Photo: Courtesy of Vitamix | Available at Bering’s
If exercise is a core part of your lifestyle, make sure to include health and fitness gifts on your wedding registry. After all, this is 2019, and wedding gifts aren’t limited to china patterns and silver. Here, we’ve combined high-end fitness equipment with practical, everyday home appliances that every fitness-loving Houston newlywed household needs…and thrown in a couple of our favorite fitness accessories for good measure, to help you count your steps, up your reps and get your gains in style!
Apartment, townhouse, condo, cottage, or manse—no matter its size or scope, the place you’ll live together as a married couple is, above all else, a home. Keep this in mind when you register for your wedding, by selecting items you’ll love, for all the spaces you’ll occupy in the home you share. You can start with these top essentials for each happy place!
For many couples, this space is the focus of the gift registry— and with good reason…actually lots of reasons. First off, the kitchen is where couples, and often their friends, family and guests, spend a whole bunch of time, especially in those first months and years of entertaining as a married couple. Sure, there’s the dining room and living room, but when there’s a party, and there’s cooking going on, everyone tends to gather in the kitchen. So it’s nice to have a well-stocked, good-looking one. Plus, there are just so many kitchen items to choose from, whether you’re a gourmet chef, an avid baker, or an “I-can-barely-boil-an-egg” amateur with a willingness to learn.
Cookware
High-quality pots and pans
Dutch oven
Fine kitchen knives
Baking
Stand mixer
Baking pans
Measuring tools
Pastry mat
Small Appliances
Food processor
Blender
Toaster oven
Slow-cooker
Coffee- or espresso- maker
Photos: Flou, Mike and Ally, Peacock Ally available at Kuhl-Linscomb
BEDROOM/BATHROOM
The most intimate spaces in the newlywed home often are the most overlooked on to-be-wed registries. Don’t stumble into this common registry pitfall! While you may need to replace textile items more frequently than, say, cast-iron cookware or fine bone china, you can still register for your bedroom and bathroom with an eye toward luxury and durability. Instead of gadgets and trendy pieces, focus your registry scanner on high-quality bedroom and bathroom staples (with, perhaps, a techie treat just for fun!), and make private time— each individually, or together—your favorite time of the day.
Whether you’ve got acres of land, a small but well-tended garden, or simply a sweet town home patio, you’re likely to spend Houston’s fine-weather months (brief as they may be) enjoying the fresh air, and entertaining friends outdoors. Don’t forget to make al-fresco elements a part of your registry list! Get your guy on board, and turn your attention to grilling, chilling and savoring the sunshine, with gifts designed for outdoor fun.
Whether they’re connected in an open-floor-plan layout, or separate from one another, these two spaces generally constitute the heart of your home—the place where you relax, unwind, receive guests, entertain, eat, drink and celebrate. How you design and furnish your home’s living and dining spaces will depend on your taste and style preferences: Do you want to sink back and put your feet up without worrying about delicate doo-dads? Do you love the look of a formal dinner table, laid out with perfect place settings and flickering tapers all aglow? Do you crave a cool lounge space where people can flow from table to sofa to bar, nibbling and sipping while the hum of conversation never stops? Think about the atmosphere you want to create, then dress it up with these living and dining-room essentials, which make down-time a good time, no matter your personal style.
It’s the crème de la crème of cast-iron cookware…and it’s going to wind up in the hot little hands (use oven mitts, please!) of one lucky Houston bride-to be. Oui, darlings, c’est vrai! We’re teaming up with legendary French cookware brand Le Creuset for a three-day giveaway contest starting today and ending at 11:59 pm this Wednesday, Jan. 28. One bride who purchases her tickets to Weddings in Houston’s signature I Do! Bridal Soiree, coming to The Corinthian on Thursday, Feb. 12, from 6-9 pm, will win a coveted Le Creuset 5.5-Quart Round French Oven—one of the world’s most-prized wedding-registry items for generations, and an indispensable part of the aspiring cook’s well-stocked kitchen.
To enter: Purchase your all-inclusive tickets to the 2/12 I Do! Bridal Soiree—Houston’s ONLY luxury bridal event, featuring cocktails, gourmet cuisine from Jackson and Company, spectacular tablescapes, straight-off-the-runway bridal couture, $$$ swag bags for each and every bride, and an exclusive array of Houston’s A-list wedding vendors and experts—by 11:59 pm this Wednesday.
The prize: One lucky bride will take home a $280 Le Creuset 5.5-Quart Round French Oven, enameled over cast iron in the perfect shade of Marseille Blue (“something blue” that’s beautiful…and useful, too!). This French-cookware classic, designed for heirloom-quality durability and style, can be used on any stovetop heat source or in the oven, and is ideal for casseroles, stews, soups, chili, braised meats—even for searing a steak or baking a cake!
The winner: Will be announced on Facebook on Friday, Jan. 30, and will be presented with her prize at the Feb. 12 I Do! Bridal Soiree at The Corinthian. ALL brides who have purchased their I Do! tickets at any time before our Wednesday-night deadline are eligible to win. And one lucky bride will. Shouldn’t it be YOU?
We recently had the pleasure of attending the fabulous Herend Artist Event at Bering’s and let’s just say that we are in awe of the impeccable craftsmanship of each collection. Every single piece is handmade AND hand-painted to perfection. Best part? We were able to watch Herend artist Marianna Steigervald in action and ask her a few questions to get the inside scoop on this extraordinary maker of fine–and registry-fabulous–china, available, of course, at Bering’s!
Houston Wedding Blog: What are the origins of Herend?
Marianna Steigervald: There is a lot of history involved with Herend. The first collection was made in the mid-1800s. There was a collection made especially for Queen Victoria, a pattern that is still made today. It is one of our most popular designs sold to date.
HWB: Wow, that is amazing! Which is your personal favorite collection?
MS: My personal favorite is the Miramar collection, which uses an Oriental-inspired pattern. I have always been inspired by Oriental designs because they are so beautiful.
HWB: Which heirloom collections are most popular with brides?
MS: The two most popular collections are ‘Royal Garden’ and ‘Queen Victoria.’ Brides are able to custom design their Herend dinnerware or figurines to their liking.
HWB: What price range can brides expect while shopping from Herend?
MS: Dinnerware sets usually begin from about $300 and can go up to $600 or more depending on the detail of the designs.
Have you ever found yourself charmed by a particular trinket, art piece or houseware while traveling? Susan Gravely and her family did—and turned their infatuation with Amalfi-coast dinnerware into a thriving import business. Since 1983, VIETRI has been bringing Italian tabletop pieces to discerning customers in Canada, Mexico, Europe, South America, Asia, Australia—and right here in good ol’ Houston, Texas, USA (among other states and cities). This Friday, Gravely herself will be at Bering’s, sharing houseware and entertaining advice, and personally signing VIETRI pieces—which, incidentally, have become a huge favorite on Houston gift registries. Pop into the Westheimer store on your lunch break—event runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.—for Prosecco and Italian sweets, and enjoy a gift with your VIETRI purchase.
