How to share a wedding registry with people not invited
Sending a registry link to uninvited guests comes off as a rude gift grab and makes people feel solicited for presents when they aren't being hosted. This puts couples in an awkward position when uninvited friends and family genuinely want to send gifts but cannot find where to buy them.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Waiting for guests to ask directly before sending the registry link
- 2Leaving the registry unshared and letting non-attending guests send cash or a card instead
- 3Directly messaging non-attendees individually
- 4Setting up a registry privately and only sharing the link with guests who explicitly ask for it.
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Do we make a registry to give them ideas?”source ↗
“Would it be rude to just ask for donations toward our honeymoon/future house down-payment?”source ↗
“How do we ask politely while also not wanting to ask at all?”source ↗
“I suppose what I'm trying to say is, if we have friends and family on the invite list but people are having a hard time finding the registry link (their words, not mine), what do we do?”source ↗
“I would think it doubly odd to be solicited for gifts when I’m not being hosted.”source ↗
“I’d think it was rude-you’re not inviting them to your wedding and not paying for the get together. It comes off as gift grabby.”source ↗
“Very rude to link a registry when you aren’t hosting an event of any kind. I’d be so put off if I saw that”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2How to ask parents to handle wedding guest outreach
- 2How formal do rehearsal dinner invitations need to be?
- 2How to coordinate a DIY wedding save the date suite
- 3Inviting people to pre-wedding events who aren't invited to the wedding
- 4What to get your spouse for a wedding gift instead of registry stuff
- 2Is a holiday weekend wedding a bad idea for guests?