What’s on my Wedding Registry? | Homesteader Edition

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As you may or may not know, my fiancé Dusty and I are getting married on March 24th 2019. It’s coming up insanely fast. From January to now has literally felt like 2 weeks.

Pretty early on in our engagement we started getting the question, “Where are you registered?” which was pretty surprising to me! I threw together what I thought was a pretty good collection of kitchen, bathroom, and home items we needed or wanted to replace, but I didn’t feel quite satisfied with my choices. Having a small house, I started to realize that asking for frivolous home decor items and cute kitchen utensils wasn’t only unnecessary but that it would also stress me out to have the added clutter.

I read some blogs about popular registry items, but found this issue time and time again – how many uses are Dusty and I going to get out of a marble cheese cutter or a rose gold bar cart? There are a lot of products I didn’t think to add at first because the wedding registry articles were geared towards a different lifestyle that just didn’t fit our needs.

Wedding registry articles and blog posts also recommend asking for items that will benefit both you (as the bride) and the groom. I realized that although the majority of couples out there probably aren’t asking for homesteader essentials, it’s all about what you as newlyweds need to start your lives together.

Some items won’t be available on your typical wedding registry websites, but websites like Amazon.com have universal registries were are great for adding unconventional homesteading gifts. Target.com also has a universal registry.

There are a couple of items we actually received for Christmas that were sort of early wedding gifts from my parents. The Black Friday/holiday deals were really great so they were very generous and got us a couple of items we really needed!

So here is my list of unconventional wedding registry items that would totally benefit a homesteading couple!

1. A Berkey water purifying system

The tap water we have here tastes like dirt mixed with pool water. That’s the only way I can describe it. It’s so bad that I found myself not drinking any water throughout the day because I hated the taste of it so much. We also started buying big plastic jugs of water which I hated to do because of the waste.

I had seen a few other homesteaders on Instagram with the big ole’ silver water cooler and didn’t ‘really’ know what it was. So I did some research and fell in love. Not only did it filter the water like a Brita, but it was also strong enough to purify the water of a long list of contaminants. I was thrilled because I had also read our state’s water reports and our area’s provider had gotten fines several years in a row for being over the allowed amount of lead in the water supply. Great.

The Berkey website does a great job of helping you choose what size system you will need based on how many family members you have and if you will just be using it for drinking water or also cooking and pets. I’d keep an eye out for special deals and bundles. We got ours for a great price and it also came with a lot of accessories.

2. A freezer

Yes, your fridge probably already has a freezer, but what are you supposed to do when you and your neighbor go in on a cow together? That’s a lot of meat!

We ended up ordering the Insignia 10.2 cu ft Chest Freezer. It’s a great price, it’s deep and spacious, it has great reviews, and it’s really simple. It also comes in smaller sizes if you don’t have the space for the 10.2 cu ft option.

3. Canning jars

Jars are incredibly useful and you will need a lot of them if you plan on preserving fruits and veggies at the end of the years’ harvest. I also use them for sourdough starter, making salad dressing, storing dry goods, and much more. They’re pretty inexpensive and make a good registry addition for wedding guests that might be looking for a lower price range item.
They come in all shapes and sizes so you can add a few different varieties for different uses.

4. A vacuum sealer

Being able to buy in bulk, seal, and freeze meats or other fresh foods is a great way to stock up that freezer. Vacuum sealing allows the food to last several times longer than just putting it in a zip-style freezer bag. You can also vacuum seal goods into your canning jars or specialized vacuum bags for snacks and dry-goods.

If you process your own animals for meat you’ll likely have more meat than you can eat all at once. This is where the Foodsaver comes in handy. You can buy all sorts of different bags fit for whatever you are trying to preserve. Just make sure the bags fit the make and model of your vacuum sealer.

5. Food storage containers

When you buy all those bulk foods (or mill your own flour) you’ll want a reusable, airtight way to store those goods. These OXO containers are the perfect pantry solution. I also added some glass food storage containers to my registry so we can save our dinner leftovers for lunches next day. I usually buy the plastic ones (less expensive), but the glass ones are much more durable and safe for microwaving so I’m excited to have a larger collection of the glass containers.

6. Foaming soap pumps

This might seem like a weird one, but if you’re into making your own household items and ditching mass-produced cleaners, this is a really cool addition to the house. You can make your own soap with liquid castile soap and your choice of essential oils, then use your cool new soap dispensers to pump out homemade hand soap.

7. Meat grinder

If you hunt or raise your own meat this is a really cool registry idea if you already have a Kitchen Aid Mixer. This attachment is less expensive than a stand alone meat grinder and it will also save you space! If you don’t already have a Kitchen Aid Mixer you might as well add that to your registry too since it’s definitely a kitchen essential! The pasta roller attachment is also pretty awesome.

8. Gift cards

This might seem like a cop-out but for last minute gift ideas gift cards are always winners. If you don’t feel comfortable asking for gift cards that’s totally understandable. I feel kind of strange having them on my registry myself, but I think it’s pretty common these days. Target and Amazon registries automatically have gift cards as an option on the registry, but I decided to add Lowe’s and Tractor Supply gift cards to our list.

I think its actually a cool idea because if a relative wants to contribute to your homestead you can buy supplies to build a garden or a chicken coop with their gift which is so cool! Maybe you can even name the project you built with their gift card after them. You could make a sign to honor their involvement in your homesteading journey!

I hope you found this list to be informative and to help spark some ideas for helpful and meaningful homesteading essentials for your wedding registry (or birthday wishlist or future christmas list!). We are so blessed to have family members that want to be involved and contribute to our homesteading lifestyle. We can’t wait to put all our wedding gifts to use here on the farm!