It has started

We've been engaged a month now and we already received our first gift. Actually it was less than a week before a bottle of very nice champagne showed up on my desk at work from Susan, David and Lisa. I don't know how they found out that quickly, but they did and acted on it. We still haven't opened it, waiting for some sort of event. Daphne's boss also sent us a great bottle of red from a B.C. winery that is also waiting for the right opportunity. But what really started was the box in the picture. Daphne's friend Erin sent us an incredibly gorgeous engagement gift of a crystal decanter. Really an incredible gift and not the least of which is because it is one that I would have certainly picked for myself if I was given the choice. But it also started me thinking about gifts and weddings and wedding registries. We're not exactly young kids getting married and setting up a household together. I can understand the idea a wedding registry if the couple is just getting started, but let's just say we've both lived on our own for long enough to have enough for two households. Part of my moving here to Ottawa involved a lot of culling by both of us in terms of kitchen equipment and things such as that. So do we do a wedding registry? Do we ask prospective attendees of a wedding to make a donation to a charity of our choice? Do we just tell people that them attending the wedding, which I am sure will involve travel for the majority of the guests, is more than enough? Certainly I would rather have people spend money on attending than buying a gift as that would be far more important to me. What does Emily Post say about this? Anyway, any guidance would be welcome. I'm sure I'm not the first to wonder about this.