A month after S and I got engaged, we started in on registry fun! We have lived together for four years and until now have gotten by with hand me downs from our parents, so pulling together home pieces that represent our own style and kitchen tools that we will use together as a family has been so exciting!
Before kicking off our registry, I did a bit of research. I remember seeing ads for Zola on Pinterest prior to us being engaged, so I took a peek at what it was. Zola is different than traditional registries and has seriously transformed how couples and guests share, buy, ship and receive wedding gifts. Since I mentioned that we’re using Zola in this post, I’ve received a range of questions regarding Zola. With that, today I’m sharing a review of Zola’s wedding registry services and what sets them apart!
1: ONE REGISTRY // Dishes from Crate & Barrel? Cups from Anthropologie? Towels from Pottery Barn? Pillows from West Elm? Kitchen electronics from Bed, Bath & Beyond? I knew that we wouldn’t be registered at one store and the thought of maintaining and communicating five registries to our families and friends gave me anxiety. With Zola, you have one registry URL to hand out and/or add to your wedding website which makes this Type A bride very happy😃 I did’t want to be steered away from adding an item we truly loved only because it’d be another registry to create, manage and share.
2. FUND ACCOUNTS // We aren’t opting for fund accounts, but you can! With Zola you can create a fund for just abut anything – home, honeymoon, etc. and it will be displayed as a line item on your registry, in one place 😃 Zola also has the lowest cash fee around, ringing in at only 2.5%. You can also opt that this charge goes onto the guest or onto yourself.
3. GROUP GIFTING // Let’s say you have a set of pots and pans that are a splurge worthy piece, you can turn on a Zola feature known as “group gifting”. With this, guests and contribute as much as they’d like to this item.
4. HOLD ITEMS // In addition to adding registry items from retailers like Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma, Zola acts as a retailer themselves. They have an entire database of popular and unique brands that you can add to be purchased straight from Zola. Zola alerts you whenever a gift is purchased and the couple decided on if they want the items shipped to them straight away (for FREE!) or to hold off for a bit. They offer free shipping too which is a bonus!
5. SWAP, IT OUT // We haven’t opted for this feature, but it may be appealing to you! You can swap the monetary value of any gift that’s purchased and put it towards different items. For example, if someone buy you a $300 vacuum, you can actually opt to use that $300 towards kitchen supplies, pillows, a blender, etc.
6 .PERSONALIZATION // Your registry can be personalized with an image of you and your fiance, along with a personalized message to your guests. It feels must more personal than a traditional registry page and is really an extension of your wedding website!
7. THE MOBILE APP // Zola’s makes maintaining your registry SO SIMPLE. S and I still took the route of going in store to find the items we wanted to add to our registry. While we were there, instead of using the scanner provided by the retailer , we’d just add the item onto the Zola app while browsing. It was so simple. We enjoyed that we could create a modern registry, but still have the traditional registry experience (minus the disorganization and headaches).
PS- At one point in time, we tried out the traditional registry experience at Pottery Barn to compare to Zola and what a mess it was! We used their big clunky registry remote zapper which took forever and ran on what looked like a screen form a 1990 Apple computer. Then when we got home, half the items weren’t added. I immediately called and deleted it, but at least have the experience to share with you bride-to-be’s!
8. PRICE MATCHING // If you find an exact item on sale at another retailer, Zola will price match AND ship it free.
9. POST-WEDDING DISCOUNT // After your wedding date, you’ll receive 10% off everyone on Zola’s website.. not just your registry!
10. PERSONAL WEDDING ADVISOR // If you’ve already built a traditional registry somewhere else and want to use Zola. Well their personal wedding registry advisers can import all your items into Zola!
Overall, we have loved our experience with Zola. Even our guests mentioned how easy it is to use. You can click here to create your own Zola registry and receive a $50 credit! Yay! Xo Mindy
SHOP HOME FAVORITES
I’m a recently engaged girl and after reading this review, I’ll most definitely be opting for Zola for the cash fund features!