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Are you wondering what a wedding heirloom is? Has someone told you that you need an heirloom for your wedding, but you have no idea what it even is? Maybe you've heard your friends or family mention something about an heirloom for your wedding. Or, your your wedding planner has asked you what heirloom you plan to have with you on your wedding, probably in the context of what is your something old, new, borrowed and blue. But, you haven't the foggiest idea what everyone is talking about!
If you are confused about what a wedding heirloom is, you've come to the right blog post! Today, I'm not just talking wedding garters, I'm talking all things wedding heirlooms, as in what an heirloom actually is and how you can get one (or several!) for your wedding.
Remember you can shop my wedding garter collection anytime or email me at info@thegartergirl.com to discuss a custom wedding garter. I'd love to work with you to design the perfect wedding heirloom you'll love forever!
Not only do I have a soft spot for traditions and meaningful things with a special story, but I also have quite a bit of experience with heirlooms as a garter designer. I hand make wedding garter heirlooms all day, everyday!
Your garter is the perfect wedding heirloom. The garters that I make are not intended to be tossed. They are meant to be saved as a wedding heirloom for many generations to come. And, I often make wedding garters out of family heirloom material like the bride's mother's wedding dress or her grandmother's veil! (Talk about double duty wedding heirlooms!)
Photo Credit: Amy Arrington Photography
(Photo from Callie's family heirloom wedding garter)
Before we even get into wedding heirlooms, we need to start at the beginning. First things first, we need to start with what is an heirloom, in general. An heirloom is defined in the dictionary as "a valuable object that has belonged to a family for several generations."
This means that an "heirloom" is anything old that has been passed through different family members over the years that has meaning to only that family. Maybe there is a dining room table that was your great grandparents and then it went to their kids (your grandparents) and then they passed it down to their kids (your parents) and it was in your house growing up. That dinning room table is an heirloom, or an item that is only special to your family, because it belonged to someone else older than you in your family, and was passed through several different generations.
To everyone else outside of your family, it is just a dinning table. But, to your family it is so much more than a table. It is the years and the memories and the conversations that happened around that table. It is the hopes, the dreams, the laughs, the tears, the good times and the many meals that were had around that table. An heirloom has meaning to you and your family, because it has belonged to your family and it contains all of the memories that are associated with that item.
Now that we know what an heirloom is, then to understand what a wedding heirloom is becomes a little easier. A wedding heirloom is something valuable related to your wedding that will be (or already has been) pass through generations. Typically, you will have your heirloom with you on your wedding day, which is what makes it specifically an wedding heirloom.
Let me explain…
There are two different levels or types of wedding heirlooms. The first type of an heirloom is something that is already in your family that you will carry with you or use on your wedding day. This type of wedding heirloom could be wearing your grandmother's veil or carrying your great aunt's purse. At my wedding, we used the same knife to cut our cake that my parents and my grandparents used to cut their wedding cakes. (It was cleaned, of course!)
The second type of a wedding heirloom is a new item that you carry or have with you on your wedding day that you will save to become a new heirloom within your family. You will create your own memories with this new item when you save it from your wedding and pass it on through your family, maybe to your cousin or sister, or save it for your future family, like your daughter. This type of heirloom could be your garter or your veil or your wedding cake knife! But, the difference here is that you've purchased these items new for your wedding and you are going to save them after your wedding to become a valuable heirloom in your family.
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What about you? Will you have any heirlooms with you on your wedding day? What special heirlooms do you have being passed through your family? Remember that, if you don't have a family heirloom already for your wedding, you can make your own memories by getting something new and saving it to become and heirloom within your family.
Don't forget that I specialize in heirlooms new and old. So, if you have your grandmother's wedding dress or your mom's veil and you want me to turn that family heirloom material into a garter for you, please send me an email. If you are looking to create a new wedding heirloom in your family, I can help with that too with my heirloom wedding garter collection or custom designing a garter just for you!
