You know how sometimes you’ll run into a girlfriend who’s wearing the same sweater as you—though maybe hers is heather brown and yours is heather grey? It’s because we’re all shopping at the same get-your-eggs-get-your-socks-get-your-layering-tees mega-discount store in these tough economic times. But during this, the planning of your wedding, don’t fall back into that mindset. Think instead about the lasting, unique memories your guests can find at these unique Twin Cities boutiques. After all, the adage of the moment is “shop local.”
Ampersand
Ampersand of Edina is so beautiful you might want to forgo the whole registry thing and just live in the store. According to the website, the boutique is dedicated to finding you “beauty and elegance that you will use every day,” and that beauty and elegance wends its way throughout the shop in the form of Le Jacquard Français table linens from France; match pewter flatware from Italy; and Juliska stoneware from Portugal (pictured above), that works, as general manager June Meyer points out, for both formal and everyday dining. And they’re definitely your one-stop shop for specialty items like Simon Pearce stoneware and glassware: It’s the only store in the Midwest to carry his work.
Alternatively, sign up for a little relaxation in the form of home fragrances, colognes, bath salts, and body scrubs: You could probably use a nice, soothing bath after your hectic schedule of planning, wedding and honeymooning. Register for Thyme’s Olive Leaf fragrance and unwind in beauty.
Cooks of Crocus Hill
For the culinary aficionados among you, Cooks of Crocus Hill in St. Paul and Edina is an ideal place to register, with everything from bakeware and cake mixes to gadgets for canning your own fruits, vegetables, salsas and sauces. Manager Lindsey Penn-McGree says that one of the advantages of their registry is their attentiveness to their brides—sometimes hard to find at larger chain stores. Look into hosting a bridal shower (with cooking!) or a grooms’ dinner at one of Cooks’ state-of-the-art kitchens.
Want to go green? Cooks also has a slew of environmentally friendly products. Test out the beautiful bamboo cutting boards by Totally Bamboo or the organic cotton dishtowels by OK Organic. Take your eco interests a step further and register for a gift certificate to use toward Cooks’ crop shares. Each season they offer different kinds of produce and meat.
If you want to get some hands-on kitchen time with your new partner-in-crime, register for a gift certificate for a cooking class. Recent offerings include “Hands-On Stuffed Pasta,” “Crash Course Sushi,” and “Pro Approach to the Basics.”
Design Within Reach
Design Within Reach showcases all of the sleek, modern quality furniture you’ve searched high and low for, and thought you couldn’t find. This sleek, modern furniture—unlike sleek, modern furniture from a big-box chain—won’t fall apart after one or two moves.
You must come into the uptown Minneapolis location on Hennepin Avenue to register—but, says studio proprietor Susan Wittine, you’ll be well taken care of when you do. Besides the beautiful furniture they carry (some of which is only available online), Wittine highlights their tabletop and linen lines, which she says are very usable for every day, a real advantage compared with some of the fine china you might receive and never use.
Five Swans Gifts
The best part of registering at Five Swans Gifts is the attention you’ll receive from the staff, says manager Mary Wright. And for your wedding guests’ convenience, Five Swans will gift-wrap the purchased items and hold them for you to pick up at your leisure. They will also special-order specific patterns of china or linens for no additional charge. One associate has 35 years’ experience dealing with dinnerware and knows all the “good, solid lines of china,” Wright says. Better yet, you have up to a year to fill in the rest of your china and stemware at a 10 percent discount. Let your family know: they’ll have an easy gift come the holiday season or your birthday.
Five Swans will also gladly ferret out smaller companies that carry unique items (the kind you’re not likely to see the next time you visit one of your newlywed friends). In that vein, the shop also has a fine selection of gifts for your attendants, engagement presents, and tokens for those kind folks who host your wedding shower.
The Honeymoon.com
Say you already have a nice toaster, you like your Cuisinart food processor, and you have all the candles and bric-a-brac a couple could want. What you really need is a nice honeymoon. Co-founder Scott Ellingboe has made this possible with his company TheHoneymoon.com. Based in Minneapolis, the site provides a gift registry through a network of travel agencies. Ellingboe works with 1,000 agents throughout the country, so you can, for example, register for trips as close to home as Lake Tahoe and as exotic as Borneo.
Here’s how the site works: Say you want to go to Acapulco. You can register through Ellingboe’s site for plane tickets, hotel rooms and activities to do once you reach Acapulco. You can even register for flowers to celebrate your arrival in Mexico. Each big-ticket item, like airfare, can be broken up into $50 increments, so your guests can purchase one $50 piece of your plane ticket or hotel room. This frees you up to use part of your honeymoon savings to participate in fun activities—snorkeling, a nice night on the town—while actually at your destination.
Ingebretsen’s Scandinavian Gifts
Ingebretsen’s Scandinavian Gifts is a little slice of the Nordic homeland right here in Minnesota. If you wish to honor your Icelandic, Swedish, Danish or Finnish roots with one-of-a-kind items from Scandinavia, Ingebretsen’s has “good old-fashioned dishes that many brides remember their grandmothers having,” says store associate Beth Steinhovden. If you’re looking for something a little more contemporary, Ingebretsen’s carries a selection of more modern dinnerware. Check out the deep red Mats Jonasson crystal bowl from Sweden featured in their 2008 catalogue. For something a little more traditional—perhaps way more traditional—check out the Horse Head ale bowl by Minnesota potters Gene and Lucy Tokheim. You can also dress up your bridal ensemble with a Swedish or Norwegian wedding crown. Even if you don’t have a drop of Scandinavian blood, it’s a great place to celebrate unique cultural and artistic traditions, old and new.
Brides can register in the store, but Ingebretsen’s also offers an online registry if you can’t make it there in person. The shop also runs a Scandinavian wedding fair during the third Saturday in September, in case you need a little more hands-on experience. Minneapolis, 612.729.9333, ingebretsens.com
Specially Yours
For a fun spin on your typical serving dishes, register at Cindy Shear’s boutique, Specially Yours. Shear carries artsier items—she describes the pieces as “unique with a contemporary twist.” Art, bridal shower hostess gifts, and bridesmaid gifts intertwine with functional and beautiful shower gifts like casserole dishes and sushi servingware. Next to the servingware are gorgeous vases, modern baskets, and funky picture frames. Shear’s website also has a Judaica category featuring challah plates, seder plates, and menorahs.
At Specially Yours, you can expect the one-on-one attention particular to these small shops. Shear personally guides brides through her boutique, jotting down the gifts you want to register for, and offering advice and information about the pieces that catch your eye.