Wow, it seems like a lot of people here are offended by this... I've never done anything like this personally, mostly because I usually celebrate my birthday by myself and don't really throw big parties and people don't usually give me gifts. But I had a girlfriend who on her birthday a few years back was throwing a party, and because I planned on going but we weren't good enough friends that I would instinctivly know what she wanted, I sent her an email asking her what she wanted for her birthday. She sent back a mass email saying that everyone had asked her the same question, so she wrote out a list for us of things she would like (mostly books), and I got her something off the list. I was relieved, not offended. Wedding registries are only offensive to me if most of the items on the registry are ridiculously expensive. Otherwise, it's like "I just got married and I don't have a toaster. If you were planning on getting me a gift, it would be awesome if you got me a toaster." I'm okay with that.
