New Delhi, Nov. 11 -- As wedding celebrations wrap up, many newlywed Indian couples are left with piles of decorative items, duplicate gifts and multiple sets of the same appliances. Yet they often have to dip into their savings to buy household essentials, fund their honeymoons or set up a new home. It is a problem of plenty: a mountain of gifts, but a shortage of what they actually need.

In the West, wedding registries have been common for decades, with nearly nine out of 10 couples in the US using them, according to The Knot Annual Registry Study. The concept is only now finding an intentional, albeit low-volume, foothold in India. A growing section of working professionals is looking to replace unwanted gifts with more structured con...