your own wedding.

Photo by Craven Images

- Create atmosphere with the theme of the bar in mind – think of how the best cake shops present the cakes in their windows, how to create an ice cream bar reminiscent of an old ice cream van, or ice cream parlour, lemon themed bar with lemon trees, bowls of lemons and leaves, citrus blossom, create the ‘oooh….aaah’ factor.

Photo by Thayer Allyson Gowdy via snippet & ink & Elizabeth Anne Designs

- You are, in fact, creating a miniature scene or picture. If you feel overwhelmed, create a mood board, cut out pictures of the ideas you like and pin them to a cork board. Add and subtract pictures, paper, fabric swatches, bits of ribbon until the look feels right to you. This will also give you a good idea of what you need to buy, source and do, save your energy and cause you less headaches in the long term.

Photo by Sarah K Chen Photography

- Use accessories to enhance your theme – dishes, cake stands, bottles labelled with your monogram. Think about the area/wall behind the table, where the table is placed for best effect and ease of serving. Flower arrangements beside or on the table, cute and different touches to enhance the theme, tags (e.g. ‘yum’, ‘eat me’, ‘our favourite’) tied with ribbon or twine to highlight items,  swizzle sticks, unusual containers that actually have another purpose – large flat shells, terracotta pots, low metal planters.

Photo from Josh Goleman via Once Wed

- Use colour coordinated cloths, ribbons, twine, napkins. Use paper that fits in with the theme e.g. for the striped or polka dot lolly bar use striped or dotty paper or fabric as an over cloth, striped or spotted ribbon to tie round the necks of jars or bottles, wrap chocolate bars in striped paper, or an apple patterned fabric/paper for the apple themed buffet.

Photo from Jordan Ferney of Oh Happy Day!

- Do you want to create a feeling of restrained elegance e.g. food presented in rows on flat platters, or do you want to create a ‘kid in a candy store’ feeling with large jars of lollies, meringues piled high or so many donuts that it’s hard to choose.

Photo by Sarah K Chen Photography

- Vary the heights and shapes of your serving platters. Consider whether they will all be of the same material e.g. glass – or colour, or whether they will all be deliberately different such as with vintage crockery. How will they look with your overall reception theme?

- Consider either a long table where guests can help themselves, or tables in a U shape staffed  by waiters who can assist the guests by ensuring the tea or coffee is kept topped up, the icecream is kept cold, the ice is not melting under the oysters.

Photo by Birdsong Photography

- Look past the usual places for your materials. Wallpaper shops for orphan rolls, remnant tables for fabrics, quilting fabric shops, plant nurseries, garage sales, local markets, second hand traders for interesting containers or items. Consider an old multi paned window frame – lie it flat on the table and put square boxes inside the frames to neatly hold your sweet treats.

Did you have a buffet or bar at your wedding? Are you going to?

Lolly (or candy depending on what you prefer to call it) Buffets have been showing up in abundance at weddings. Brides love creating tables with treats and guests love helping themselves.

I know bars and buffets may be something people think has been “done”. But I still see beautiful designs by amazing stylists (such as the queen Amy Atlas) and brides using the idea with joy and creating their own beautiful displays. I think if you love it, there are so many creative food or drink ‘bars’ you could consider for your reception to still offer your guests something special and different.

So today and Thursday, I have two full entries packed full of ideas for you!

Let’s start at the beginning…

- Lolly Bar – colour co-ordinated with your reception colours, or multi coloured, offered in large glass containers with scoops, Chinese food containers, paper bags, set up like an old fashioned corner shop (Check out the L For Lolly Buffet entry for extra help on creating your own)

Dessert Table by Amy Atlas Events

- Coffee Bar – offer different sorts of good coffee made by a qualified barista, or iced coffee, Irish coffee, mocha. Sugar sticks, cream, liqueurs and syrups, along with tasty morsels to nibble

