Durham's Hardware bridal registries edge toward record number

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[What gift might best be bestowed on a happy couple to ease their settlement into marital bliss? A crystal candy dish or a sledgehammer?

When the couple's bridal registry is at Durham's Hardware, the wish list is wide open.

To Hannah Holmgren and Jeremiah Hanks it is apparent the kitchen is important and so is the landscaping. Their suggested gifts include a Presto Salad Shooter, an ice shaver, a giant snow shovel, loppers and a hatchet.

Are the men horning in on the bridal registry tradition or are the brides preparing their grooms for hard labor?

"Our theory is they are practical," Shirley Miller said.

The women at Durham's Hardware are starting to believe the days of fine wedding china that sits stored in a cabinet are for the more mature generations. Based on the Durham's display of bridal registries, today's young couples are more interested in hand-on, ready-to-use, home- and garage-type gifts than they are fine heirlooms.

There are now 13 bridal registries at Durham's Hardware.

"I don't know what's in the air," Janet Duke said.

"They're buying ladders, shovels, rakes, garden hose. The men are picking out what they need. They aren't strictly household items. Ladders, shovels, rakes and hammers."

There are muffin pans and cake pans in several registry displays along with barbecue tongs and Weed Eaters.

"The guys are getting a lot of grill cooking items," Duke said.

The selection of gift items is eclectic and the time of year for four of the weddings is also different.

"Quite a few of them are getting married in April which is unusual. June used to be the big month. Usually it's when school gets out. I don't know, is there some kind of tax break or something?" Duke said.

At Durham's Hardware the record for the number of bridal registries is 16 and Duke isn't sure a few more brides- and grooms-to-be won't stop in to help reach or break that record.

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<li>DeNeal receives e-mail at bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.</li>

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