Wedding Registry Ideas: What You Should Add to Your List

Pots and pans

This 12-piece set of nicely weighted stainless steel pots and pans includes all of the cookware home cooks will need for years to come. When using these pots and pans, our testers noted the ergonomic handles and even heating. The pieces are available individually, too.

Dutch oven

Our upgrade-pick Dutch oven is expensive, but it comes in dozens of glossy enamels—including the lavender-hued Shallot—so it’s attractive enough to leave out on the stove. A Dutch oven is a kitchen essential—the perfect tool for making soups, roasts, complicated braises, and simple, one-pot pasta dinners. And it should last a lifetime.

Casserole

Our kitchen testers appreciate the generous, 5-quart capacity of this heavy-duty, 13-by-9-inch, high-resistance ceramic baking dish. Its handles are comfy to hold, and it comes with a 10-year replacement warranty, if it fails during use.

Wok

This flat-bottomed wok’s smooth, hand-hammered bowl is rendered from blue steel. This thing is heavy, but it’s also pre-seasoned, so you can use it right away, without having to perform the tricky seasoning process yourself.

Cast-iron skillet

The Lodge cast-iron skillet is manageable to use and better at searing. It also comes with a good factory seasoning, and its handles are easy to grip.

Instant-read thermometer

Unlike thermometers that require intermittent poking and prodding, the ThermoWorks Dot Simple Alarm Thermometer has a needle that remains tethered via a 47-inch oven-safe cable. The readout display can stay conveniently on the counter, or it can attach to the oven or grill with strong magnets.

Cutting board

The 20-by-15-inch Teakhaus Medium Professional Carving Board has a juice canal and deep handles, so our favorite cutting board is suitable for carving and serving. Teak also resists moisture buildup better than other types of wood.

Salad spinner

After 25 hours of research, during which we compared 31 salad spinners, we found that the OXO Steel Salad Spinner efficiently cleans and dries a variety of greens. Also, unlike most plastic versions, it doubles as a serving bowl.

Food scale

The Escali Primo Digital Scale easily tares and converts to pounds, ounces, or grams, so you can perfect your recipe down to the last grain.

Knife set

The forged, high-carbon stainless steel knives in this six-piece set have a good weight, comfortable-to-hold handles, and blades that keep their edge and sharpen easily.

Blender

After testing 22 blenders, we recommend the Vitamix 5200 as the best model. Although this blender is among the priciest models you can buy, it comes highly recommended by multiple experts because it powerfully purees and pulverizes foods more reliably and thoroughly than most models. (It’s the only blender we’ve tried that can make creamy peanut butter.)

Hand blender

If a smaller option is more your speed, you might appreciate our immersion-blender pick, the Breville Control Grip. Great for soups and sauces, this stick blender can also crush ice.

Waffle maker

The Cuisinart Round Flip Belgian Waffle Maker WAF-F30 consistently delivers perfect-looking, evenly colored waffles, and you can choose from among five brownness settings. For example, you can adjust it to get a waffle with either a uniform texture or a crisp exterior and moist interior.

Food processor

This food processor is our favorite for its simplicity. It comes with one bowl and three blades, and it blends, shreds, and slices with ease. Staff writer Samantha Schoech received a similar Cuisinart model for her wedding, 23 years ago, and it’s still going strong.

Instant pot

The Instant Pot Duo is the best electric pressure cooker, but you can also use it for slow-cooking, sautéing, and braising. This tried-and-true original is our favorite because it does exactly what it’s supposed to do: It expedites the cooking process, no matter what technique you’re using, and there are no unnecessary bells or whistles.

Air fryer

Our kitchen-team staffers have tested dozens of air fryers—nifty cookers bridging the gap between oven and microwave. And they stand by their choice for the best model available: the Philips Premium Airfryer HD9741/56. This air fryer is easy to use, and it cooks food more evenly and consistently than other pod-shape models. Also, it doesn’t take up a ton of counter space.

