Mooflyfoof, cubes, and I had been looking forward to getting together again to work on our registries. We had high expectations going into the evening after our experience at Crate and Barrel. We were also excited that Ed was going to be able to join us.
We were the first couple to arrive, having been warned by the organizers that they might not have enough scanners. Everyone's registries were nicely laid out for easy check in. (We decided to skip the hardcopy as we had our hands full with the scanner and camera.) The registry team checked our coats and bags so that we didn't have to worry about them. This was a nice touch that I was thankful for (it's "spring" in San Francisco which means I had a three-quarter length wool jacket with me). We'd started our registry online and hadn't yet visited the store to work on our registry in person so the team showed us how to use the scanner (which kept wanting to configure itself every time we went to use it) and gave us a quick tour of the 6th floor.
The Spread
After getting the lay of the land, we decided to grab a drink and some nibbles. From a distance, we thought we spied champagne. Upon closer inspection we find out that it's sparkling water.
Both cubes and I sampled the Sparkling Napa Raspberry Mocktail. (Note that raspberries are not yet in season in the bay area so they weren't very sweet or flavorful.) I love mushrooms so I sampled the Grilled Portabello, Herbed Focaccia, and Aioli Basil. This dish would have benefited from being served warm with the focaccia lightly toasted. It was a nice bite - the basil balanced the mushroom nicely. I would have liked another bite but the looks we got from the staff dissuaded us.
I was excited by the appetizer that was served on an Endive leaf. This reminded me of one of the appetizers we've chosen for our wedding reception. The menu billed this as Roast Chicken, Strawberry Champagne Vinaigrette, Candied Walnuts, and Gorgonzola. While the presentation was lovely, the taste was not. The bite was not a symphony of flavors. The chicken appeared not to have been seasoned. I asked who the caterer was as I wanted to make sure I didn't book them in the future. The food was prepared by Macy*s own food services and not an outside caterer.
The third option was a Curried Chicken Salad served on a Wonton Chip. I'm not a fan of chicken salad so cubes tried this appetizer. No comment.
Wedding Cake
The highlight of the nibbles was of course the dessert (which being loaded with dairy is supposed to be off limits to me). We passed by the table three or four times before I gave in. Mooflyfoof was sampling the lemon cake and from the look on her face as she tasted it, I knew I had to have a bite. That bite was worth it. I'm even more excited about our wedding cake as I love sweets and typically can't enjoy dessert with my friends. That we have a wedding cake that's dairy and refined sugar free and tastes great is a dream come true for us.
Window Shopping
Macy*s Union Square is a large store. Couples can register for items on the 6th (dinnerware, china, bedding, linens, etc.) and 7th floors (luggage) and in The Cellar (electronics, knives, etc.).
We started on the 6th floor as we wanted to check out our dinnerware and look at bedding and linens. Having traveled and stayed in hotels with Hotel Collection sheets and towels I wanted to get a better idea of the colors, styles, available. One of the sales representatives walked us through the various thread count options explaining the pluses and minuses of each.
Mooflyfoof and Ed met up with us in the bedding department after we finished with the sales rep. Nothing really screamed out at any of us. So after a quick stop at the Wedding Cake table we headed up to the 7th floor to register for luggage (both cubes and I seem to only have duffel bags). A sales representative helped us figure out which line of TravelPro we wanted to register for - Platinum or Crew 7 (I couldn't remember what I used to have; just knew I'd had it over 10 years and it looked brand new in spite of logging over 200,000 miles.)
Next stop was The Cellar. And here's where an event that already didn't meet expectations went off the rails (JustRegistries summarizes the Sip and Scan bridal events as always having
Champagne or Cocktails. Jem talked about
Cosmopolitans and Sprite at the New York event in addition to San Pellegrino as well as a larger spread of food. Divadan80 went to the Houston event last year and talked of
Champagne. Teresa and Leigh attended an event in PA last year and mentioned
cocktails.).
