Groom-to-be Luca.s Ward¹ has two specific requests on the gift registry for his Oct. 1 wedding. "A really good chef's knife is the power tool for the kitchen,"says the 28-year-old co-founder of a Chicago technology start-up. "So is a good pair of tongs²."

今年28岁的准新郎卢卡斯·沃德打算在10月1日举办婚礼，他是芝加哥一家新兴技术公司的共同创始人。在结婚礼物心愿清单上，他说道一把真正上好的厨刀是厨房里的强大工具。一把好的夹钳也是如此。"

No argument from fiancee Paula Grahmann, a nursing assistant. She says she isn 't much of a cook and is happy to have Mr. Ward pick kitchen gear.

沃德的未婚妻保拉·格莱曼是一名助理护士，对于沃德的想法，她毫无异议。她声称自己并不擅长做饭，因此她很乐意由沃德来挑选厨房用具。

As wedding season kicks in, gift registries are making some changes -and offer a glimpse into the homes and expectations of couples. The most-popular items registered at four big retailers⁴, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, Macy's and Crate⁵ and Barrel, highlight some marked departures from perennially⁶ popular flatware, small appliances and other traditional items.

随着婚礼旺季的来临，婚礼礼物的清单也在发生着一些变化——借此也能走进新人们的新屋，一窥他们对于构建爱巢的想法和期待。在全美四大家居用品零售商Bed Bath & Beyond、塔吉特百货、梅西百货和Crate and Barrel商场里，最显著的已经不再是那些经久不衰的餐具、家用小电器和其它一些传统商品。

"At Macy's, premium⁸ kitchen cutlery has rocketed to the top of wedding registries in the past five years, partly due to grooms⁹ influence", says Susan Bertelsen, group vice-president, wedding and gift registry, for the retailer³. She also credits men for helping¹⁰ drive sales gains in home bar ware⁷, such as ice buckets and cocktail¹¹ shakers. And Michelle Mesenburg, director of marketing¹² for home items at Target, says grooms-to-be are helping drive the growing popularity of electronics or camping gear as wedding gifts.

梅西百货面向零售商的婚庆礼品部的副总裁苏姗·伯特尔森说，"在过去的五年里，梅西百货的精品厨刀一直占据着新人心愿礼物的头把交椅，这主要是受到新郎官的影响。"她还把家庭酒吧用具，诸如冰桶和调酒器等的销售增长也归功于男士们。塔吉特百货公司家居用品行销部主管米歇尔·麦森伯格则称，准新郎的倾向性意见正在推动小电器或露营用品逐渐成为热门的结婚礼物。

Target's most popular bath-towel color is "bison brown". Macy's top towel picks are vanilla¹³, white, linen¹⁴ and chocolate. Couples move more often and "want something they can take with them to their next place and not be committed to a bold color statement," Ms. Bertelsen says.

塔吉特百货最热销的浴巾颜色是"野牛棕色而梅西百货最热销的毛巾颜色也是香草色、白色、亚麻色和巧克力色。伯特尔森说，现代美国夫妻搬家的频率更为频繁，他们"想要一些可以直接带到下一个居所的东西，因此不会选择太过醒目的颜色。"

These days, family-sized barbecue grills¹⁶, bamboo bath accessories and sports gear are cropping up. Grooms are also requesting more household items, since they take a larger role in housekeeping, now doing one-third of the cooking, says Stephanie Coontz， author of several books on the history of families and marnage.

最近，家用的烧烤架、浴盐用品和运动器械可谓是异军突起，备受青睐。曾撰写过数本家庭及婚姻史著作的史提芬妮·昆茨对此表示，新郎们也对家居用品表达出更多的渴望，因为他们在家务活动中，开始扮演起更为重要的角色，现在三分之一的饭都是由男人来做的。

Couples' average age at first marriage has risen by several years, to 28 for men and 26 for women. More than 70% have already been living together by the time they marry, researchers estimate. When couples make up gift lists, "they choose them together, and they will use them together," says Ms. Coontz, co-chairwoman of the Council on Contemporary Families, a nonprofit Chicago research organization. In the past, wedding-gift lists tended to be "cookie-cutter affairs" with young brides asking for "big-ticket items that would be used once a year, if ever," Ms. Coontz says -china, linens¹⁷ and glassware.

