#NerdsUnite: I'm 23 and in less than a year - I'm getting married (She got the dress!)
<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Jack. We met on the twitter not too long ago, and the dude has a lot going on. First up, like many of us - he works in social media, but in less than a year he's going to get married. Oh and did I mention that he's only 23? And his bride to be is only ... ::gasp:: 22? Holy crapsicles Batman, this is going to be good ... I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT JACK! </editorsnote>
She got the dress!
And that’s about all I can tell you. As is customary, every detail about the dress will be a complete surprise to me until Ashley walks down the aisle.
Even though we’ve accomplished quite a bit, the wedding dress purchase made us both feel like this whole thing is actually real. Ashley’s been beaming around the house, all smiles and excitement, which is absolutely contagious – both her family, my mom, and all our roommates talk about it constantly. Nothing makes me happier than seeing Ashley so ecstatic about everything – I’m a pretty lucky dude.
Last weekend was spent tackling a more fun task: registries. The shopping team of myself, Ashley, and her mother made our way to Macy’s to pick out all kinds of goodies. We sat down with the in-house registry consultant to hear about all the perks of registering at Macy’s, and I have to say, I was impressed with the benefits.
First we have the “Star Rewards” program. Whenever anyone purchases an item off of our registry, Ashley and I receive 5% of the purchase price. So if you get us that $99 Calphalon Unison Nonstick Sear Round 12” pan we so desperately want, we get $5. Additionally, we receive 10% back on any purchase Ashley and I make at Macy’s from the date we registered until one month after our wedding. It’s a win-win for every party involved; Macy’s gets repeat business from the credits we’ll receive, and we get discounts on a store that has everything we’d ever need for furnishing our house and lives.
We signed up for a new test program as well, called the Macy’s Dream Fund. The program essentially compiles what would be tons of gift cards into one massive card for our convenience. Rather than buying a gift card, you can contribute to the Dream Fund, which adds your contribution to those of others. We also get the 5% Star Reward kickback for any contributions. I like the idea, though I was a bit concerned about the ways the store could push the program to our attendees; Ashley and I would rather receive gifts (it’s just more fun that way), and I worried that the employees might encourage shoppers to contribute to the test program. We decided the benefits outweighed the risk after being assured that it was considered a secondary option to purchasing from our registry.
Next came the selection process. Armed with a scanner (which could have used some Apple-ingenuity to be more user-friendly), we browsed the store, picking out the cookware, appliances, and housing items of our future. I had far too much fun tweeting along and driving Ashley absolutely crazy:
With my obsessive nature over practical purchases, it meant lots of Googling as we shopped, but we were both very happy with the stores’ variety and quality. You can actually check out registry online (another great Macy’s feature – our registry was live updated as we added items in-store). A very pleasurable experience that was virtually painless.
Next week, I’ll finally reveal my one wedding dream – the musician I’d kill to have perform our song. Until then!