Hello my engaged lovelies! Are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime? Wedding planning, trousseau, shaadi, marriage, life, kids, house, car, babies. It’s overwhelming and wonderful and beautiful. You know what we forgot though? The wedding registry!
Yes, the wedding registry. It’s the one time (the other being the baby registry) in your life that you can go carte blanche on EVERY dream item you want and make a wish list of it. For no other time in your life will people care to buy you $300 knives or $500 mixer or that ceramic cow milk pourer.
But your shaadi, shaadi bhi ek hi baar hoti hai!* (for the most part). So this is the time to create a registry of products that you, and your partner will love.
Photography: Sandy Parshall, Parshall Eclipse, and on Instagram.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post by Bed Bath and Beyond. Our opinions are our own. Links in the posts maybe affiliate and I may earn a commission through your purchase (at no cost to you). Thank you for supporting The Big Fat Indian Wedding to bring you fabulous content.)
I partnered with Bed Bath & Beyond to share their powerful wedding registry along with my favorite products. You can also find me on their Instagram page in a couple months for an Instagram takeover, talking about ALL THINGS INDIAN and KITCHEN!
First off, let’s get your wedding registry started. Once you have that done, my list of top products will get you going on our favorites needed for the modern South Asian kitchen.
Registering at Bed Bath & Beyond
It’s super easy to create your wedding registry at BBB. You’ll fill out basic details of yourself, your fiance(e), shipping address, wedding date. Once you completed the basics, you can start adding products! Plus you can head into the store to meet a wedding registry expert (feel free to drop in or book an appointment with an expert registry consultant). If you are feeling overwhelmed by the process of registering, you can also go to your in store registry and set up on the spot.
BIG Perks of a Bed Bath & Beyond Wedding Registry
There are some fantastic perks of registering with BBB. They include discounts, freebies, and special events just for you.
20% Completion offer – Purchase the remaining items on your registry wiht thier 20% completion offer off your entire purchase!
20% anniversary offer – Get a 20% discount on your anniversary!
Brand perks – Many brands offer special wedding registry gifts, based off of what your family and friends buy for you. This may include free pots or saucepans, free utensils, gift cards for meeting a minimum threshold in bought products. All Clad, Calphalon, Mikasa, Noritake are just some of the brands that offer such perks. Your registry catalog has the latest offer details available.
Expert Registry Consultant – Once you get started with the online registry, you can set-up an appointment with a registry specialist in-store. Once you are in store, you can ask questions and learn what products are right for you as a couple.
South Asian Kitchen Essentials
Being desi and cooking a mix of Indian food and western food means having a mixed kitchen. You’ll probably receive a silver set of thalis, cups, and katori from family to have a
traditional meal service. When it comes to daily meals with your sweetie though, you want contemporary dinnerware and classic workhorse kitchen appliances.
These are my absolute favorite items that will get your started on creating a modern kitchen dining registry as a desi couple.
Cuisinart Food Processor – Do you have a never ending supply of onions, garlic and ginger to chop? Then you need a food processor. Chop onions (then freeze for other meals) and create garlic ginger pastes, the food processor can help deal with all those unwieldy vegetables that are used in daily Indian dishes.
KitchenAid Mixer – Your baking powerhouse. Not only a beautiful appliance available in every color you can dream of, but an absolute must in every kitchen. Even if you don’t bake, there are plenty of applications for the mixer: roti dough, whipping cream, mixing batters.
KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment – If you like kulfi, then you need the ice cream attachment for the KitchenAid.
Instant Pot – For every dal you can ever imagine. You have surely heard of the Instant Pot, but did you know how magical this product is? It pressure cooks, slow cooks, makes yogurt, makes rice, sautes, and even has a timer. It does everything except cut the food for you (that’s why you get the food processor!).
I don’t know why I didn’t invest in an Instant Pot earlier. If you make dal/sambar, any sort of pulses (rajma, black eye peas, chana), you MUST have the Instant Pot. You can do the thardka (spice frying) and onion frying IN the pot, then add water/tomatoes for the gravy and whatever pulses and veggies. Within an hour you can have a fully cooked meal made from dry pulses (skipping the aluminum cans and helping the environment).
Electric Kettle – Need a quick cup of tea? The electric kettle is absolute favorite for European households. I haven’t seen it become a mainstay in the US, but let me tell you, a water kettle is the best kept secret in the kitchen.
Ninja Professional Blender – For your chutneys, smoothies, and dosa/idli batters.
Global knives – Good knives can last a lifetime. My own Global knives are already 9 years old and I haven’t been the best parent to them (professionally sharpening them only once but regular sharpening at home). Global is a Japanese knife company and the knives are forged in Japan from molybdenum/vanadium stainless steel. They are rust resistant and last longer as sharp knives because of their angle cut on blade tip.
This three piece set is our favorite in the kitchen and we’ve bought duplicates so both my husband and I can be chopping veggies at the same time.
Knife sharpener – This is an item everyone forgets on their wedding registry and only remember when chopping tomatoes with a dull blade. A knife sharpener is essential. Those beautiful knives family and friends invested in for you can last a lifetime, but maintenance is absolutely necessary.
If you invest in Global knives, know they are different from European forged knives in that you must use ceramic or whetstone for sharpening, NOT steel. I picked two sharpeners for you, a ceramic rod used for regular maintenance, and a 3-in-1 sharpener when the knife is dulled down.
Calphalon Set – The Calphalon Contemporary Nonstick 11-Piece Cookware Set is beautiful starter set to make curries, omelettes, rice, and more.
Calphalon 1.5 Quart Saucepot (with lid and spout) – Perfect for making chai, this small saucepot has a pouring spout (a must!) and can make 3-4 cups of chai.
Calphalon utensils – An elegant wood set of utensils that can work any type of pan.
KitchenAid coffee grinder – No self-respecting desi kitchen can be complete without a coffee grinder, to make spices of course. I find the KitchenAid durable enough to crush spices into a melodious powder. Do yourself a favor and put two containers on your registry; one for the spices and one for grinding coffee.
Dinnerware
I am a fan of classic white – it goes with everything and works for every holiday. I chose a casual collection from Fitz and Floyd because we love to cook and want dishes that are both dishwasher and microwave friendly.
For a more upscale evening, I love the Oliver and Olivia Harper Splatter dinnerware. They are gorgeous! Gold trim with gold splatter on the plates. Fun and elegant.
Nambe Anna silverware set plus serving utensils
Oliver and Olivia Champagne flutes
Nevaeh White by Fitz and Floyd plate and serving collection
Bits and bobs
Spice jars
Ellen Degeneres Dip Dye table runner
KitchenAid mixing bowls – I searched high and low for mixing bowls that have 1. a spout, 2. won’t slip on the countertop. These are the best bowls hands down.
B. Smith wood server – Love this tray for snacks. And it’s a lazy Susan, meaning it turns! Fill up the bowls with kachori, shav, nuts, ghathiya, chikki, dates and serve with chai.
Dulhan/Dulha mugs – No, Bed Bath & Beyond doesn’t sell labeled dulhan mugs. BUT, you can make your own dulhan mug. Buy a classic white mug and use a sharpie or permanent marker to draw. You and your spouse can decorate your mugs and it’s a fun keepsake for years to come. I just LOVE our custom mugs that celebrate us being Indian.
There are many more products you can add to your wedding registry like bedding, decor, bathroom, home care, but this list will get you rocking on all things kitchen related for the modern South Asian couple’s home.
Ready to get started?
Head to BBBY’s registration page and do it! Remember, there is never a better time to get your dream house items than for your shaadi.