Couples are getting creative when it comes to card collecting
Having a traditional wedding doesn't mean couples ready to tie the knot can't personalize their affair.
It's the details that add to traditions, according to Antonia van der Meer, editor in chief of Modern Bride magazine.
"A lot of traditions can be bent to accommodate what the bride and groom are going for," she says. "Brides who really care very deeply about the whole presentation and who are thinking about the details, even small aspects of the reception, are going to go the extra mile."
One trend in wedding receptions, Van der Meer says, is the use of card boxes or creative gift card holders instead of the wishing wells, mailboxes and bird cages of years past. Today's brides and grooms are opting for things such as elegant satin-covered chests or large hat boxes, adorned with beading, floral arrangements and other embellishments to keep the cards brought by guests to the wedding. Other couples go for card holders in the shape of castles and musical instruments.
"It's something that might reflect her theme of the wedding. In a larger sense, it's going to reflect her personality," van der Meer says.
Bob Brown, owner of Vintage Visions, an architecture and woodworking business in Beaver Falls, realized how much personality a couple wants to incorporate into their wedding when he got a request to build a card holder in the shape of a harp.
"It's a fairly new thing," Brown says. "We had the request from an art teacher in Monaca."
Brown and his father, Harry Brown, an 81-year-old former shop teacher, got to work on the teacher's design and constructed the harp which stands more than 2 feet tall and is two 2 feet wide and tapers down. Brass rods are used as strings, and maple wood is used to hold the strings at the top. Walnut wood was used for the box at the bottom. Cards are dropped in a slot at the top of the instrument and then retrieved from the locked box at the bottom.
"I think it's more elegant. It's certainly something different than the birdcage," Bob Brown says. Along with the harps, Brown and his dad will take requests for other card box projects that fit the couple's personalities.
"If it's something that we can do, we will do it," he says.
Other ways brides and grooms can incorporate new traditions, Van der Meer says, into their weddings include eliminating the receiving line after the ceremony.
"Alternatives include doing it after the recessional and before anyone leaves the ceremony. The couple can walk back up the aisle and release the guests pew by pew, giving them a quick kiss as they leave," she says. "You always want to look at the reason behind the tradition. You want to greet your guests. You don't want to ignore them. You just find other ways to do the same thing."
Couples also are changing traditions with the wedding cake, she says, by providing a different flavor for each tier or individual mini-cakes for each guest.
"Couples love to see the ceremony and reception show something of themselves," Van Der Meer says. "They want people to know who they are. Guests are eager to share in the couple's love. When couples leave little cues along the way as to who they are, guests appreciate that. It's all about being a little playful even with the most straightforward things."
