Your wedding day is one you should remember forever, but between the jitters, the adrenaline and everything else going on, it could well be just a blur.
Keep that from happening by making sure to save these keepsakes.
Grab a Keepsake Box
Grab a box that’s sure to be large enough to hold everything you want to keep and pick one that is sturdy enough to handle moves, remodeling and, hopefully, decades of love. Consider having it engraved with the date or initials or both.
What to Put in It
Now you need to fill it up. Choose items that will remind you of your special day, that you can pull out and go through together in years to come.
• Vows: Make or buy personalized vow booklets and write your own vows in them. Or consider having a calligrapher write them for you.
• Flowers: Preserve your bouquet or part of your bouquet, depending on what you have room for. The whole bouquet can be professionally preserved in a shadow box or glass dome — talk to your florist about where you can get this done.
• Attire: Preserve part of your wedding gown, the groom’s bowtie or pocket square, the bride’s shoes or jewelry and more. Make sure the shadowbox or other container is acid-free and consider adding silica desiccant packets to control humidity.
• Invitation: Keep a wedding invitation and frame it to hang in your new home or add to the box. Consider adding any ribbons from the ceremony, printed napkins or other personalized decor.
Write a Love Letter
Write love letters to each other the night before the wedding and put them in the box. Open them and read them after the ceremony, or even on a subsequent anniversary. Loss for words? Write about your excitement for your wedding day, your hopes and dreams and goals.
Include a wedding venue blueprint, map or illustration.
Add Local Flavor
Pick a bottle of wine or liquor from the city in which you got married, or choose another local treat such as candy, honey or coffee.
Even if you plan to live in that city forever, life can take funny turns and this way, you’ll have something to remember it by.