Slow cooker

Slow cookers have come a long way since their heyday of stewing lentils in the 1970s. This model will simmer soups and braises all day, but the best part is the attached thermometer, which cooks roasts to a desired temp without turning them to mush.

Toaster oven

If you don’t have a ton of counter space, but you think you might use a toaster oven, we recommend the Panasonic FlashXpress. This model is about the size of a four-slot toaster, and it heats evenly, thanks to its combination of quartz and ceramic infrared heating elements.

Coffee maker

The OXO Brew 9-Cup Coffee Maker is our pick for everyday use. It’s much easier to work with than a lot of fancier models, and it makes coffee that tastes close to a pour-over brew. You can program this machine so a fresh pot is waiting in the morning, and the thermal carafe is easy to clean and serve from.

Rice cooker

With the Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy NS-ZCC10, each grain of rice turns out perfectly. Even when our testers intentionally mis-measured the ratio of rice to water, this machine was able to adjust its cooking parameters enough to make rice that was not only edible but also delicious.

Dish drainer

A dish drainer may not be the most romantic item on the list, but everyone needs one. And our upgrade pick is sleek, sturdy, rustproof, and worth the price for its good looks. Samantha has had her Rohan Dish Drainer for years, and it looks as new now as it did on day one.

Electric kettle

The Cuisinart Digital Gooseneck Kettle is one of our favorite kettles. It looks sleek on the counter, boils water in a jiffy, has a keep-warm function, and allows you to choose the water temp for the perfect cup of pour-over coffee or tea.

Ice cream scoop

This classic, no-fuss ice cream scoop has been used by ice cream shops everywhere since the ’30s. The conductive liquid in the handle uses the heat of your hand to warm and soften even the hardest ice cream. So it’s perfect both for big jobs, like birthday parties, and for that nightly scoop of Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby. This scoop is not dishwasher-safe, but since it’s all one piece, it’s a cinch to hand-wash.

Citrus juicer

This electric citrus squeezer has a pulpiness setting, collects juice in a 32-ounce pitcher with handy measurement marks, and runs about a tenth of the price of other citrus juicers we tested.

Oven mitts

These terry-cloth-lined silicone mitts protect hands from hot things longer than regular insulated cotton mitts. And due to their generous cuffs, you won’t have to worry about forearm burns when you accidentally touch the oven rack. These mitts are also stylish and machine-washable, and they stick magnetically to the fridge or stove.

Salt pig

This ceramic salt pig is a favorite for good reason: It has an easy-to-use, hand-size mouth and an unglazed interior for absorbing salt-ruining moisture. The vessel’s curve protects salt from errant cooking drips and splashes.

Cruet set

Although not strictly necessary, a pretty cruet set is nice to have if you’re bringing olive oil and vinegar to the table or keeping it out on the counter for frequent use. This classic cruet set for olive oil and vinegar looks delicate, but the tough borosilicate glass withstands knocks and bobbles, and it runs in the dishwasher.

Kitchen towels

One can never have too many of our favorite kitchen towels, which come in sets of four and are more absorbent than any others we’ve tried. The solid colors do show stains, so consider getting the white version, which you can bleach.

French press

The Espro P6 French Press Coffee Maker—our upgrade pick—looks like a modernist sculpture, yet it delivers silt-free, tasty coffee in a sleek insulated carafe.

Coffee grinder

The Baratza Encore does exactly what you want it to do: grind coffee evenly and consistently on a wide range of settings. Its footprint is small, it’s easy to clean, and it comes in either black or white.

Stand mixer

The KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer comes in 20 colors. But we should note that a big, powerful stand mixer isn’t for everyone: If you don’t bake at least once a week, consider our hand-mixer pick instead.

Pie plate

The heavy-duty ceramic Emile Henry 9-Inch Pie Dish is our favorite pie plate. This one cooks evenly and looks good on the table, and it can safely go from freezer to oven. And, unlike a glass plate, it can withstand the broiler.

Mixing bowls

These deep, brushed stainless vessels—with snug-fitting lids for storing leftovers or taking food to potlucks—are our favorite mixing bowls.

