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MAKING A LIST, CHECKING IT TWICE
StarMag, Jan 1, 2006
Here’s a trend that will be more than welcomed by those who are thinking of taking the matrimonial plunge. BRIGITTE ROZARIO speaks to a woman who wants to help brides and grooms get better gifts.
REMEMBER that hideous vase your sister got as a wedding gift that’s still sitting in the storeroom after a decade? Or perhaps you’ve heard about the 10 toasters your best friend had to give away after all the wedding presents were unwrapped?
What Malaysian spouses-to-be need is a wedding gift registry. This is a Western concept that has yet to take off in a big way here; I’m sure you’ve heard of it in movies and on TV.
If you haven’t, here’s how it works: A couple that’s about to get married makes a list of the gifts they want and the people they invite to the wedding can buy items from that list for them. As soon as an item is bought, it is taken off the list so that there are no duplicate gifts.
Many department and speciality stores in the United States and other Western countries offer this service. In Malaysia, it’s gone high-tech and is now, for the first time, being offered online.
Shumita Chaudhury and her partners are offering Malaysian couples Chocolate Mousse. No, not the dessert but their online wedding gift registry at mychocolatemousse.com.
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Shumi: Wants to help couples getting married. |
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Explaining the name, Shumi (as she’s known) says chocolates were the first gifts that people received when they got married a long, long time ago. “Word association is very important. Chocolates are sweet. Chocolate used to be known as an aphrodisiac. And most people like chocolate mousse. You treat yourself with it,” she says.
The site offers couples 20 brands/vendors to choose from. In addition, Shumi, 37, says she is willing to include other vendors as long as they agree to terms.
“I remember as a child attending my cousin’s wedding and eagerly waiting for the presents to be opened. All of the kids seated among the bridal party were dying of curiosity and offered to help, of course!
“After ripping open a few gifts, we realised we could guess what the gifts would be before opening them just by the size of the box they came in. I still remember those gifts ? a table fan, a fancy salt and pepper set, a rice cooker, a bed sheet set, a second rice cooker, a second fancy salt and pepper set, a strange ‘decorative’ table piece, a third rice cooker, a set of multi-coloured tableware for six, a set of pink tableware for four – and the remaining gifts were pretty much the same!
“As a child, it seemed like fun. But now I can understand why my cousin and his wife did not look as if they were having as much fun as we were.... I am sure they were busy making a list of which gifts to give away,” says Shumi with a smile.
Being a romantic, Shumi decided that she wanted to help couples like her cousin and her husband. So she decided to introduce the gift registry concept in Malaysia and, in 2004, she went to the United States to find out what’s new about it because many shops there have had decades of experience and would offer the most up to date service.
When Shumi started approaching vendors to partner with in Malaysia, she found that about half of them knew what a gift registry was. When she surveyed potential users, about 70% knew what it was and half of them said they would use it and were excited about it. These were typically young professionals who travel or had studied abroad.
Mychocolatemousse.com was ready in November last year and the company expected to start getting customers last month.
Shumi explains that the website offers two functions – a wedding gift registry and a wedding tool.
Couples can register at Chocolate Mousse, go in and select the gifts they want and create their own wish list. They then have to inform guests about the site (or the guests can learn about the gift registry through Chocolate Mousse itself by visiting the site). Guests can go into the website to look for the couple (by name, e-mail address or date of wedding), choose a gift, pay for it using a credit card and the gift on the couple’s list will be marked as bought.
The gift will then be either sent straight to the couple or to the wedding reception, or the guest can pick it up from Chocolate Mousse’s office at Plaza Mont’Kiara in Mont’Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.
There is no limit to the number of presents couples can have on the list.
“The wedding tool is an add-on service to the wedding gift registry because we feel it’s easier for the bride-to-be to have everything at one website rather than several different ones,” says Shumi.
The tool enables couples to create a webpage with a few simple steps. They can upload their photos and put up information about themselves and about the wedding once it’s over. There is also an online guest book, a countdown (how many days to the big day), a calendar with public holidays (to make it easier for the couple to select a wedding date), a seating manager (to organise seating arrangements) and even a checklist of things to do before the wedding (which is fully customisable).
“In the beginning not all guests will use the gift registry because it’s a new concept in Malaysia. We foresee that a couple’s closest family members and friends would be the ones to use it.
“We do advise couples to create the registry as soon as they get engaged. But the gifts can be bought just before they get married,” says Shumi.
The enterprising woman has given herself a year to make a go of this business.
“It is always a leap of faith when you start something new. I think the first year will be trying. We did research for a year. I think it will take one year, from now till December, to know if we will be able to make it or not, if it will take off,” says Shumi.
For couples who want to register with Chocolate Mousse, the introductory fee is RM188.
Would you use it?
KALAIMANI Selvarajoo, 30: “I received a lot of gifts for my wedding and I can only remember ever using one of them: a microwave oven. The others – mostly plates, cups and decorative items – were generously donated to my mother-in-law because we had already bought those items or didn’t like the designs. So, in hindsight, I would have considered giving the service a shot. Although I am not sure my parents would have agreed to that as it could be deemed a tad demanding.”
Joanne Gregory, 38: “I don’t think I would have used a gift registry even if there was one when I was getting married. Honestly, weddings are expensive affairs and I needed the angpows more than anything else to help us pay for the wedding. Just the gown cost me RM1,000 to RM2,000!”
Karen Wong, 26: “I think a wedding registry is a good idea. I wouldn’t want 10 toasters and several sets of wine glasses. I think it serves both parties well, the guest and the newly married couple.
T.H. Lim, 36: “I think I wouldn’t mind using it as it is kind of practical. But I’d only have it for close friends and family. I know giving cash is a common practice here but giving a close friend something that he or she really needs for the house is a much better idea.”
Supportive partners
Some of the website’s partners share their views about the wedding gift registry concept.
WENDY Heah, who handles e-commerce at pewter ware company Royal Selangor: “I think it is an expanding business because it is very new. I think it will catch on here but it will take some time. Royal Selangor does not have a gift registry service right now; that’s why we decided to work with Chocolate Mousse. We might have our own international registry later.”
Fawzy Ahmad, marketing manager at home wares company, Homelife: We do not have our own gift registry. We are not looking at it in the near future but eventually we will look at it as part of our in-store programme. It is a new concept here but not in the United States where stores like Macy’s have such things. With Internet penetration increasing this will be something to look into. It is a good idea for Chocolate Mousse to do this as they are pioneering this exercise in Malaysia. For us, basically, it’s another avenue to reach existing clients as well as to introduce our store to potential new customers.”
Tan Suk Tong, product marketing executive at Philips Malaysia DAP (domestic appliances and personal care): “It’s a good idea. I think the awareness (of gift registries) is not that high right now. We are planning to have our own service eventually. Previously, we had been looking for a channel like this for our company. And for wedding gifts, most of our products such as kitchen appliances are very suitable.”
Copyright Star Publications (M) Bhd
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