There is something about big moments that we don’t like to let go of. We approach these moments with reverence, excitement and usually a bit of fear, allowing them to captivate the majority of our thoughts and emotions. Then, the moments happen. We relish in the excitement and joy of everything we have anticipated and planned.
But what happens when it’s over? All we have left are our memories. So what do we do? We look for ways to preserve them. We replay moments over and over, etching them in our minds like tattoos. We take pictures, snapshots of the smiles, the colors, the youthfulness; all to preserve a memory.
A wedding is one of these moments. From photo albums to guest books, capturing the details and special memories of those moments is essential. So, what will you do to help preserve the most important day of your life? Here, we’ve compiled a list of options to help you along the way.
1. Preserve Your Bouquet
A bride’s bouquet is precious. It holds a lot of weight for a seemingly simple bunch of flowers. Great preparation and thought go into choosing each leaf and bloom. So it is no wonder a bride may not be so quick to send it sailing into a sea of single ladies. Keep your bouquet and throw off a replica. After the festivities, place the flowers in the fridge, or at least a vase of water. Then get a friend or family member to deliver it to a preservationist (try Forget-Me-Knot) as soon as possible after the wedding. Flower pressing or preserving is the best way to ensure you never really lose the loveliness of that most-devoted wedding day accessory. Put them in a frame, keep them in a vase, or press them in a scrapbook.
2. Preserve Your Dress…Well
This one seems like a no-brainer, but for some, pouring more money into after-wedding expenses might seem needless. Preserving your wedding dress seems simple enough: put it in an air-tight container and done, right? Nope. Lots of precision goes into taking the right steps to preserve your dress. Preservation services (available at The Timeless Bride and Waite’s Cleaners) clean, steam and seal a dress so that it will not yellow or deteriorate. For best results, have your dress preserved within two or three weeks of your wedding day.
3. Save the Cake
Nothing shouts “wedding day” like a slice of ceremonial cake. A great way to keep the memory of your wedding day alive is by saving the top layer of your cake to enjoy with your spouse on your anniversary. The concept is simple, but how you preserve your cake is key. Without the right precautions, you could be greeted with a clump of freezer-burned icing when the time is right. Here’s our bride-tested secret for how to store your cake: Seal the layer in a generous casing of plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, then more plastic wrap. Finally, place the cake in a box or tin to protect it from bumps in the freezer.
4. Age-Worthy Wine
Being able to enjoy a glass of wedding-day-wine on your anniversary is a great way to reminisce on your special day. That is why it is important that the wine you choose is age-worthy. Expensive doesn’t always mean age-worthy, and you should be careful when choosing which bottle is the bottle. Click here to read up on how to choose the right one.
5. Share the Details
Brides of years past announced weddings and engagements with ads in local newspapers: here today, gone tomorrow. For a more detailed account of when, where, what and who that will last for years to come, opt for something a bit more durable. Each annual issue of Mobile Bay Bride includes an extensive registry of local weddings with beautiful photographs, clean layouts and detailed descriptions of your big day. Share with friends and family unable to attend the ceremony, or keep the magazine year-round for occasional perusal whenever the nostalgia strikes. Register here by October 31 for an Early Bird Discount!
