Our wedding list, told step by step

Our list, chapter by chapter

1. 1

   A Memo that became a wedding list

   Ever since we moved in together, I had been noting what we wanted for the house in a Memo — a list only I can see. The day we set the date, I didn't copy a thing: I turned that Memo into a public list of the “Wedding” type. Our two names, the date, the town of the ceremony — and all our ideas were already in it.

   Find out more: Memo lists·Public lists

   
2. 2

   Sam at the controls, with me

   I created the list, but it's our wedding. I handed Sam the management of it just by entering his email address. He didn't have an account yet: the list waited for him, and it showed up on his side as soon as he signed up. Since then he adds his own ideas, tweaks mine, and sees exactly what I see.

   Find out more: Public lists·Sharing & Invitations

   
3. 3

   Every shop, one list

   We didn't want a list locked into a single shop. In the evenings, on my laptop, I added ideas from online shops in one click with the browser extension. Sam shared product pages from his phone. And on Saturday, at the department store, he scanned the barcodes of the tableware we liked instead of opening a list with them: each item landed in our list, name and all.

   Find out more: Browser extension·Mobile app·Automatic product extraction

4. 4

   Three ideas on top, and a dinner out

   The list soon passed thirty ideas. We pinned the three that mattered most — the cast-iron casserole, the cabin suitcase, the pasta machine — so they stay at the top for everyone, and used hearts to show how much we wanted the rest. Some ideas didn't even have a link: “Dinner out for our first wedding anniversary”. And for the dinner plates, we wanted twelve.

   Find out more: Public lists

   
5. 5

   Keeping the surprise, to start with

   When we created the list, we had to choose: keep the surprise, or follow reservations as they come in. We kept the surprise. Our guests could reserve as much as they liked: Sam and I wouldn't see a thing until the day after the wedding. No names, no messages.

   Find out more: Public lists

   
6. 6

   The link in the invitation

   We put the link to the list in the wedding invitation, then sent it from my phone, in two taps, to the guests' group chat. Grandma Edith lost her invitation within a week. She typed the wedding date and Sam's name into the search on the website: our list came up straight away.

   Find out more: Public lists·Sharing & Invitations

   
7. 7

   Reserving, with or without an account

   Aunt Linda had no wish to create an account, and she didn't need one: her name, her email address, a few words for us, then one click on the link she received by email to confirm. If she changes her mind, the same email lets her cancel. Ollie, Sam's cousin, already had an account: his reservation went through at once, and he finds it with all his others under “My reservations”.

   Find out more: Public lists·Reservations & Group contributions

   
8. 8

   Twelve plates, three reservations

   Aunt Linda reserved four plates, and Nadia six on behalf of Sam's colleagues. The guests who came next could see that two were left to give — never who had taken the others: on the list, no guest sees anyone else's name. Ollie took the last two, and nobody turned up with a second full dinner set.

   Find out more: Reservations & Group contributions

   
9. 9

   Three weeks before, we switch to tracking

   Three weeks before the wedding, the surprise turned into a headache: what was left for us to buy ourselves? We switched to “Follow reservations”. Everything appeared at once, including what had been reserved before: every name, every quantity, every little note.

   The reservation form now tells our guests that we can see their reservations; among themselves, guests still never see each other's names. And since I turned on notifications, my phone tells me about every new reservation.

   Find out more: Public lists·Notifications

   
10. 10

    The day after: thank-yous

    The day after the wedding, the list closed to guests. We kept everything: every name, every address, every message. The thank-you cards practically wrote themselves. Had we stayed with the surprise, that is the morning we would have discovered it all.

    Find out more: Dates & Events

11. 11

    A year later, Chloe's baby list

    Chloe, my maid of honour, is expecting her first child. She created a baby list, and this time the choice was easy: follow reservations from day one. Before the baby arrives, she wants to know what's still missing, so she can buy it herself.

    Find out more: Public lists