I've been pondering this week about gift registries. What is an ok reason to have one, and what is not? Until recently I had only heard of them for weddings, but recently I have been sent links for baby shower gift registers, and for engagement party ones. Most baby shower ones contain lots of practical items like nappies, wipes, and I can understand why they would be set up (even if I do personally find the idea of requesting gifts a little crass).

However for the engagement parties (with only a few items below $100) it just left a really bad taste in my mouth. Is this something that is common and I have just not been exposed to until now? In my mind an engagement is a time for a small token gift, with large gifts reserved for a wedding. And a gift registry seems like such overkill.

what does everyone else think, are the just the modern way?