Personalize Your Wedding
from Start to Finish
(ARA) - Your wedding should be a reflection of you and your
spouse-to-be, and for many modern brides, the perfect
wedding means one that is personalized and unique. There are
many ways to customize your wedding, but it is especially
meaningful if you craft some of these special touches
yourself.
From the invitations to your wedding gown, opportunities
abound for adding individual touches to the event. Here are
some ways that you can make your wedding one-of-a-kind, and
create memories that will last a lifetime.
Before the Wedding
*
Invitations
Tradition still has its place, but brides have more options
than ever before. You can personalize the invitations by
choosing an image and wording that have special meaning,
such as a photo of the garden where your fiancé proposed.
You can match your invitations to the color scheme of your
ceremony. If your wedding is small, you may even consider
crafting the invitations yourself. Take a cue from
scrapbookers and add stitching to your invitations that
echoes the embellishments on your dress.
Theme weddings are once again gaining in popularity. If
your wedding will have a specific theme, make sure your
invitations reflect that.
*
Rehearsal Dinner -- It's customary to give gifts to your
bridal party at the rehearsal dinner. You can make any
Gift more meaningful by adding a personal touch. If you
are giving your bridesmaids jewelry, present it to them in
lovely drawstring bags that you sew yourself in fabric that
matches their dresses.
At the Wedding
*
Blank Program - This is a great place to include a
special touch. You can add poems that are meaningful to you,
or that you and your spouse wrote for each other. You can
thank friends and family for their support and help in
organizing the wedding and being present to celebrate with
you. You may wish to repeat some of the motifs from the
invitations for continuity, or pick up decorative elements
from your wedding gown.
* Wedding Dress - Your wedding
dress is the center of attention at the ceremony. Express
yourself by choosing a style that fits your personality as
well as your body. If you or someone you know is an
accomplished sewer, you can custom-make your dress. Even if
you buy off the rack, there are many ways to customize the
dress by adding beading, appliqués or embroidery. Just be
sure to give yourself enough time to finish this project
without creating extra stress leading up to the wedding.
"Today's computerized sewing and embroidery systems make
even a project like a wedding dress much easier than it used
to be," says Gayle Hillert, vice president of education at
Bernina of America, a premiere sewing machine company.
Bernina accessory feet make sewing fine fabrics like satins
or velvets easy and there are a variety available like
hemming, pintucking and edgestitching feet that enable one
to add couture elements quickly and successfully. The
Bernina artista 730E sewing and embroidery system helps with
embellishments. Microsoft Windows powered, it allows the
user to create their own designs, and easily edit the
designs on screen using the artista 730E's built-in
capabilities.
One trend that is gaining popularity is to embroider the
wedding date or a special message around the hem of dress,
or on the slip. Hillert tells of one mother who made her
daughter's wedding dress and added special message to her
daughter in embroidery on the slip. Tone-on-tone embroidery
is popular for embroidering on the dress itself; color
stitching can be used on the slip.
At the Reception
* Food and Drink -
Wedding Paper Goods - Whether you're having a sit-down
dinner, offering a buffet or passing hors d'oeuvres, what
you serve is important. If you have a theme, try to work the
food around that. For example, if you love gardening,
incorporate edible flowers into some dishes or on the cake.
Or feature ethnic food that reflects the ancestry of you or
your spouse. Many companies offer wine with personalized
labels. Provide each table with a specially labeled bottle
of red and white wine.
*
Decorations - The decorations you choose set the tone
for the day. You'll want to incorporate your wedding colors
and, if you have one, your theme. If you add appliqués or
beading on your dress, you can echo that design on table
runners, or have the appliqué motif printed on your napkins.
* Favors -
Wedding Party Items -Send your guests home with a
special memento. If you've featured ethnic food, prepare a
special jar of spices for each guest, along with a treasured
family recipe. Or if you have an outdoor wedding, present
each guest with a sapling tree to plant in memory of your
wedding.
For sewing and embellishing tips and
techniques, visit www.berninausa.com. Courtesy of ARA
Content