美国人第一次婚姻的平均年龄在最近的几年一直都在上升，现在已达到男性的平均年龄是28岁，女性为26岁。研究人员估计，超过70%的人在婚前便已经住在一起。芝加哥非盈利研究组织"现代家庭理事会"联席主席昆茨说，在新人们拟定结婚礼物清单时他们会一起做出选择，今后也会共同使用。"而在过去，心愿清单上往往都是一些"华而不实"的东西，年轻的新娘们希望得到的是"价格昂贵但可能一年都用不上一次的东西"，如瓷器、床单和玻璃器皿等。

Couples in most urban areas typically live in smaller homes compared with the past, and they lack space to store gadgets¹⁸ or items they will use only occasionally. When David Mishook and Meg Keene of San Francisco registered for their wedding in 2009， he chose a multipurpose cast-iron Dutch oven. "Instead of buying a waffle iron and one of those weird¹⁹ egg things they make, and five different sizes of pans and three different sizes of pots, it makes more sense to me to buy three or four pots and pans that are versatile," he says.

现在，绝大多数居住在城市中的夫妻的住房面积都要比过去小得多，因此他们也没有多余的空间存放那些难得一用的器具。 2009年，旧金山市的大卫·米舒克和梅格·金在登记结婚时，大卫就选择了一个铸铁的多功能荷兰烤肉锅作为结婚礼物。大卫说"与其买一个烤饼机、一个怪异的摊鸡蛋的东西、五个不同尺寸的平底锅，以及三个不同尺寸的锅，对于我而言，还不如买三四个多功能锅和平底锅更实用。"

An appliance that doubles as grill¹⁵ and griddle is among Macy's hottest picks. At Crate and Barrel, single-use items such as toasters and ceramic²⁰ pasta sets have fallen off its top-picks list.

烤煎两用的小电器是梅西百货卖得最好的商品，而在Crate and Barrel家居用品商店，像烤面包机和陶制意面盘等用途单一的商品已经跌出热门排行榜外。

Rebecca Lysen, 29, and her fiance, Justin Hosek, a musician and sound technician, also registered multifunctional items for their Oct. I wedding. On the list for their one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, N.Y.; a KitchenAid mixer that doubles as a pasta maker²¹, meat grinder and shredder.

今年29岁的丽蓓嘉·莱森和她的未婚夫、音乐家及音效技师贾斯汀·荷塞克将在 10月 1日步入婚姻殿堂。在他们为其所在纽约布鲁克林区的一居室公寓所准备的心愿清单上，他们希望得到一个KitchenAid多功能搅拌机作为结婚礼物，这种机器既能搅拌面团，也能搅肉。

This particular appliance has remained popular for at least two generations, attaining²² iconic status, retailers say. It is often chosen by brides because "their mother or grandmother had one" , says Marjorie Daugherty, gift-registry director for Crate and Barrel.

零售商们表示， KitchenAid这种独特的器具，至少已经得到了两代人的青睐，成为多功能搅拌机的代表。 Crate and Barrel结婚礼品部主管玛乔丽·多提也说，新娘们经常会选择它，就是因为"她们的母亲或祖母也拥有一台"。

Casey Collier and her fiance, Paul Whittemore, of New York City had uniquely personal selections: limited-edition art prints, Italian lessons and a karaoke machine for partying with their friends. After living together for three years, Ms. Collier and Mr. Whittemore say their household is established. So they registered "items that fit both our personalities²³ and taste, and

upcoming events we are planning as husband and wife," says Ms. Collier, 29.

