18 Practical Items You Won't Regret Putting On Your Wedding Registry

Multiple choice question. You're getting married soon. The best part is: (A) Spending the rest of your life with your one true love, (B) cake, or (C) presents. Tough one, I know, because cake, but if you answered C, you're correct. And because you definitely don't want crystal candlesticks because they're a pain to clean, keep reading for 18 practical items to put on your wedding registry.

Wedding registries are sort of a weird tradition. You're essentially telling your guests, "Come celebrate the love of two beautiful souls, and also, bring presents, please." This isn't how registries always were, though.

According to Racked, the practice dates back to 3000 B.C., when people used to pay a dowry to the bride's family — like land, animals, or money. A few centuries later, we had marriage chests, which held things the bride would take to her groom's house.

Then, as Racked explains, Macy's came along and changed the game. In 1924, they introduced the very first wedding gift registry, and we've been giving newlyweds silver platters and other overpriced things they never end up using ever since.

Couples these days don't always follow tradition. Some bypass the registry completely. Others ask you to donate to a charity in lieu of gifts. Still others ask you to put money toward their honeymoon.

If you still want a registry but want to be a little more practical and realistic with it, here are 18 things you should put on it.