4 Universal Wedding Registries That Will Keep Your Wish List in One Place

Ready, Set, Shop

Each universal wedding registry service differs, but there are common features:

They're Free: Go ahead and get started; it won't cost you a penny to gather your ideas.

The Sky's the Limit: There is no cap on the number of items you can add to your registry, nor the number of stores from which you can choose.

Time Is on Your Side: You can add and update items on your registry after the initial wish list is created, although the cutoff for changes varies from site to site, with the shortest time frame being up to the wedding date.

Wrap It Up: Sometimes complimentary gift-wrapping can be arranged through the store from which the item is purchased, but the services themselves do not offer it.

Why You Will Thank Them: Each service has a gift-tracking method that notifies you of what has been purchased and who purchased it. The tracking includes the buyer's contact information to facilitate writing thank-you notes.

Get Creative: All sites support "experience gifting," allowing buyers to contribute cash toward cooking and art classes, honeymoon activities, charity donations, down payments on a house, and anything else you might dream up.

Banking On It: Most services charge a transaction fee for cash-registry gifts that ranges from 2.5 percent to 5 percent, depending on the site used and the third party processing the cash.

MyRegistry

MyRegistry is best known for its partnerships with popular gift retailers, like Amazon, Anthropologie, Bloomingdale's, CB2, Crate & Barrel, Nordstrom, Pottery Barn, REI, Sur la Table, and Target. Using its signature sync feature, you can participate in department store registry completion discounts and merge existing store registries into one master MyRegistry wish list without any headaches. In addition to its registry services, they offer wedding websites.

Year Established: 2005

Where to Register: Online retailers (including synced partners), physical storefronts, and small shops. You can also add cash funds, charity donations, and experiences through MyRegistry.

How to Register: By visiting MyRegistry; taking advantage of the mobile app by scanning an item's bar code and uploading it to the online registry; using the "offline gifts" function; or adding gifts through the "Add to MyRegistry" button, which can be bookmarked on an Internet toolbar to easily upload products while online shopping.

Ordering and Shipping Information: Gifts are shipped as they are ordered, rather than in groups or by request; the store from which the item is purchased manages the sales tax charged, shipping and handling fees, and all returns and exchanges.

Specialty Items: You can register for food and wine.

Tracking Tools: Guests are prompted to mark the gift they selected as "fulfilled" when completing the transaction. Purchases from sync partner stores are updated automatically. Members have a "manage gift list" section that allows them to monitor the total number of gifts and the list of purchased items.

Partial Gifting: You can collect funds for big-ticket items by requesting contributions from multiple guests. The fund is ultimately paid out to you, and you make the purchase on your own.

Expiration Date: Your registry never expires, so you can turn it into a Christmas, birthday, or anniversary wish list to use long after your wedding date.

Blueprint Registry

Blueprint Registry allows couples to shop for their registry in one place from popular retail stores like Amazon, Target, Sur la Table, William Sonoma, REI, Anthropologie, and more. Blueprint also offers wedding planning tools including a wedding website builder and an RSVP tracker.

Year Established: 2013, and acquired by David's Bridal in 2018.

Where to Register: Blueprint's catalog, online retailers, physical storefronts, and small shops.

How to Register: By visiting Blueprint. Use the "Add to Blueprint" button, which can be bookmarked on an Internet toolbar to easily upload products while online shopping; add gifts from 5,000 products available on Blueprint; import an existing registry; or create cash funds and charity donations.

Ordering and Shipping Information: Gifts are shipped as they are ordered, rather than in groups or by request; the store from which the item is purchased manages the sales tax charged and shipping and handling fees.

Tracking Tools: As gifts are purchased, a notification e-mail is sent to you with details of the gift and the giver. The "gift tracker" tool allows you to manage gift registry items, purchased gifts, thank-yous, and details about returns.

Fab Feature: Overwhelmed by where to start and how to fill your registry? Build your wish list browsing room-by-room, organized by section, using visual layouts that allow you to select what you need for your dream home.

Partial Gifting: You can make expensive items eligible for "group gifting" and designate the number of guests that may contribute to the gift. If the present's total amount is not reached, the couple receives the cash balance from the gifted donations.