Baking sheets

These relatively inexpensive baking sheets have been our pick for more than a decade. The pans lie flat, and they bake cookies to an even golden brown. They also hold up for decades.

Baking pan

USA Pan cake pans come in many shapes and sizes, and they are our favorites for most baking needs. With their slightly corrugated texture and nonstick coating, they produce a golden crust, they don’t stick, and they’re easy to clean.

Linen tablecloth

These luxurious, 100% Belgian linen tablecloths have deep hems, a substantial fabric, and expertly sewn mitered corners, so they can last decades. They’re machine-washable and just as pretty rumpled as they are neatly pressed.

Linen napkins

These absorbent, machine-washable Belgian linen napkins are a worthy splurge—whether they’re pressed and starched for formal occasions or loose and rumpled for everyday use.

Everyday table mates

Crate and Barrel’s Aspen cotton napkins are thin yet absorbent, and they come in several vibrant colors. They’re also only about $6 a pop.

Candlesticks

These surprisingly heavy, antique-finish brass candleholders offer an unassuming, clean silhouette. And their nonslip, felted bottoms won’t scratch surfaces.

Salad bowl

Crafted from solid blocks of hardwood, on century-old machines in Wilmington, Vermont, each bowl is rugged and unique. The vessel is finished with a proprietary (and food-safe) oil, and it gets better with age.

Dinnerware

These simple white dishes are affordable and made of durable porcelain, and if you break one, you can replace it without having to buy an entire setting. For completists: The Aspen line also includes serving dishes, bakeware, and even food storage.

Flatware

This stainless steel flatware is on the heavier side, but our testers loved its refined looks, well-balanced feel, and ample size. It’s sold as a 20-piece set, a five-piece place setting, or individually. If one piece accidentally meets the garbage disposal, you can replace it (for around $9).

Steak knives

If you prefer something with a light, modern look, Opinel’s olive-wood-handled knives are a standout. The non-serrated blades are made from heat-treated steel and chrome, for extra strength and a lasting edge.

Salad tongs

Staff writer Samantha Schoech ran across these cherrywood tongs at a friend’s potluck, and she then spent weeks trying to find them. Eureka! Handcrafted in rural Pennsylvania, these tongs store flat, and they open with a spring action, perfect for gripping salad, pastries, or roasted veggies.

Drinking glasses

Of the dozens of glasses we tested, the classic, rugged, stackable, and dishwasher-safe Bormioli Rocco Rock Bar glasses are the best. They come in multiple sizes—from shot glasses to 22 ounces—and in a variety of colors, including ice, peach, and mint.

Pepper mill

A quality pepper mill is a buy-it-for-life item. And we found that the Peugeot Paris u’Select Pepper Mill—with its inimitably sharp, case-hardened steel grind mechanism and sleek look—is the best one available.

Wine glasses

The inexpensive, tulip-shaped Libbey Signature Kentfield Estate All-Purpose Wine Glass stood out because it nicely showcases the aromas of both red and white wines. It’s well balanced and has a thin lip. And, due to its classic silhouette, this wine glass is appropriate for daily use as well as more-formal occasions.

Bar set

With the Cocktail Kingdom set, you can assemble a complete bar—including a two-piece shaker, a jigger, a strainer, a spoon, and a mixing glass—in one fell swoop.

Old-fashioned glasses

A classic double old-fashioned glass is a squat cylinder with a heavy bottom. This design upgrade, with a slightly angled bottom, is made of durable, dishwasher-safe Tritan glass.

Stemware

Made of dishwasher-safe soda glass, these thin-lipped vessels are perfect for creating Great Gatsby–worthy classics like the martini, gin fizz, Manhattan, and whiskey sour.

Champagne flutes

Made from nonleaded crystal, the tulip-shaped Riedel Vinum Cuvée Prestige glass twinkles brilliantly under the light. And a tiny, imperceptible etching at the bottom of the bowl extends the carbonation of sparkling wine.

Decanter

Decanting spirits allows them to interact with oxygen, to release their more-nuanced aromas. And this 26-ounce decanter can house a standard bottle of liquor. (Note that it should be hand-washed.)

