Registries - rude or convenient?

I have a question - is a bridal registry rude, particularly when it is for an engagement party? Or is it convenient? Friends of ours were engaged months ago and are now having a party. Accompanying the invite was a Flight Centre Bridal Registry card that requested that we help pay for their honeymoon rather than buying a gift. I say pay for your own f(*%ing honeymoon! I'm buying them a vase in objection. All of these parties have been created to get free stuff - bridal showers, baby showers, kitchen teas, blah blah blah. My husband thinks that I should have a baby shower for our second child to get back some of the free stuff that I have given over the years. That would be hypocritical now, wouldn't it?