Various ways to preserve wedding memories

C ouples’ wedding days are momentous occasions, and couples want their memories of the day they tied the knot to endure, long after the final guest has departed. Weddings can be amazing, but they only last a few hours. Memories can be forever, if they are effectively documented. The following are some ways for couples to permanently memorialize their wedding days.

• Dry the bouquet. Wedding bouquets can be freeze-dried and/or chemically preserved, so that the colors, textures and the volume of the blooms, can appear just as vibrant as they were on couples’ wedding days.

After preservation, the bouquet can be displayed in a vase or in a specially prepared shadow box, with other mementos.

• Create a custom locket. Brides can wear a piece of their wedding gown day after day, with a custom necklace or locket. All they need to do is trim a small piece of the lace or other embellishment from the gown, and enclose it in the locket. Jewelry designers also may be able to convert a section of the gown pattern into metal through a casting process.

• Have guests sign the label. Purchase a special bottle of wine or champagne, and ask guests to sign the label or the bottle itself. Store the bottle until a special occasion, such as a memorable anniversary, then toast to a happy marriage.

• Make a cake replica.

Ask an artist to make a miniature replica of the wedding cake out of pottery. Put the clay cake out for display or ask for it to be made small enough to serve as a Christmas tree ornament.

• Teddy bear transformation. Have tuxedo fabric or wedding gown material turned into a keepsake teddy bear.

• Create bouquet jewelry. Encapsulate favorite wedding flowers into a resin pendant, bracelet or earrings.

• Frame the invitation. Display the wedding invitation in a beautiful frame with custom matting.

• Revisit the site. On their anniversaries, couples can visit their ceremony site, or have brunch or dinner at the venue where the reception took place. Take an “after” picture to display with the “before” shot from the wedding day.

• Make an invitation ornament. Cut the wedding invitation into strips and place it inside a hollow glass ornament. Seal the top and hang with a ribbon.

• Design a greeting card scrapbook.

Turn all those special handwritten messages and well-wishes into a scrapbook, so memories can be revisited, time and again. The planning may take months and the wedding mere hours, but welldocumented wedding day memories can last forever.