Wine club

Our wine club pick takes the confusion and trepidation out of buying wine. Everything offered by Wine Access is chosen by a sommelier. However, even though the club can function as an education on wine, it’s not at all intimidating or snobby. We particularly like its Discovery Club, which is based on a quarterly theme and includes wine from around the world.

Down comforter

The Feathered Friends Bavarian Medium 700 Down Comforter—our favorite one—weighs just 3 to 6 pounds (depending on the size), warms evenly, and has a 30-year warranty. This comforter’s loft is about 3 inches, yet it remains incredibly light, so it settles like a layer of cumulus clouds over your bed.

Down alternative

If you’re allergic to down, or you just don’t like it, the Utopia Bedding Queen Comforter Duvet Insert is soft and warm, and it keeps its loft. And it didn’t make our testers too hot.

Sheets

L.L.Bean’s 280-Thread-Count Pima Cotton Percale Sheets combine a cool, crisp feel with superior sweat-wicking capabilities, heat retention, and durability.

Pillows

The shredded-foam Nest Bedding Easy Breather Pillow allows you to add or remove foam, to get the perfect loft. Its padded cover is machine-washable, as is the inner pouch. New to shredded foam? This pillow has a 30-day return policy and a two-year warranty.

Throw blanket

This chic, shawl-like throw is 95% wool and 5% cashmere, and it feels cozy yet light on the body. A favorite for years, it comes in about a dozen colors, and it drapes beautifully over the shoulders or the back of a sofa.

Towels

The Frontgate Resort Collection Bath Towel proved to be the softest and most-luxurious towel we tested. It comes in 26 colors, and after 10 washes, it actually felt better than it did out of the package, which is impressive.

Digital frame

You will probably want to see those wedding pics in as large a format as possible. The Aura Walden offers all of the great features of our other picks (all from Aura), but it’s bigger.

Vacuum

There are legions of Dyson fans at Wirecutter—with good reason. As our testers can confirm, the Dyson V8 Absolute can deep-clean even the thickest carpets. It runs about 35 minutes on a charge, and it’s light and easy to maneuver.

Robot vacuum

The iRobot Roomba i4+ EVO works well in most homes because it drives in orderly, back-and-forth rows, keeping track of where it has or hasn’t been; that way it doesn’t miss any big patches of floor. It also has smart mapping, so you can tell it to clean or avoid specific areas.

Framing

You are probably going to want to enlarge and display at least a few wedding photos. Framebridge, our pick for online framing for a while now, offers top-notch quality with well-built frames that are attractive and easy to hang.

Bluetooth speaker

Our home Bluetooth speaker pick provides good sound with clear vocals and plenty of bass, all in a cute, retro design. Klipsch’s The One II pairs readily with your Bluetooth device, and it has only three switches, so it’s easy to operate for even the most technophobic people.

Tool set

The Anvil Homeowner’s Tool Set has everything you need—including the best adjustable wrenches we found in any kit—and none of the useless extras some tools kits use as fillers. If you want something in the closet or garage for small jobs around the house (and, trust us, you do), this kit is a great value that should last for years.

Power drill

This drill packs enough strength and stamina to easily handle common jobs, as well as the occasional bigger lift. It has a comfortable ergonomic handle, an LED light, and a handy belt hook. It includes two rechargeable batteries. Just don’t forget the bits.

Trash can

The Simplehuman Rectangular Step Can has the best balance of size, shape, features, and durability that we’ve found. It also offers some useful features that the competition lacks, namely a sturdy step, an easily removed liner, and a stay-open switch.

Dinner bell

This Old West–inspired dinner bell comes from Lodge, the maker of our favorite cast-iron skillet, and it’s outfitted with a striker and a leather hanging strap. It gets louder the harder you hit it, and it quickly trains humans and pets to come running when the vittles are ready.

Classic board game

Samantha and her partner have only a handful of gifts left from their wedding, 23 years ago, and this deluxe, turning Scrabble board is one of them. Perhaps the key to a happy marriage is never having to play upside-down Scrabble.

