13 Wedding Registry "Must Haves" for the Kitchen

I consider myself a bit of a wedding registry guru. I probably spent WAY to much time researching products and registering (and unregistering) for wedding presents. Warning: If you have a haphazard wedding registry I will judge you.

Now that I'm two years into marriage, I think I made some pretty choices about which items to registry and not register for. So I thought I'd share my "bakers dozen" (ha!) of "must-have" kitchen items that you should (and should not) register for. (Or if you're already married, considering adding these items to your kitchen!).

1. A Crockpot/Slow Cooker

I registered for this Rival crockpot and love it! It's the right size, it's easy to use, and doesn't do "too much." (note: all products shown are my actual products unless otherwise noted.)


2. Oven-to-table CorningWare

I have this Corningware set and it's great. It's functional, versatile, and looks nice.


3. A Kitchen Utensils Set

I hate when people register for each kitchen utensil separately. It's hard for people to piece together a nice gift of random spoons and spatulas and it takes up a lot of visual space on a registry. I like when people register for a set and I'm very happy with my Oxo Good Grips Kitchen Tools set that we registered for.


4. Extra spatulas

It's hard to have too many spatulas. It seems there is always one or two of them in the dishwasher. So after you kitchen tools set you should register for a couple of nice extra metal spatulas (good for grilling out too!). I really like our stainless steel spatula from Crate & Barrel.


5. A good set of mixing bowls

I think three mixing bowls in three sizes is about perfect unless you are a crazy baker. I love this Oxo mixing bowl set that we registered for. They are sturdy, functional, and I love the non-slip bottoms.


6. A Toaster Oven

Our toaster oven is the most-used item in our kitchen. It's SO versatile. You can toast all kinds of bread, heat up food, make nachos and other appetizers, and so much more. It appears that the Oster Toaster Oven that we registered for is discontinued but this one is similar. We love our toaster oven so much that we don't even have a regular toaster.


7. Nice everyday flatware

Most people register for flatware but I seriously love our Couture Flatware from Crate & Barrel. We spent a long time picking this flatware and it was an excellent choice.


8. Little dishes

I have these little dishes from Crate & Barrel and use them SO much. They're good for prepping food, serving sauces with main dishes, and tons of other things.


9. An Espresso Maker

If you're a coffee lover like me, then register for an Espresso Maker. It's such a fun treat to use it and if you're like me it's something you'd never buy for yourself. We like our Krupps Espresso Maker a lot.


Now for things I didn't register for but wish I did...


10. A Rice Cooker

I struggled through cooking rice for a year before I finally broke down and bought this Aroma rice cooker. It has made making healthy meals like chicken, rice, and veggies SO much easier. I wish I'd had this a long time ago!


11. Really good baking sheets

I didn't register and William-Sonoma but I wish I had so I could have gotten a bunch of their goldtouch products. I registered for cheapie cookie sheets and regretted it. I'm obsessed my goldtouch baking sheets that I got for Christmas this year.


Now for things I didn't register for, but got separately as gifts, and I'm glad I did...


12. Stainless Steel Cookware

I was registered for a mishmash of teflon and expensive stainless steel cookware when my mother-in-law told me that I should unregister for that stuff and she'd buy me some good cookware as a shower present. She bought me this surgical stainless steel "waterless" cookware set. These pots and pans really are amazing! It took a bit of time to learn to cook on them but they really are the best pots and pans in the world. And she paid A LOT less than you would have paid for a comparable set at Bed, Bath & Beyond.


13. A Wine Fridge

We really wanted to register for a wine fridge but the options at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Crate & Barrel all held between 6-18 bottles which really isn't enough if you're at all serious about collecting and storing wine. So we skipped registering for that item and with some of our wedding money bough a 40 bottle Magic Chef wine cellar at Home Depot for the same price as the smaller ones retail for at those other stores! It's a fantastic cellar and we love having our wine properly stored in it.

So that's it for our wedding registry "must haves" for the kitchen! Maybe I'll do a follow up for items for the rest of the house. What kitchen items do you are "must haves" for a wedding registry?