- Chocolate Bar – beautiful chocolates created by a chocolatier, or chocolate sauces flavoured with orange, liqueurs, along with good ice cream, cinnamon hot chocolate drinks, chocolate fondue with fruit for dipping, chocolate desserts such as chocolate fondant, Sacher Torte, brownies

- Meringue Bar – plain, caramel, brown sugar or chocolate flecked meringues, sauces such as chocolate, caramel, toffee, passionfruit, strawberries, berries, kiwi fruit, mangoes, lots of whipped cream and ice cream

- Cupcake Bar – iced beautifully in delicate colours, on old fashioned cake stands or vintage plates, with a selection of teas in pretty pots, creamers and sugar bowls, or serve with a dessert wine such as Madeira

- Donut Bar – pyramids of freshly cooked donuts from small to large, sugared, iced or filled with jam and cream, or donut balls

Ice Cream Bar by Eat, Drink, Chic

- Ice cream or sorbet bar – good quality ice creams and sorbets – offer several different flavours such as in an ice cream shop. Provide a variety of toppings such as smashed confectionery bars, sauces, sprinkles, chocolate curls, berries, in flat containers with a scoop so that guests can have the fun of creating their own sweet treat

- Sweets and desserts from your country of origin e.g Lebanese, Greek, Italian, Asian, Indian – offer a special and personal touch to your reception

- A bar created around particular food e.g. lemons, apples, toffee, seafood – can be colour co-ordinated with your wedding  – lemons for a yellow themed wedding – think lemon meringue pie, lemon drops, lemon curd etc

- A cake bar or a biscuit bar – a variety of cakes or biscuits, presented on cake stands, old biscuit tins, glass apothecary jars

- A popcorn bar – freshly popped corn, provide the toppings alongside – caramel, maple syrup, butter, chilli, spices, salt

Soda Bar by Jordan Ferney via Project Wedding

- Old fashioned drinks bar – homemade lemonade, homemade ginger beer, apple cider, milk shakes, ice cream sodas. Offer with curly or patterned straws, old fashioned cups and glasses (such as tall metal containers for the milkshakes), think fancy lemonade stand rather than Aussie milk bar.

- Hot drinks stand – mulled wine, hot toddys, hot buttered rum, glass cups, swizzle sticks, honey, maple syrup

- Create a lolly buffet featuring lollies that resemble stripes, squares or spots. For stripes consider candy canes, jelly snakes, licorice, peppermint sticks. For spots consider ball like sweets, such as jaffas, ball shaped lollipops on sticks – any round lolly  that fits in with your colour scheme

- Further ideas – a cocktail bar, a cheese buffet, a seafood buffet, a pancake bar – the sky’s the limit!

Buffets and bars from Martha Stewart Weddings

Check back on Thursday where I’ll share some decorating tips and showcase some of the fantastic “real life” bars I’ve come across!

There are some fantastic free downloads out there for your wedding and I thought I would share my favourites with you today!

The girls at Wedding Chicks do great downloadable templates, my latest favorite is their wine bottle table numbers. You can see all of their templates here

DIY Blog iDIY always has the best finds in downloadable goodies- from labels to fonts and everything in between. You can find all of the freebies and downloads she’s discovered here

I had no doubt Martha Stewart would be in this post today! Martha Stewart Weddings has templates of luminariers, favor tags and even matchbox covers available for free on their website here, here and here

Oh So Beautiful Paper is a one stop shop for all things of paper goodness! Nole features sweet paper touches you can add to any event!

Terrica at Fabuluxe does great downloads every Friday. As a wedding planner she know’s all the hints and tips to get you through your wedding and her freebies are informed, clear and concise (with an extra dab of stab!) She’s got everything from a floral planner to a ceremony timeline. You can view all of them here

Leo On The Loose has lots of creatively fun free downloads to use in vibrant colours and gorgeous designs. Like these mexican wedding cookie favor bag toppers. You can find all of the freebies here.

Paper Crave is another online hub of creative downloads from around the web. There’s everything from stamps. labels to pretty note papers in her downloads category.

I know I’ve barely scratched the surface of fantastic freebies, do you know of any great downloads?