99% of Online Wedding Gift Registries are tied to a single shop.

In the US think Macy's, Sears, Bloomingdale's and in New Zealand it means Stevens or Stoffels.

A local New Zealand web designer has created an independent wedding gift registry - GiftyWeddings.com that is not linked to a single shop.

This means that guests are free to buy gifts from anywhere - bricks and mortar or online.

The site is refreshingly straightforward - a simple clean layout makes it obvious what to do next at each stage - for the couple and also for guests.

Ben Hoyt, the designer of GiftyWeddings explains

"I first made the site for my brother's wedding. Then a friend was getting married - and a friend of hers - and then another friend of my brother's wife. They all loved it: one less thing to worry about before the wedding. So I've scaled it up now for anyone getting married anywhere in the world."