住在纽约的凯西·科利尔和她的未婚夫保罗·威特恩莫尔，他们的选择也很独特:限量版的艺术复制品、意大利语课程，以及一台跟朋友一起派对时用的卡拉OK机。在一起生活了三年后，凯西和保罗称他们的小家已经建立起来了。因此，在登记结婚时我们希望得到一些适合我们俩性格和品位的东西，一些能在共同的夫妻生活中用到的东西， "29岁的凯西如是说。

Most couples register at multiple retailers or websites to satisfy their varied²⁴ tastes. Mr. Ward found beer mugs, a stovetop grill and leather cooking gloves he liked at TheManRegistry.com. He says," I gave 'veto power' to Ms. Grahmann, who drew the line on one item: a remote-controlled party cooler that rolls along the floor from guest to guest. She laughed for a good couple of minutes, and then said 'no' ", Mr. Ward says.

大多数的夫妻会在多个零售商或网站上寻找自己心仪的结婚礼物，以满足他们自身多样化的需求。沃德就在哑leManRegis町.com网站上找到了自己喜欢的啤酒杯、一个圆形烧烤盘和一副皮质的厨用于套。沃德说"格莱曼拥有‘否决权而她也确实否决了一样东西:一个遥控的聚会冰箱，可以在地面上从一个客人这里移动到另一个客人那里。她大笑了好几分钟，然后说‘不行’。"

Mr. Hosek, whom Ms. Lysen jokingly calls "Groomzilla" because he has strong opinions on their wedding plans, objected when Ms. Lysen wanted to add decorative²⁵ items such as a candelabra and silver frames to their registry. "My first reaction was, why are we getting any of this and what is a candelabra?" he says. Ms. Lysen insisted, she says, because she wanted their 150-plus guests to have a wide range of gift choices.

贾斯汀·荷塞克被自己的未婚妻克丽蓓嘉·莱森戏称为"婚礼狂人因为他对婚礼安排的细节很有自己的主意。对于克丽蓓嘉要把诸如枝形大烛台和银相框等装饰性物品列人心愿清单的想法，贾斯汀给出了反对建议，他说"我的第一反应是，为什么要这些玩意儿，大烛台又是什么东西?"而克丽蓓嘉坚持自己的意见，因为她想让150多位宾客有更大的礼物选择范围。

She, in turn, objected when Mr. Hosek wanted to add a 12-quart stock pot, worried that it would take too much space. Mr. Hosek says, "I'm the soup guy. I need a big pot... He compromised, adding a smaller 8-quart model. And Ms. Lysek agreed to add the KitchenAid mixer he wanted, but only if she got to pick the color.

反过来，在贾斯汀提出想要一个12夸脱的汤锅时，克丽蓓嘉也不同意，因为她担心它会占用太多的空间。贾斯汀说我超爱喝汤，我需要一个大号汤锅"。不过最后他们还是各退一步，采用了折中的办法:汤锅的容量改为了8夸脱。此外，克丽蓓嘉也赞同了未婚夫提出的增加KitchenAid搅拌器的想法，不过搅拌器的颜色要由她来选择。

A growing number of couples are bypassing gift registries altogether. When Dolores Ramirez of San Antonio married Michael Wimpy²⁶ at age 43, both had been married before, had lived together for a year and were remodeling a house.

越来越多的新人们于脆跳过了拟定结婚礼物心愿清单这个步骤。德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥的多洛莉丝·拉米莱兹在43岁时嫁给了迈克尔·温皮，两人都是再婚，并且已在-起生活了一年，目前他们在重新装修房子。

Friends kept asking, "What do you want?" she says. Finally, at the suggestion of her wedding planner, Josephine Sokoloff, she and her fiance asked for Home Depot²⁷ gift cards.

多洛莉丝说，朋友们一直问"你们需要什么el?"最终，在他们的婚礼策划者约瑟芬·索科洛夫的建议下，她和未婚夫提出想要HomeDepot的礼品卡作为结婚礼物。

The take: nearly $3,500, enough for plenty of remodeling supplies and a few appliances.

最后，他们收到了近3500美元的礼品卡，足以购买装修材料和一些家用电器了。