A good service (John Lewis Wedding List)

Member Name: LivvyLou2

Product:	John Lewis Wedding List
Date:	11/08/08 (126 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent customer service, wide choice of products, free delivery, easy returns policy

Disadvantages: Automatic vouchers on list

When it comes to your wedding there are a few options regarding the gift element: you can let people choose whatever they want for you (and possibly end up with 3 toasters, 6 kettles etc); you can tell people you don't want presents; you can ask for money or vouchers; or you can set up a gift list. Now, the gift list option is not always thought appropriate - especially with the older generation as it can be seen as though you are expecting people to buy you presents and you are dictating what they buy. However, in today's society it is more accepted that a gift list is a way of avoiding having to return items and most people will ensure that every present buyer's budget is considered when putting together their list.

When we got married we decided to go with a John Lewis gift list. The main reason for this was that John Lewis sell pretty much everything you could ever need, they offer an on line service for people who are unable to go into the store (or don't have one in their home town), the don't charge for delivery and the offer an on line list service so you can amend your list as and when.

I initially registered my intention to have a John Lewis gift list on line and received some vital information regarding list registration and some gift cards for including in the wedding invitations (these were free of charge and you write on them your list no and when the list opens). Then a month or so before our wedding my now husband and I had a fun filled afternoon in John Lewis! We went along to the customer service desk and were given a glass of Bucks Fizz each while we waited for the assistant to bring the bits over to us. We were then given a wallet with free gifts in it - there was a make over voucher, a tea & cake voucer & a pack for keeping important details in. At the same time we were given scanners and shown how to use them. All that remained was to wander around the shop and scan every item we wanted adding to our list. This is not as easy a job as you would think, especially if you are conscious of looking "greedy" or of guests wallets. The phrase "is that too cheeky to ask for?" came up many times and you need a good few hours to complete the exercise.

Once you have scanned everything it all gets downloaded into your list (and we got another glass of Bucks Fizz while we waited). Then it's a case of reviewing the list and deciding whether you have a good balance. John Lewis give you a breakdown of gifts and how many you have in each price bracket so it is easy to see if you have a fair representation. Once this has all been done you arrange for a delivery date for after the wedding - we arranged for the items to be delivered on the day we returned from Honeymoon, but guests can also take the gifts and bring them to the wedding if they prefer.

The biggest downside to the list is that John Lewis vouchers are automatically put at the top of the list and we found that most guests opted for vouchers, which then meant us trawling around John Lewis again after the wedding to select presents from our list and buy with the vouchers. Perhaps this is selfish of me, but I would have much preferred it if people had just bought something from the list (we had many items that were less than the vouchers people gave).

During the run up to the wedding you can go on line and see what has been bought already (and by whom). I'm not sure this feature is the best to be honest as it does take the surprise element out of things.

We got back from honeymoon and within 2 hours of being home we had boxes of presents delivered. There were no issues with any items we received on the day, but we did end up with 2 salad bowls! Now, the list is meant to eradicate the problem of double gifts, but the list is only as good as the users. We worked out that a friend had gone on line to choose, but then gone into their local John Lewis to buy, without taking the item off the list hence someone else also bought the item from the list and we ended up with 2, but John Lewis soon exchanged 1 for us.

If you are going down a gift list route I would recommend John Lewis, but be prepared for it to take a while.

Summary: A good choice if you are going down a gift list route