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Brides getting married and planning a wedding today are choosing meaning over trends for their wedding, especially when it comes to their bridal fashion. Whether it’s a custom wedding garter made from family materials or a ready-to-ship pre-designed wedding garter design chosen with love, bridal heirlooms are becoming the must-have accessory for brides who want something personal, timeless, and worth saving. Let’s talk about what makes a wedding garter an heirloom and how to find one that feels just right for you.
Let’s be real for a hot minute: there are a lot of beautiful things in the wedding world. You’ve probably seen them all by now: the Pinterest boards, the social media videos, the dreamy dresses, the accessories that sparkle just right. But something in your heart is telling you that you don’t want to just wear something pretty. You want to wear something meaningful.
That’s exactly why more and more brides are choosing custom wedding heirlooms. This beautiful shift isn’t just about fashion, it’s about feeling. Feeling connected. Feeling grounded. Feeling like yourself on a day that can otherwise feel like a whirlwind.
If you’ve held onto your mom’s wedding gown or found yourself drawn to your grandmother’s lace veil tucked in a box somewhere…this post is for you. I’m sharing why this trend toward sentimental bridal heirlooms is here to stay, and how you can turn your family’s most cherished pieces into something that feels like you—timeless, stylish, and personal.
Above: Custom wedding garter made from bride's mother's wedding dress lace & pearls
After over 20 years in the wedding industry working with thousands of brides and their families, here’s what I see, over and over again: brides want connection. The kind that goes deeper than a wedding day photo or a TikTok trend. The kind that makes you feel like your people are with you, even if they can’t physically be.
A bridal garter made from your mom’s wedding dress. A ribbon from your grandmother’s veil. A piece of your dad’s necktie stitched inside, just for you.
These aren’t just accessories. They’re pieces of your wedding story.
When I make a custom wedding garter for a bride using materials from her family, there’s something sacred about it. I think about the hands that wore that lace, or the love behind that veil, or the moment someone first tied that tie. It’s not just fabric, it’s memory. And now, it’s becoming part of your beginning.
Everywhere you look on social media, it’s all about what’s trending and what’s going viral. It feels like everyone is doing all the same things from recipes to outfit dupes. And if you’re planning a wedding, you’re feed or FYP is likely full of the dress style of the moment, the must-have bridal accessory, or that viral aisle walk.
But here’s the truth: when it comes to your wedding, especially something as personal as your wedding dress or your wedding garter, trends just don’t matter the same way.
Brides today are craving the comforting classics. Not just physically, but emotionally too. They’re choosing what feels right over what looks good in the algorithm. They want to be timeless on their wedding day. They want classic. They want something they’ll still love long after the latest scroll is forgotten.
Because your wedding day isn’t just content for social media. It’s your real life. And the things you choose to wear and carry should reflect you, not what’s temporarily popular or viral.
It’s easy to think that something has to be custom-made to be meaningful, but that simply isn’t true.
Every bridal garter in my shop, whether it's ready-to-ship from the pre-designed wedding garter shop, or custom made just for you, is a wedding heirloom. What makes it an heirloom isn’t how it’s made. It’s why you chose it.
A wedding heirloom is something selected with love, with intention, and with the idea that it means something to you. It’s a detail that you can see yourself saving, treasuring, and maybe even passing down one day. It’s something you want to keep, not toss.
Whether you fall in love with a handcrafted garter from the ready-to-ship garter collection or you bring me your grandmother’s veil for a custom design, the heart of it is the same, it’s a piece of your story.
Your bridal garter doesn’t have to be custom to be worthy of saving. It just has to be yours. That alone makes it heirloom-worthy. And that’s something truly special.
It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. A wedding heirloom is something chosen with intention. It’s about using what already holds meaning and transforming it into something new that reflects you. Something that you can cherish, save and pass down in your family.
Even if you don’t know what you want yet, that’s okay. Most of my brides and their families don’t come to me at The Garter Girl with a plan. They come in with a feeling. And honestly? That’s all we need to begin.