Good to Know: You cannot register for food and wine, unless the items are listed and described as an "experience" gift. Cash gifts have a 2.5 percent fee and can be redeemed by ACH, gift card, or PayPal.

Expiration Date: Your registry remains open until you deactivate your account. Get 10 percent off select gifts on your registry for up to one year after your wedding date.

Zola

With Zola, couples have a lot of options to create a registry under one roof by accessing the large in-house, online catalog. Zola also offers wedding websites, a guest list and RSVP tracker, wedding suite designs and printing, a venue and vendor search, and a wedding store.

Year Established: 2013

Where to Register: Zola's catalogue, online retailers, physical storefronts, and small shops.

How to Register: By visiting Zola which has more than 100,000 items from 1,000 brands, cash and chairty funds, and experiences. Add individual gifts using the "Add to Zola" Chrome extension or by cutting and pasting the item's URL with the "Add from Another Store" option on Zola. Existing registries can be added to Zola that get synced daily.

Ordering and Shipping Information: For most items sold on Zola, there is free ground shipping and free 90-day returns. Gifts can be shipped immediately, held until later, or exchanged before shipped. Zola has a virtual exchange program, whereby gifts that haven't been shipped can instead be converted to Zola credits to put toward another Zola item listed on the registry. Shipping and returns for gifts from synced registries are handled by the stores from which they were purchased.

Specialty Item: You can register for food and wine.

Tracking Tools: Zola notifies you when the number of registry items is running low and each time a gift is given. Because you give the okay to ship each gift, you can wait to see what guests gift; if one purchases an item already received, then you can virtually exchange it for Zola credits or another item (rather than having it delivered and have to return it later).

Fab Features: Once all of your wedding details are added, Zolo will calculate the quantity of registry gifts needed on the list based on the number of guests. You can also mark gifts as "Our Most Wanted" to signal your favorites to guests. In the app, Zola offers a "gift shuffle" feature, which allows couples to add gifts by swiping left or right (think Tinder), and push notifications to signal when a gift has been purchased.

Partial Gifting: You can make pricier items eligible for "group gifting," allowing multiple guests (there is no cap on the number of givers or on the amount that can be gifted) to contribute money toward one present.

Cost-Cutting Component: The site supports a "registry completion program," whereby you can receive 20 percent off the remaining items on your registry for up to six months after the wedding date.

Good to Know: You can opt to cover the 2.5 percent transaction charge on cash gifts or pass it on to guests as they check out.

Expiration Date: You can either deactivate your account or hide it indefinitely.

Joy

Joy is a universal registry that allows couples to shop its in-house catalog, sync outside registries, include products from individual stores, and add experiences, cash gifts, and charity donations to their registry. For inspiration, the registry catalogue offers curations and videos from experts, from living room styling tips from Rachel Zoe to hosting essentials from Pamela Salzman. Additionally, Joy offers wedding websites, a guest list and RSVP tracker, and wedding suite designs and printing.

Year Established: 2016

Where to Register: Joy's catalog, online retailers, physical storefronts, and small shops.

How to Register: By visiting Joy; add items from Joy's curated catalog, sync or link to outside registries, create your own unique items, use the "Joy Quick Add Button" browser extension when shopping online, or use the app to add items at stores.

Ordering and Shipping Information: There is free ground shipping on most items and 90-day returns for gifts purchased on the Joy website. Shipping and returns for gifts from synced registries are handled by the stores from which they were purchased.

Tracking Tools: Joy will show you the number of items received, the progress toward your cash gift goal, and who purchased each gift.

Fab Feature: For existing registries, there are three different ways to include them into your universal Joy registry: Simply link to the outside registry; sync the outside registry items so they appear on your Joy registry page; or transfer your outside registry into Joy where you can directly add, remove, and update items within Joy.

Good to Know: Joy offers zero fees on cash gifts and charity donations by using cash sharing services. To set up a cash fund, choose from PayPal, Venmo, or Square Cash for funds to be sent to your account for cash gifts. Guests will need an account at the same cash sharing service to give a cash gift. There is also an option to send cash or check by mail, which also gets recorded as a contribution to the fund.

Completion Program: Joy offers a 20 percent discount on eligible gifts up to six months after your wedding day.

Expiration Date: There is no expiration date, but account holders will need to delete or hide registry pages or delete their account to remove their registry.