Plan A Surprise Registry Without Spoiling The Moment

Three ways people keep a registry a surprise

There is no reveal date to schedule on EasyRegistry. What there is: a registry only you can open until you publish it, and two purchase settings that decide who sees a giver's name. Here is how people use them.

Running a secret registry for someone else

Create the registry in your own account and unpublish it from the Share page while you set it up, so nobody else can find it. While a registry is unpublished it stays out of search results and anyone other than you who follows the link sees a short "check back later" message instead of the gifts, so nobody can give to it yet. When you want people to start contributing, publish it and share the link with them (on Premium, a password keeps it to people you give the password to), then hand over the gifts and the total when the time comes.

How to keep a registry unpublished

1. Open your admin area and choose Share.
2. Under Registry Visibility, choose "Unpublish Registry" and confirm.
3. Only you can open it until you choose "Republish Registry".

Partners surprising each other through one registry

Switch on anonymous gifts so either of you can tick "Make this gift anonymous" when you give, and switch on hiding purchaser details so neither of you sees who bought what on the Purchases page or in the gift notification emails. Amounts are never hidden by either setting, so you will still see that a gift has been covered and what it raised, just not who covered it.

How to turn on anonymous gifts

1. Open your admin area and choose Purchases.
2. Switch on "Would you like to allow anonymous gifts?" (off by default).
3. Save. Guests now see the "Make this gift anonymous" option when they give.

How to hide purchaser details from yourself

1. Open your admin area and choose Purchases.
2. Switch on "Would you like to hide the purchaser's details?" (off by default).
3. Save. Switch it off again whenever you are ready to see who gave what.

Keeping a new registry off search until you launch it

Unpublishing does more than de-index: while it is on, nobody but you can view the registry at all, even with the link. You can keep editing the whole time and republish the moment you want it live. Premium registries can instead set a password on the Details page, which keeps the registry viewable but only for guests who have the password.

How to password-protect a registry (Premium)

1. Upgrade the registry to Premium.
2. Open your admin area and choose Details.
3. Type a password into the Password field and save. Guests need it to view the registry.

There is no reveal date to set

EasyRegistry has no scheduled reveal or unmasking feature, so nothing is disclosed automatically on a day you choose — you publish, and you switch purchaser details back on, when you decide to. Worth knowing before you promise a big reveal: hiding purchaser details from yourself is reversible at any time, but a gift given anonymously stays anonymous for good.

Everything else works as usual — cash gifts, gifts from any store in the world, and simple sharing once you are ready to go public.

Surprise registry questions

Can I set up a secret registry for someone else and reveal it to them later?

You can run the registry for them, but there is no automatic reveal. EasyRegistry has no scheduled reveal or unmasking feature, so nothing is disclosed on a date you set.

What does work: create and manage the registry yourself, and keep it unpublished from the Share page while you set it up. While it is unpublished only you can open it, and anyone else following the link sees a short "check back later" message instead of the registry, which also means nobody can give to it yet. Publish it when you want people to start contributing and share the link with them; on Premium you can also set a password on the Details page so only people you give it to can view it. Hand over the gifts and the total whenever you are ready.

Can we avoid seeing who gave what until after the event?

Yes. "Would you like to hide the purchaser's details?" on the Purchases page of your admin area hides the purchaser name, email and message on that page, and in your gift notification emails.

It is reversible at any time. Nothing is deleted: the details are simply held back while the setting is on, so turning it off shows them again straight away.

It does not hide amounts. You will still see what each gift raised while the setting is on.

Can we keep our registry out of search results or make it private?

Unpublish it from the Share page. While unpublished your registry does not appear in search results, and anyone other than you who follows the link sees a "check back later" message rather than your gifts. You can keep editing it and republish at any time.

Premium registries can also set a password on the Details page, so guests need that password to view the registry. Password protection is a Premium feature, so it only takes effect once your registry is on Premium.