Maybe you’ve saved part of a wedding dress. Maybe you're the mother of the bride and you’ve held onto your wedding dress for all these years. Maybe all you have from your grandmother is her bridal veil or her beloved handkerchiefs. Maybe you just know you want something blue that isn’t store-bought. Or maybe you’re just tired of everything feeling so cookie-cutter and you’re craving something real.
Wherever you are in the process, you’re not behind. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.
Every handmade wedding garter from my shop arrives in a beautiful keepsake box tied with a bow and ready to be saved. Inside, you’ll also find a soft heirloom bag to protect it for years to come. Because whether you’re saving it for yourself or planning to pass it on someday, how you store your heirloom matters.
If you’re still looking for the one, the garter that feels like it’s yours, you can explore the full online wedding garter collection right here. Each piece is ready-to-ship and handmade with care, full of heart, and ready to become part of your story.
When it feels right, that’s how you know it’s heirloom-worthy.
Above: Wedding handkerchief made with the bride's mother's wedding dress lace
When you design something that means something, it never goes out of style. That’s the magic of a custom bridal garter or heirloom. It doesn’t follow trends, it sets them. But more than setting it, it sets them for you and you alone. Not for anyone else or anything else.
And the best part? These pieces don’t get tossed (literally or figuratively). They’re saved. Tucked into a keepsake box. Passed down one day. Or pulled out when you need a little reminder of how loved you really are.
If you’re wondering how to choose a wedding garter or what makes something an heirloom, you’re not alone. These are some of the most common questions I hear from brides, moms, aunts, and friends of the bride who want something meaningful but aren’t quite sure where to begin.
Do I have to go custom to have an heirloom garter?
Not at all. An heirloom is about why you chose it, not how it was made. Every wedding garter in my shop is handmade with intention, whether it’s designed just for you or ready to ship. If you love it and want to save it, that makes it heirloom-worthy.
Can I still get something meaningful if I don’t have family materials?
Yes. Meaning doesn’t have to come from vintage fabric or passed-down lace. It can come from choosing something that feels like you, something that reflects your personal style or adds a little joy to your wedding morning. That in itself is meaningful.
When should I order my wedding garter?
For ready-to-ship wedding garters, you can order anytime. If you’re considering a custom wedding heirloom made from your family materials, I recommend reaching out at least one to two months before your wedding to allow time for design and communication. That said, if you're in a time crunch, just reach out and we’ll talk it through.
What comes with my bridal garter when it arrives?
Every wedding garter comes in a keepsake box tied with a bow, along with a soft heirloom bag to protect it. Whether you’re saving it for yourself or planning to pass it on someday, your garter will arrive ready to be treasured.
What if I don’t know what I want?
That’s more common than you think. Most brides I work with come in with a feeling, not a full vision. Whether you're shopping from the collection or considering a custom piece, we’ll take it step by step and make sure it feels just right.
This shift toward intentional, sentimental bridal style is about more than just fashion, it’s about feeling. Brides today are craving connection, choosing timeless wedding garters and accessories that hold personal meaning and can be treasured long after the wedding day.
Whether it’s a ready-to-ship wedding garter that simply feels like you, or a custom heirloom made from your family’s materials, the heart of it is the same. It’s not about what’s trending or going viral. It’s about making a choice that feels true to who you are and how you want to remember this moment.
Your wedding garter doesn’t need to be custom to be special. It just needs to be chosen with care, with love, and with the kind of intention that turns a simple accessory into a lasting part of your story.
What makes it an heirloom isn’t how it’s made. It’s why you chose it. And that’s what makes it worth keeping.
If you’ve been looking for a sign to do something personal with your bridal style, this is it. Custom and personalized wedding heirlooms chosen with intention are more than a trend. They’re a way to carry your people with you, to feel deeply yourself, and to create something that lasts far beyond one day.
You don’t have to follow every wedding tradition. But choosing one thing that feels like your heart? That’s worth it.
Whether you have a piece of lace, a whisper of tulle, or just a feeling in your gut, I’d love to hear about it. Let’s create a custom bridal garter or heirloom that tells your story in the most beautiful way.
Start your custom wedding heirloom design journey or browse the ready-to-ship collection of pre-designed wedding garters.
You deserve to feel amazing on your wedding day, and that starts with wearing something that matters to you!
