the things she carried

we've talked about the question of what to do with your wedding gown post-wedding and as alternatives to the whole preservation thing, i've written about memorializing your dress in beautiful artistic form, or just dying it black and rewearing it like i did.

here's another idea of ways to preserve wedding memories that i really, really love. it comes from maura, a bride who knew very well that she needed to find a way to honor the important traditions of her wedding day...the lace that wrapped her flowers came from her mother's wedding gown, and she carried her grandmother's handkerchief (with their shared initial) since her grandmother had passed away before she got married. also pictured is the bible maura's mother-in-law gave her to carry down the aisle - the same bible that she and every woman in her family had carried.

maura had so many sweet and important traditions wrapped into her wedding ceremony that it's no surprise she wanted to see reminders of them regularly. so she had them all framed together with a custom mat that picks up on the color scheme of her stationery suite, and it's something i think is so worth the investment - even moreso than an expensive album or traditional framed invitation. (tip: buy a standard size frame that is larger than what you need and have a custom mat cut at michael's to accomodate all the pieces - way cheaper than a full custom framing job).

in some ways, this idea reminds me of a very well-done, classed-up version of the memory glass tradition, made famous at every bat mitzvah you've ever been to. this basically involves a glass filled with matchbooks (do they still have matchbooks on the tables? i'm thinking not), cocktail napkins, centerpiece flowers, a placecard here or there and maybe a piece of candy from a goody bag all sealed over with a candle melted to create a wax seal. how stupid and dangerous this all sounds now...

anyway, i like maura's idea better. i love the idea of being able to look at the most precious parts of your wedding day every day while living in your home. this way, you don't have to pull out the album or your keepsake box (possibly in your parent's basement with your china service for fifty) every time you feel like remembering.

this would also be a great idea for baby mementos like footprints, a lock of hair, the first picture, the baby hat or hospital bracelet...i love the idea of using the original pieces of our history to anchor us visually to where it all started or ended up.