Knot Plan

When my daughter was engaged I scoured the wedding magazines right along side her. I also studied the internet, and visited the library. I checked craft books and magazines. I vowed to make my daughters’ wedding memorable, not just for her but for our guests. I wanted some different touches and if they weren’t out there to buy I would make them. But, I was pretty much on my own, my daughter was not crafty nor did she want to be. It is a good thing that we had a little over a year to plan the wedding and I put that time to good use. I was always on the lookout for ribbon, pearls, tulle, flower containers, fabric, pretty boxes, whatever I thought we could use. After many prototypes, discussions, and just plain discards, my daughter and I decided on a few items that might be fun and doable for her big day.

To dress up the entrance table for the wedding site we strung large ivory colored pearls on organza ribbon. The pearls were each tied off about 2 inches apart and strung on an extremely long length of ribbon. After place cards were decoratively lined up on the circular table, our pearl ribbon was swirled in between the rows for an elegant first impression. The photographer even took a picture from a balcony above allowing us another view of our handiwork. My daughter also chose to compile her wedding program. She developed a monogram and had a stamp made which was used to decorate the cover of the program. Thick, ivory paper, with information written in a computer generated font, was copied, folded, and tied together with pale, pink ribbon. The result was very simple and chic and also inexpensive.

The most labor intensive handmade item for my daughter’s wedding was a wand with bells attached. My intent was for the wand to be shook, the bells to ring, and the newly married couple to kiss. The wands looked pretty and were different and effective. To start the project I bought skinny dowels and had my husband cut them to 12 inches long. I wrapped 1 inch ivory, satin, ribbon on an angle down the dowel and glued each end. To the top I attached round, tulle pieces, that you find in craft stores. I cut a small hole in the center of a few tulle pieces and pushed the top of the dowel through, glued them then tightly tied pink and ivory thin ribbon around. I tied small bells to the ends of the ribbon and voila! There was a great deal of trial and error before these wands were perfected, but I was happy with the result.

Whether brides and their families decide to add many handcrafted items or just a few to their wedding day is a personal decision. Some brides don’t have the time or talent to produce crafts for such an important day. Everything you have chosen for your wedding has special meaning to you, so if some items are homemade or not is unimportant.