A couple’s game

Esther Perel’s smartly designed card game, Where Should We Begin?, helps encourage conversation, with prompts that probe everything from silly memories to serious fears.

A game for a crowd

Wavelength asks players to communicate via opinions. And as long as everyone has plenty of those, you can expect lots of good-fun debates.

Lawn bowling

Lawn lubbers love bocce. This classic set includes six bright, high-quality resin balls, and they come in a sturdy canvas carrying case, which can be monogrammed (for about $8).

An ancient game

Kubb (pronounced “coob”) is your standard outdoor game of throwing things at other things, but this one requires a little more strategy and finesse. This SunNordic set is made of durable rubber wood, and it comes in a tough canvas case with a shoulder strap.

Suitcase

Here, the ballyhoo turns out to be worth the hype. Away’s The Carry-On roller weighs only 7.6 pounds, holds nearly 40 liters, and comes in an array of au courant colors. The zippers are sturdy, and this suitcase won big points with our testers for having the best wheels of any bag they used. It also comes with a lifetime guarantee.

An everything tote

This time-honored, rugged canvas tote is a must-have for anyone who carries stuff—fill it with everything from beach towels to firewood. It’s basically indestructible. This bag comes in four sizes, with two strap-length options. You can add a zipper closure (for about $10), and have it monogrammed (for $8).

A tent for two

Our outdoors team deemed this three-season tent to be the best car-camping tent for couples. Even novices will be able to set it up easily, and the completely mesh sides are as close as you can get to sleeping under the stars (without the bugs).

Travel backpacks

If you’re planning to travel together, whether into the wilderness or through iconic cities, this travel backpack is hard to beat for comfort and packability. It comes in two sizes, for longer and shorter torsos. The 60-liter main pack unzips like a suitcase, so you can see your stuff, and the removable daypack is a convenient bonus.

Soft cooler

You can spend a lot more money on a Yeti Hopper, the crème de la crème of coolers. But our pick is less than half the price. And when it comes to how long it keeps your food cool, the RTIC cooler has a marginal edge over the Hopper. The RTIC cooler’s exterior is made of a durable, waterproof nylon, and the zippers won’t leak, even if the ice eventually melts.

Pizza oven

If a built-in outdoor kitchen isn’t in the cards (or the budget), consider the gas-powered Ooni Koda 16 Gas Powered Pizza Oven, for Naples-worthy backyard pies. This stainless beauty has a 16-inch baking surface, and it gets up to nearly 900 degrees Fahrenheit. It bakes perfect pizza after perfect pizza with an even, continuous flame.

I’ve worked as a lifestyle journalist for more than 20 years, with stints in style, beauty, home decor, and fashion. And, even more pertinent to this guide, I’ve been married for 23 years. That means I once registered myself, so I have a strong perspective on what my husband and I still use to this day and what’s long gone. For instance: Our Cuisinart food processor and flatware are still kicking, our wine glasses and towels had some good years, and the serving tray made especially for crab was just silly.

I did not assemble this guide alone, however. I also polled engaged staff members who were in the process of building their own registry lists. Then I combed our site for the best of the best in every category, relying on the extensive research, testing, and expertise of my colleagues on our kitchen, sleep, outdoors, travel, games, and other teams. This list is a result of hundreds of hours of rigorous product testing across multiple categories.

Our picks come from dozens of retailers, so you may want to consider a wedding-planning site that lets you collect all of your wishlist items in one place. Wirecutter staffers who’ve planned their own big days have used one-stop sites like Zola, The Knot, and Joy. These services help with all things wedding, and they allow you to create a registry from multiple brands and vendors. Although these sites all have some minor flaws, most staffers very much appreciated the convenience they provided. Amazon also has a registry feature, and it allows couples to add items from other vendors. If you prefer small, unique, or personalized items, Etsy has a newly launched registry service with curated collections for browsing, but it does not allow links to other sites.

This article was edited by Hannah Morrill and Jennifer Hunter.