Wedding Registry-- who, what, why

[Chobohoya]

I'm looking for advice on the whole wedding registry situation. We've got the china/silver part all taken care of, I'm more looking for what experiences people have had with the more modern routes-- williams sonoma, amazon, whatever.

Those of you who have recently done this, where and for what did you register? What did you actually end up getting?

Those of you who have had friends or friends children get married recently(that applies to some of you right?)-- what would you consider getting?