Blogger Grace Bonney from design*sponge brings her good taste and vast knowledge of chic design to the Handmade Wedding Series. Lucky for the Storque, we tapped her just as she got engaged! Below you'll find her take on the custom craft and design for the indie wedding registry of the future!

As a recently engaged (yippee!) design blogger, I can tell you first hand that the world of online registries and home goods can be a bit, well, overwhelming. I've only been engaged for two weeks and I'm already being bombarded by friends and family asking what sort of china, silverware, pots, pillows, towels, etc. we're registering for. I'm not sure about you, but the idea of walking around Macy's for hours with a little registry gun is not my, or my fiancé's, idea of fun. That's not to say we won't register for baking dish here and a set of sheets there (who couldn't use those?) but these days registries are changing to reflect couples who wish to celebrate their big day with independent design in mind.

Artwork and Custom Craft
One of the big categories that people tend to cover with registries is home goods. But who says that home goods are only for the kitchen and bedroom? Why not add fine art, crafts and custom pieces to the list? These days artists, like those at Etsy, are increasingly open to the idea of setting aside a few choice pieces of affordable artwork to be purchased by friends and family. I know that I'll be interested in fine art and prints for my registry, so I made a list of artists whose work I love and emailed them individually to ask if I could set aside a few pieces of their work for a month or two to be used as part of our online registry. Each one of them said yes and now I'm able to offer a link to these artists' websites as part of our registry for those who aren't interested in gifting the traditional silver platter.

[Pillow with Pink and Brown by AmyMarcella]

Have something more custom in mind?
Contact your favorite artist and ask what the cost would be to create the commissioned artwork/craft piece/design of your dreams. (You can do a private Alchemy request directly with your favorite seller if they've opted-in to this new Etsy feature).

Obviously, you'll want to tailor your price point to be realistic (if your guests are mainly younger friends and those on a budget, picking a $4,000 painting may not be the best idea), but you can let your friends and family donate towards this piece of custom art and then collect the piece when you're ready (and financially able) to take it home. Because gifting money towards a yet-to-be-made present may be uncomfortable for some people, a nice gesture would be to send a picture of the finished painting or artwork in your home in a thank you note to everyone who contributed. That way you can show them what their gift bought and how much you're enjoying it and appreciating their generosity.

 Don't want to contact artists directly?
Try a site like Mixed Greens where you can set up a registry through their website. Mixed Greens represents about a dozen emerging artists with the mission of helping them reach a wider audience.

Some of my favorite artists who I might be adding to our registry:

Zoe Pawlak: ZoePawlak.com
Jen Garrido: JenGarrido.com
Amy Ruppel: AmyRuppel.com
Evan B. Harris: EvanBHarris.com
Jen Corace: JenCorace.com
Oh My Cavalier: Ohmycavalier.etsy.com
Chelsea James: ChelseaJames.com
Dolan Geiman: DolanGeiman.etsy.com

Home Accessories/Design
If you're looking to help add to your home's decor or simply start filling in your first home with furniture and accessories, looking to some of your favorite online design shops can be a go "home" without doing the traditional furniture store list. Some of my favorite options are:

Velocity Art and Design: Modern home goods and accessories.
Moss Online: High-end (majorly high-end) home goods and accessories.
Branch Home: My favorite online shop for eco-friendly gifts and furnishings.
3Rliving: Home and personal accessories with an eco-slant (based in Brooklyn!)
Finn Style: Scandinavian home goods and accessories.
Global Table: Tableware to get your collection started.
Conran: High-end modern home and personal goods.
Target: You can find some great odds and ends here from the designer collections.
Clio Home: My favorite tableware store in NYC. A great collection of European designers and up-and-coming artists.
Fitzsu: Modern design accessories.
Not Neutral: Colorful tableware and accessories.
Chiasso: Modern home goods.
Tart: Tableware and dining accessories.
The Magazine: High-end modern design goods.
Viva Terra: Home goods and personal accessories with an eco-slant.
Unica Home: Modern home goods and furniture.
Relish: Modern home accessories.
Maxwell Silver NY: A mix of home and table goods.
Heath Ceramics: I'll be registering here for sure.

Other Options
If you're still not finding an option that clicks well with you, why not try some of these choices for creating unique registries by theme or to more accurately reflect your needs?

Felicite and Gift Box Home: Online services that allow you to combine gifts from different locations. (See the review iof these types of site in this Etsy Handmade Wedding series).

Amazon: If you'd rather order books, cookbooks, or magazine subscriptions, this is the one-stop shop for you.

I Do Foundation: Register with one of their partners and up to 10% of your guests' gift purchases will be donated to your selected charity.

Charities:
Select several charities and, instead of gifts, you can request your guests donate to a charity of your choice. To help make things easier you can either provide a wedding website where people can donate instantly by clicking on a charity or try providing links to charities in your invitations or in any wedding documents you provide guests.

When it comes to your wedding registry, remember that this is just another way to inject some of your (and your partner's) sense of style into the wedding planning. There are no rules about where and what you have to register, so be sure to keep an open mind and think outside the box when it comes to creating your own unique list. I've created a list of Etsy artists below that I think would be great for modern home and home decoration registry items.

Recommended Etsy artists from Design*Sponge

Artwork:
LisaCongdon
Maditi 
DolanGeiman
MatteArt

Ceramics and Homegoods:
KarinEriksson (Karin Eriksson)
Holly
Joom Pillows
SkinnyLaminx
AlyssaEttinger

Wedding Gift Guide | Wedding Category | Wedding Showcase | Handmade Wedding Series

If you have an idea you'd like to share, feel free to let us know in the comments below. Happy Registering! Check out the Storque review of online registry websites.