I recently came across a post on the Glamour Save the Date blog OMG! Do NOT Put These Items on Your Wedding Registry. (What’s WRONG With People?). I clicked through expecting to see sex toys or something equally outrageous, so I was really taken aback when I saw that the first item on the list was a DSLR camera. Mainly because I had just been thinking not long ago that a fancy camera would make a fantastic wedding gift. The post was written in response to an article called 11 Tech Items to Consider for Your Wedding Registry, which suggested the following items:

1. DSLR camera, like the Nikon D800
2. Laptop
3. iPad
4. Flat-screen TV
5. Record player, like this affordable Wood Turntable
6. iPod speakers
7. Blu-ray player
8. Gaming system
9. Stereo system with surround sound
10. The Nest Thermostat
11. High-tech washer-dryer

Glamour‘s blogger was absolutely outraged at the majority of the items on the list, but I have to politely disagree with her assessment. I think some of these items sound fantastic, and on the whole, I think that registering for technology is fine.

Now, I completely understand that some of the outrage has to do with price. I mean, seeing a $3000 gift on anyone’s registry would probably cause most guests to do a double-take. But a lot of these items (including the camera) have lower-end versions that are definitely affordable, especially if you’re into the idea of going in with friends on a group gift for the couple. The Nikon D800 is in the thousands, but the Nikon D3000 (which is a great camera!) is about $500; split that among four couples and we’re looking at $125 for a wedding gift. Is that a cheap gift? No, but I’d pay that much in a heartbeat to give an awesome gift to one of my closest friends.

While I understand the complaint that these items are expensive but not particularly long-lasting, I’d argue that wedding gifts don’t have to be long-lasting. I’ve given friends dish towels and kitchen utensils for wedding gifts; even if they registered for the nice ones, I’m not deluding myself into thinking that they aren’t going to replace them eventually. As long as I spent an amount I’m comfortable with and the couple got as much use out of them as they could, I’m not going to be offended if they don’t pass my gift along to their grandkids. And while some of these items aren’t cheap, you can get iPod speakers for a price that’s comparable to other wedding gifts, so I don’t see the harm. (And, in fairness, the Glamour blogger gave #5, #6, and #7 the green light, so I suppose she doesn’t either.)

I think the laptop seems a little silly because laptops are really made made for solo ventures, and we typically think of wedding gifts as something that the couple would share. But if the couple is the type to listen to music together or are total TV people, giving them a gift that contributes to their main source of entertainment makes a ton of sense. And there are enough geeky gamer weddings out there to make me feel like there are plenty of couples who would love a new gaming system more than anything they sell at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I love giving gifts, and I really love giving people what they want. If a gamer couple wants a video game console…well, why not? … Keep Reading