Kitting out a house

[frakkinpannikinAGRIPPA]

This is about the third place I've posted this but here goess....I'm doing my wedding list - want practically everything but accommodation is rented and furnished so no need for white goods/furniture.

What do I need and how many of each?

What do I really not need?

Particularly welcome are your recommendations on: slow cookers, breadmakers, blenders, coffee makers etc.

I'm taking this as an opportunity to replace all our rubbish towels and bedlinen with nice stuff . We're moving overseas and get free shipping on wedding gifts so I'm sending practically nothing out and replacing everything.

Sorry but this sounds like you are just getting married to acquire a load of new stuff for your new life abroad! If you are 'replacing everything' sounds like you have ran a home for some time so should have a good idea of what you need and how many!

Sadly that's not why we're getting married, it's an unexpected benefit. We're getting married because I can't go with him unless we do. Navy says so. I already have to stay behind until we actually are married otherwise I'd probably go out there and we'd quite happily still live off stuff amalgamated from when we were students. Think IKEA plastic and Tesco value china. The nicest stuff we have is John Lewis bedlinen that I moved out of home with!

My slow cooker is ancient and inherited from my mother from when SHE got married, as she got herself a shiny new one a couple of years ago. I don't have a breadmaker (but really want one!), my blender is a little handheld mixer/blender with changeable attachments from Tesco once again. I have no idea what I need because my new occupation involves throwing dinner parties for Admirals and having their wives round for drinks and homemade patisserie. So I'm guessing I need a complete dinner service but have no idea what that means in practical terms these days....

Oh and I have 6 weeks to do this in. So please, if you were doing your wedding list all over again, what would you have?

I would make a list of the things you need and use most now, and then simply go to John Lewis (or somewhere similar) which does wedding lists and choose nice versions.

However do remember to include gifts which only costs a very little, so that friends who do;t have a lot to splash out on a wedding gift have an option. People who send me gift lists with prices out of my budget are likely to get nothing I'm afraid!

When choosing the dinner service, it's worth finding out how easy it'll be to get extras in the future (for when bits get broken). Some classic lines are done for years. Others are one offs and you need to be aware that you'll never get them again.

Along the same line of thought, it would be best if you choose a shop which exists in the country you're moving to, or at least delivers there, if possible.

Good point about breakages, lowrib.

We're only going for 3 years but it's in the middle of the Indian Ocean so no shops will have a branch out there but I've already checked that John Lewis will deliver.

People are more than welcome to buy us stuff for under a tenner! There seems to be rather a lot of that on there at the moment, it's the dinner service and big things I'm struggling with.

Anyone else with words of wisdom?

I didn't get a dinner service, because I would get upset when bits got broken, my DH is a clumsy creature but I would get denby given the chance.

I would get bath sheets and hand towels, skip the bath towels as they are too small.

Maybe a Kitchen Aid Mixer if any one might be willing to shell out for one? I haven't got a food processor, just a £5 stick blender but this would be a wish list
Never used a slow cooker or a breadmaker, maybe get a cheap/free trial of Which? to check out their reviews?

We have had 2 coffee machines and both times in went in the loft and was never seen again after 3 months, just had a cafetiere for real coffee urges.

One mistake I feel we made was that we went for a 'smart' dinner service as well as having an every day one. We have honestly only used the 'smart' one twice in the 10 years we have been married! Mind you we aren't big on entertaining and live in our kitchen (don't have a dining room) so maybe this has something to do with it.

People did buy things like kettles, toasters on our wedding list as affordable and more of an 'individual' present - as wierdly you do remember what people gave you when it is something like this. But things that didn't get bought (and so you end up buying, or making up the set yourself) were things like cutlery - so I really wouldn't put cutlery on your list!

If the accommodation is already furnished I would consider getting a mattress protector (this sort of thing), not so much as to protect the mattress - but the other way around - afterall, you don't know who has slept on it before you. Mind you, I'm a bit funny about these things now - which I think has come with age. I certainly wasn't when I was a student.