We were mobbed by two vendor representatives immediately. While talking to one the other tried to force their product information into our hands. Now we'd researched our brands and were buying different things from each vendor (we both have these brands on our registries). Ed borrowed the scanner and added Gummy Sharks to their registry, horrifying one of the vendor reps. And that's when the four of us decided to get the heck out of dodge.
One of the main reasons that we registered at Macy*s was that it's everywhere. Also, I'd gotten my Dansk Christianshaven Blue casual dinnerware here and thought it would still be available. When we first started registering we were going to complete our dinnerware set (part of it had gotten stolen from storage during college). Unfortunately this plan didn't work out - 1) Macy*s no longer carries it and 2) Over the years Dansk has changed where the dishes are manufactured and pattern variations are apparent. "Our" set was only available on eBay or Replacements Ltd. So while in the process of setting up our online registry, we (ok I) discovered
dinnerware that screamed us (and this particular pattern is only available at Macy*s). Our pattern is Noritake Colorwave Graphite Square.
When we met up for our first
Wedding DIY Project Crafting Day, Mooflyfoof shared that they'd deleted their Macy*s registry based on the aggressive behavior of the vendor representatives. While writing up this post I thought about this.
Now don't get us wrong - this was a great opportunity for the four of us to get together and at the end of the day this is a FREE event. (We had yummy cocktails and a wonderful dinner at
Urban Tavern after we left Macy*s.) We weren't ready to abandon our registries based on the lack of alcohol or the choice in appetizers.
What we were not happy about was the way that as potential customers we were treated by the reps. Many in the industry talk about going with your gut. I'd blogged previously that I'd hoped we'd continue to be surrounded by
positive energy. So we changed up our registries. We moved more items to our
Crate and Barrel registry and we created an
Amazon registry with most of the items we had previously at Macy*s. For guests who prefer to let their fingers do the walking and shop from the comfort of their own home, we created a master
MyRegistry.com registry (password: cubeseden) that syncs the Amazon and Crate and Barrel registries.
Did your registry experience have you looking for other options?
Catskill Craftsmen provides detailed documentation. Detailed step by step instructions as well as an FAQ.
We were the first couple to arrive, having been warned by the organizers that they might not have enough scanners. Everyone's registries were nicely laid out for easy check in. (We decided to skip the hardcopy as we had our hands full with the scanner and camera.) The registry team checked our coats and bags so that we didn't have to worry about them. This was a nice touch that I was thankful for (it's "spring" in San Francisco which means I had a three-quarter length wool jacket with me). We'd started our registry online and hadn't yet visited the store to work on our registry in person so the team showed us how to use the scanner (which kept wanting to configure itself every time we went to use it) and gave us a quick tour of the 6th floor.
Both cubes and I sampled the Sparkling Napa Raspberry Mocktail. (Note that raspberries are not yet in season in the bay area so they weren't very sweet or flavorful.) I love mushrooms so I sampled the Grilled Portabello, Herbed Focaccia, and Aioli Basil. This dish would have benefited from being served warm with the focaccia lightly toasted. It was a nice bite - the basil balanced the mushroom nicely. I would have liked another bite but the looks we got from the staff dissuaded us.
I was excited by the appetizer that was served on an Endive leaf. This reminded me of one of the appetizers we've chosen for our wedding reception. The menu billed this as Roast Chicken, Strawberry Champagne Vinaigrette, Candied Walnuts, and Gorgonzola. While the presentation was lovely, the taste was not. The bite was not a symphony of flavors. The chicken appeared not to have been seasoned. I asked who the caterer was as I wanted to make sure I didn't book them in the future. The food was prepared by Macy*s own food services and not an outside caterer.
When we met up for our first Wedding DIY Project Crafting Day, Mooflyfoof shared that they'd deleted their Macy*s registry based on the aggressive behavior of the vendor representatives. While writing up this post I thought about this. 
