Dear ESB: What should we register for?? (Plus a giveaway from Pierrepont Hicks!)

hiya,

I'm trying to put together a wedding registry for myself and my man and we are struggling to decide what to put on it. My mom is a potter and has already given us tons of plates and mugs and bowls, and is making us a bunch more over the next few years, so a matched set of everyday dinnerware is not necessary (and not our style anyway). We are not huge bakers, so we don't need that huge kitchenaid mixer that everyone wants.  

We have a close friend with a lovely high-end home goods (and jewelry, but that can't go on the registry, alas) shop and are setting up a little registry with her, plus we've got a MyRegistry site set up to aggregate items from the web, where we've put up the requisite food processor, some Reidel wine glasses, some long-coveted blankets, Santa Fe Stoneworks fanciness, a drill... We also have a cash "future adventures" fund for people to contribute to, as well as a few charities we'd like people to donate to in our name, so perhaps we should just leave it at that and move on to other things (like sending out our paper invitations, oops).

But I don't want to be too casual about what is, for practical purposes, a rare opportunity to make the transformation from having a big kid house to a Grown Up house. Any suggestions? We've been to enough weddings to know people always put flatware/silverware on the registry... And we should probably replace the hodgepodge set we've accumulated over the years mostly from stealing from dining halls, friends and neighbors... But we don't know anything about flatware/silverware and what differentiates good from bad. Should we put on stuff for our dog and cat? Would that be weird?

Our general parameters for buying things are that we try to buy from independent shops in person (Brooklyn) or online, made-in-usa or fair trade/well-paid workers, etc. Unfortunately, unlike the areas of clothing and food, where we have our go-to favorite and trusted brands/stores, we don't know where to go for feel-good but also attractive and high quality homegoods (that's why we will not go the etsy route--no offense to those few gems who use that selling platform despite the shoddy company it puts them in). 

We also don't want our registry to be totally out of reach to our guests. Cost-wise, we usually spend $100 on gifts for our friends getting married (and that's a joint present from us as a couple) and wouldn't want others to spend more on ours...

Any advice? Items? Kitchen/household gold standards we would be fools not to ask for?

-- Having trouble asking for stuff for the first time in her life

*****

Coupla things we registered for that we use the shit out of: All Clad pans (made in the USA), a Henckels chef's knife and a pair of Wüsthof kitchen shears (both made in Germany). No idea what to tell you about flatware. I inherited my grandmother's silver, which we use every day because why not.

Who's got an opinion about flatware?

Recommendations for must-have registry items?

Just want to yell at the nice lady for registering for cash?

Mrs. Pierrepont Hicks has offered to give away a blue Backseat Blanket (100% Minnesota-made) to one lucky reader. Offer your two cents in the comments by 12pm on Friday and I'll select a winner at random.

p.s. pls do not register for gifts for your PETS. that would indeed be weird.