A few entries back, I talked about making jewelry and designing a “wish tree” for my friend’s wedding. Both super fun projects! That wedding is this weekend, so it’s now time to pull it all together. Just to keep you posted, we decided to go with neutral colors for the bridesmaids’ necklaces because the dresses are deep red and we didn’t want to create too much distraction by choosing a contrasting color for the stones. They turned out nicely. But I am especially happy about the packaging. I bought some generic jewelry gift boxes (you know, the cheesy ones with the gold foil) and we covered them in some beautiful, handmade Japanese paper. We’re going to finish them with some ribbon and attach square pieces of paper with the girls’ names handwritten on top.
I believe that stunning packaging can make an ordinary gift extraordinary. The receiver’s enjoyment of the gift begins when she sees the gift wrap. When the wrapping looks too nice to rip or the box too pretty to throw away, you’ve made an impression before the gift has even been seen.
My “wish tree” is also coming together. I went with the branches in a vase idea. I found some lovely curly willow branches at a party supply/knick-knack store one of the Beaucoup gals recommended. I bought deep red colored card stock at an art supply store and am going to mount handmade paper on top. The couple has been using this leaf motif on their printed invitations, programs, etc. so I thought I would rubber stamp the same leaf design in gold onto the paper to echo the look.because it’s all about the details! Then I’ll just punch a small hole in the corner of each card and string some ribbon through. Guests will write their wishes or advice to the bride and groom and tie or hand the cards on the willow branches during the cocktail reception. Afterwards, the cards will be collected and presented to the newlyweds as a memento. I’ll try to post a picture of the finished product after the wedding.
